Didn't mean to start a ruckus with my previous post so I deleted it.
Here are the actual dates for this year's Spring Rendezvous for those of you who must schedule vacation time.
The Spring Rendezvous is first weekend in May, so for 2015 it runs from Wednesday April 29 to Sunday May 3 on the North Fork. As usual some of us will arrive earlier, and some of us will stay later.
My mistake, and the reason for my previous thread, was tying the dates to a Thursday on my calendar instead of to a weekend.
Thanks for straightening me out Pam.
Only 17 weeks to go
I have now corrected my calendar so that the Spring Rendezvous is first weekend in May and the Fall Rendezvous is the third third weekend in October.
Doggoneit, I Missed a “Ruckus” (LOL)? Yeah, this Spring it was right on the line, but I hope to be there early this year, hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest?
Ruckus??? I only saw that I and Jack had responded to the original post. I can see where it was confusing with the dates, but it goes by the weekend not the full week (Spring first weekend of May, Fall third weekend of Oct) I emailed Vic and told him I hope I wasn’t harsh or something in my post - if I was I am truly sorry. Life hasn’t been great at work, stress level is up so God only knows what could come out of my mouth! LOL - I need a paddling trip SOON, come on winter be over!
Some more info For the spring rendezvous we usually base camp at Twin Bridges Canoe & Campground located at the junction of hwy 14 and hwy 181 near West Plains Missouri. We base camp there and do day trips on the North Fork of the White River and on Bryant’s Creek. If water conditions permit some have done separate trips on the Jacks Fork.
There is no set agenda. This is not a sponsored or “organized” trip. It’s just a bunch of friends who have met on PNet who get together to enjoy each other’s company and paddle beautiful Ozark rivers.
Each day’s trip or trips are usually discussed around the campfires the previous evening, including who will go, where people will paddle, and what time shuttles leave. Each person is responsible for arranging his or her shuttle with other paddlers.
The “official” paddling days are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Usually some people will arrive before Thursday and plan any paddling trips as explained above Some people may paddle on Sunday.
Some may arrange other paddles the week before or the week after the Rendezvous on other Ozark rivers like the Eleven Point or the Buffalo. These so-called “side trips” before or after the Rendezvous are usually discussed on this thread or on related threads.
Hope this answers your questions.
Any other veteran Rendezvousers feel free to chime in with comments, corrections, or more information than what is contained in this post.
We have base camped at Twin Bridges campground which is shown at river mile 24.1 on the map. It is basically where route 181 and 14 meet in south-central Missouri. Twin Bridges is basically a campground with a small camp store and not much more but it does have showers, flush toilets and a cafe that serves breakfast and sometimes suppers. The owner has allowed our group to camp there in a commodious field for a reasonable rate and I assume will do so again. There are some electrical hookup sites available for those with trailers but I would call to check for availability and reservations: http://www.twinbridgescanoe.com/
The nearest micro-town is Dora, MO which will show up on mapquest and google maps. Dora is so small that the town has basically saved money by using a single road sign that has "Entering Dora" printed on both sides. It does have a gas station and reasonable grocery store with a restaurant in the back. A bit of trivia is that "Colonel" Steve Cropper of Booker T and the MGs and "Blues Brothers" fame (who also played guitar on Otis Redding's recording of "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay") grew up on a farm near Dora. The closest real town is West Plains, Missouri.
Although there are springs on the North Fork of the White River and its adjacent tributary Bryant Creek these streams are largely dependent on natural flow so water levels will vary. When the water is high there might be a few standing waves but for the most part these streams are moving flat water to Class I at worst unless they are in absolute flood ("The Falls" at mile 36 on the North Fork might possibly rate a Class II). Most of our group tent camps at Twin Bridges and does day trips on the North Fork and Bryant Creek. Not everyone will necessarily do the same trip.
When the water is high enough it is possible to put on the North Fork as high up as Topaz at mile 6.6. Actually, it is possible to access the river up at mile 0 at the Highway 76 crossing but the access there is not the greatest and I don't recall seeing much parking available for multiple vehicles at that place. The river can be run all the way down to the Tecumseh access at Norfork Lake at mile 49.5.
