Happy Birthday for Mark on the Elk River

It might have been Mark's birthday, but there was no sleeping late this morning! We ate breakfast, dumped the tanks, and drove out of Crawford Lake State Park by 8:00. It was a two-hour drive to Big Elk Floats and Camping in Pineville, Missouri. We had arranged for a shuttle so we could float the Elk River. Isn't that what everyone wants to do on their birthday?

Mark drove our pickup and trailer to the take-out spot on the river, and then we paid the shuttle driver $40 to return him to the put-in spot. There was a time when we would think that was an expensive ride, but with the high price of gas it almost seemed like a bargain. Besides, that allowed us to launch our kayak from their private launch site, and end our journey at their private take-out spot.

We left at the head of the Elk River a few minutes after 11:00. We were scheduled for an eight-mile float that they estimated would take us 3-4 hours.

But the recent rains have increased the current and the water level. So we floated faster than average.

We might as well say it, because surely you have noticed how long Denisa's hair has grown this winter. It's the first time she's been able to pull it back into a pony tail for many years, and it just keeps growing!

We were entertained by the baby geese and hundreds of turtles and one snake (that's one too many!)  On this first camping trip of the year, we forgot to pack the good camera, so all we have are cell phone wildlife pictures. We completely missed the snake, but the slower turtles were better at posing.

We were also entertained by the only other boat we saw in the eight mile journey. The local high school coach was enjoying a day off of school to go fishing. He kept up with our float pace for a while, and we found out that there was only one high school in all of the fifty-mile width of McDonald County.

The wind was blowing out of the west at 8-10 miles per hour. At times it felt more like 20 miles per hour when it was in our face and we had to row against it. But the Elk is a winding river, and just around the next bend we couldn't feel any wind at all. At times we were going with the wind, and we floated quickly with the current. We had a few riffles in the water, and you can see water coming in over the bow of the kayak in the choppy water picture below. But overall the Elk River provides a family-friendly easy float in the southern part of Missouri.

We arrived at the "four mile pick up point" at 12:20. We were glad that we chose the longer trip today because we weren't ready to get off the river yet.

Coach told us that there would be thousands of people on the Elk River on a summer weekend. But we had the place to ourselves on a Monday in April. The big herons didn't even bother to fly away for one lonely boat floating by.

We knew we were close to the end of our eight-mile float when we crossed under the high railroad bridge . . . and could see the low car bridge ahead on the right.

Because the river was swollen from recent rains, we worried that there wouldn't be much clearance under the low water bridge.

But we floated under by laying down to avoid scraping our heads.

Just around the bend was our pickup and trailer--just where Mark had left them earlier on this birthday.

Also around the bend were some pretty orange poppies wishing Mark a happy birthday.

After we dried and repacked the kayak, it was a thirty-minute drive to our Boondockers Welcome host in Bella Vista, Arkansas. For those not familiar with this group, they provide free camping sites to fellow RVers on their private property. We pay an annual fee to have access to the maps and a method to contact hosts in the area where we would like to stay. Charles and Marcy welcomed us to their flat parking spot in their side yard. They also invited us over for something cool to drink. Denisa enjoyed the tour of Marcy's sewing room and also her quilting room. Before the day was over, Marcy invited Denisa back any time for a quilt-making session. They gave us good advice for the best local place to eat for Mark's birthday dinner. He even got complimentary peach cobbler and ice cream when they found out it was his birthday! Happy Birthday to the best wandering companion in God's great world!