re: Official Tillman Finna Freeze His arse Off in North Arkansas in May Thread

I went to the source of Spring River for the first time about a decade ago with a friend. We stopped and ate at the catfish restaurant right by it. He told me that right around the corner upstream the river didn't exist - I said no way. But its pretty cool to see a river just pop out of nowhere.

old enough to know Ole Miss is rotten

Cassatot means skull crusher. Can get dangerous when the water is up (like in the spring)

Virus damaging to Buffalo River canoe outfitters

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Life on the Buffalo River might never be the same.

On April 28, I visited Wild Bill's Outfitters on Arkansas 14 near Yellville. "Wild" Bill Scruggs owns the largest canoe livery on the lower portion of the lower Buffalo National River. The day was clear and sunny, with a cool, gentle breeze. The river level was perfect for floating, as was the weather.

Ordinarily, the parking area at the Highway 14 Bridge would be full of vehicles. Buses owned by Wild Bill's and other outfitters would be ferrying river enthusiasts to Spring Creek Access to float back down to Arkansas 14 or to Rush. Instead, the river and its corridor are closed to all activities, including fishing, hunting and hiking. The economic impact has staggered Scruggs and other outfitters. Some of the smaller outfitters might not survive.

"The parks service has told some of the outfitters on the upper part of the river that if they don't want to open this year, they won't hold it against their contracts," Scruggs said. "It is my understanding that some will not reopen."

The coronavirus is much worse for outfitters on the upper part of the Buffalo. Peak floating season from Ponca to Pruitt ends sooner because that section depends heavily on rainfall which starts abating right about now. Larger outfitters, like Buffalo Outdoor Center in Ponca, offer other activities like ziplining and mountain biking. The ziplining facilities and biking trails are on private property, but they are closed to comply with social distancing mandates. Buffalo Outdoor Center and Wild Bill's have also closed their lodging facilities.

Scruggs said he has not calculated the financial impact on his business, but he said his position is stable because he was approved for the federal paycheck protection program. That enabled him to retain his permanent staff and maintain readiness for eventual resumption of operations.

"I still haven't hired any part-time people for the summer because I don't know what's going to open up when," Scruggs said. "If we don't get opened up pretty soon, we will survive, but I have a lot of employees that depend on me. Unless I continue to get financial help, I won't be able to keep them on the payroll, and that's my biggest worry, that I'll lose my crew that I've had for a long time."

Scruggs said that undisciplined visitors triggered the shutdown in March when photographs and video circulated showing huge crowds at Steel Creek and Tyler Bend recreation areas. The lack of social distancing at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak terrified residents in Newton and Searcy counties. They complained to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who asked the parks service to close the river.

"They were not social distancing," Scruggs said. "There were cars there from everywhere. The trails there were packed with people, and cars were parked outside the parking areas. There were a lot of out-of-state tags, too. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back." Scruggs said he fears that river users will not self police when the river reopens, and that the parks service will close it again. That would wipe out the summer portion of the canoe business.

Arkansas has spent a lot of time, money and effort marketing itself as a tourist destination. We have all been shocked to see that message reversed, officially telling non-residents that they are not welcome here.

"I know it was a rude awakening for me," Scruggs said. "My wife and I had some business in Mississippi. When we crossed the bridge at Helena, the first things we saw were two big signs. One said that no out of state lodging was available in Arkansas. The other one said there is no out-of-state recreation available in Arkansas right now. I've been here 30 years and spent thousands and thousands of dollars to get people to come to our area. It's a shock when you see that."

Scruggs said he doesn't believe people from other states will hold it against us. They'll come back, he said, because we offer so much.

Ultimately, Scruggs said, the coronavirus will permanently change the way outfitters operate. No longer will they pack canoeists into buses for shuttling, he said. Also, there will probably be restrictions on outfitters shuttling customer vehicles to access points downstream because due to the possibility of vehicles exposing employees to illness. Furthermore, outfitters will have to disinfect canoe paddles, cushions and other items after each trip.

On the other hand, social distancing will have the natural effect of reducing crowds. That will be good for the river.

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Here's my current itinerary for my trip to the Arkansas Ozarks in a few weeks.