There are pretty good intermediate access points at Hebron Bridge (mile 18.7), Twin Bridges (mile 24.1), Hammond Camp (mile 29.2), and Blair Bridge (mile 39.4). There is a large, private tourist trap resort at Dawt Mill (mile 47). The owners of Dawt Mill used to allow parking and river access at their site for a fee. There was also a mill dam there which typically required a portage. Although the dam was runnable with sufficient water it was about a 5 foot drop and a potential boat buster unless one went over at precisely the right place. The owners used to allow portaging around the dam over their property. A couple of years ago the dam got breached, a couple of people took bad swims at the breach, and the owners shut down river access at their place. Last I heard they were perhaps again allowing some access for a price but I don't know the current situation.
There are very scenic stretches on nearby Bryant Creek (shown on the map just west of the North Fork) and if the water is high enough the upper stretches of the Jacks Fork River is not terribly far away:
The upper Jacks Fork is incredibly scenic. The "Prongs" section of the Jacks (from mile 0 down to Buck Hollow at mile 6.8) might have one or two Class II rapids on it depending on water levels. The stretch from Buck Hollow down to Rhymers at mile 16.2 is also a great paddle.
It sounds as if folks are pretty set on having the Rendezvous the first week in May but as long as my wife can look after the dogs I can probably be persuaded to stick around for at least part of the following week and perhaps a couple of others could be as well.
If you are interested in trying to work something out send me an email, Kim. Assuming Mary comes with me as she usually does, I would have a tandem canoe available that you and Jim could use in addition to my solo boat since Mary would be going back to Evansville by the first weekend in May.
Really??? You mean to tell me that there was at some time some subset of the Ozark Rendezvous group numbering greater than one that was sufficiently well organized to have agreed on a specific paddle the evening before, set a time to leave camp for the shuttle, and actually stuck to the timetable the next morning?
I must have passed out early and missed that.
If anyone is interested in attending the Rendezvous with a single vehicle I would not be concerned about shuttling as it is virtually always possible to find someone to make arrangements with. But do make arrangements with someone so as not to arrive at the take out without a vehicle and get left behind. Our groups do not always stick together on the river as different people like to go at different paces and make more or fewer longer or shorter lunch and rest stops.
Really Pete I seem to remember something like that maybe on the first or second rendezvous. We’ve become sorta more creative since then. Besides, I’m older now and suffering from CRS - it’s a bitch.
Thanks Pete its not about boats availability as we have a few but how I feel after chemo as its the last treatment. Ergo I cant commit till close to the time.
So far after my first chemo I have not slept. At all for 48 hours. Sooner or later this will catch up.
Well, Kim… …I’ll keep a May pretty open so you have us to paddle with also if you can’t make the “Official” 'Vous. I think they “Owe” me with all the extras I’ve pulled since last summer?
rukus Its all my fault Pam …Ive been grouchy since its turned cold and i forgot how sensitive Vic is … sorry Vic, you will have to stop by my camp for a Toddy in a few months… lol jus kiddin (not about the toddy) I Hate FN cold weather. Pete that Dora comment was funny…
I’m cryin’ in my beer – NOT As I told Pam. After almost 40 years of lobbying at the Iowa Legislature I’m not that thin skinned. But, I’ll still take you up on that toddy Jack.
Matter of fact since it will only reach a high of 20 today I’ll think I’ll have a hot toddy in your honor this afternoon: Meyer’s Jamaican Rum, hot apple cider, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maybe a pat of unsalted butter.
Been watching for this notice... and looking for a Sandpiper (anywhere between here and there) to paddle the Bryant and North Fork. I'm hoping to either arrive early and/or stay late to find folks interested in paddling both the Current and the Buffalo.
If no Sandpiper becomes available, I'm undecided which 2nd boat to bring: OT Pack, Blackhawk Zephyr, or WeNoNah Wilderness? Any recommendations welcome.
Me too although I have to admit its still a little early for me to get REAL depressed. Its not so much the severity of the cold as the long grind of the cold that eventually gets me.
I’d rather drink cold beer in the warm sun than hot toddys under a tarp in the cold rain. But, make no mistake, I will do either.
Right now, with the wind driven snow and sub zero temps, wildflowers in an Ozark spring seems like some kinda’ mythical theoretical thing in a far away imaginary land - like the unicorns in the meadows of Elysium.
Planning now seems very much like dreaming. Still, I’m looking forward to riding my pretty unicorn through the clouds for to gather with my friends in the Ozarks, there to drink the sweet nectar of the yum-yum tree that grows in the gumdrop glade neath the big rock candy mountain.