Day 1 - Depart Marietta Georgia. Stop at the overlook at Alabama's highest point, Cheaha Mountain, only
30 minutes off the interstate. Visit downtown Little Rock and go on pedestrian bridge over
Arkansas River. Spend the night at hotel in Russelville, 1 hour northwest of Little Rock.

Day 2 - Get up early and drive 50 minutes north to Pedestal Rocks scenic area for a sunrise hike on a trail
with unique rock formations and views. From there, drive 40 minutes to the Arkansas Grand
Canyon overlook in Jasper and eat breakfast at Cliff House restaurant. Drive 30 minutes to
Ponca and canoe the Buffalo River (scenic river with rock cliffs along it) from Ponca to Kyle's Landing, a 10 mile trip.

About halfway down the river, take a 1 mile round trip side hike to Hemmed In Hollow, the tallest waterfall
between the Rockies and the Appalachians. From the float trip takeout (the outfitters will shuttle
our car to the takeout), drive 30 minutes to Lost Valley trail. Lost Valley has waterfalls, caves, a
natural bridge, and a gigantic cliff shelter called Cobb Cave where Indians used to chill. If there is
enough daylight left, we may also hike to Hawksbill Crag aka Whitaker's Point. After hiking, drive
1 hour north to the Victorian village of Eureka Springs and stay overnight in a hotel.

Day 3 - Check out Eureka Springs to include some of the springs, history museum, and the historic 1896
Crescent Hotel located up on a hill. Take side trips to nearby Onyx Cave for self guided tour,
cliffside hiking on the War Eagle Trail at Whitaker Springs State Park, and see big cats and bears at
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refugee. This is mostly a day to relax.

Day 4 - Drive 90 minutes south (this drive includes part of the Pig Trail Scenic Byway) to the
Turner Bend Store on the Mulberry River in Ozark. The Mulberry is supposedly the most
continuous whitewater in Arkansas. Raft 12 miles from the High Bend put-in back to the
Turner Bend store. Drive about a hour which includes a 6 mile treacherous gravel/dirt stretch
to White Rock Mountain and hike the 2 mile trail around the edge of the cliffs.
Drive 1 hour south to the town of Ozark near the interstate to spend the night in a hotel.

Day 5 - Drive 45 minutes south to Mount Magazine State Park with the state's highest point and scenic
overlooks. This is in the Ouachita National Forest, not the Ozarks. Drive 1 hour east to Petit
Jean State Park with has overlooks including one of the Arkansas River, waterfalls and I think
some caves. May also stop at Mount Nebo State Park in this area with overlook trails. After
Petit Jean stop, get on interstate nearby for 3 hour drive to Memphis. Visit the overlook &
eat at restaurant in the pyramid with Bass Pro Shops in downtown Memphis. Visit the
riverfront and spend the night in downtown hotel.

Day 6 - Return to Marietta GA. Possibly stop in Chattanooga downtown or Lookout Mountain.

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Little Rock is a run down hell hole.

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I was not impressed the last couple of times that I was there.

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I was not impressed the last couple of times that I was there.

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the Riverwalk gentrified area is fine, but since they've let the other 90 percent of the city devolve into Chernobyl, it's like they've created a tourist confine of a communist country that you're supposed to visit and not get a glimpse of how bad it all really is

I hate it, I grew up near there, but they don't deserve nice things like the facade Riverfront


and edit:, I'm not some white Bubba who says screw the black folks and don't visit Little Rock - it's the black folks in that town who are the biggest victims, as usual in an urban disaster like that. I knew many inner city poor folks in Memphis for some years and they were salt of the earth. They don't support corrupt inner city politicians, but they just don't have time to do anything but try to scrape some food together during the day and hunker down from street wars at night. I doubt they even vote.

A percentage of elderly inner city Memphis folks will even swear to you James Earl Ray didn't kill MLK

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ou'll be lucky to have floatable water near Ponca in June. Depends completely on rainfall between now and then.

It's cold up here right now. I bet that water will stay cold until June anyway.

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it's been low all May which is supposed to be the best season.

the outfitter claims it is runnable in July some years.

I have flexibility to move the trip up or back.

I pushed it it more than I would to wait on the Lost Valley trail,Hawksbill Crag, Whiterock mountain, and Turpentine Creek Wildlife refuge, to be opened up.