Dawt Mills

[garrfish]

I have heard this place on the North Fork river is a good paddle spot anyone ever paddled it any suggestions we were planning on going there on the 9th of july

[lbaker]

This past Tuesday, a couple of friends of mine and I paddled the section from Hammond to just a mile or so past Patrick Bridge. It's just under 15 miles to Riverside campground, where we were camped. Great little run. There is a ledge going all the way across the river about half way down which is bony and best run river right. If you choose to do Patrick Bridge to Norfork Lake ~7 miles. Quote from Tom Kennon's book " Dawt Mill is approx. 1.5 miles below SR PP. Approach the dam with caution and portage on river left or right well above the dam"
Have fun!
Leigh

[DanMo]

To quote a good friend of mine who grew up there. "I seen a lot of people run the dam at dawt, but never sucessfully. Of course they where drunk." This is the guy who built the house for the monkey people. I asked him if he built the deck on that house and he was hurt, like he would never build something that cobbled together.

I like to run the lower north fork, it is a pretty scenic float. As with all the summertime rivers, crowding is the issue. I think it has been years since I did it in summer, I always do it in winter. Great trout fishing if you can be there after the conservation people stock it. Way too many people fish there to have a sustainable population.

The mill got a facelift last winter and is pretty nice outside, haven't seen the inside. They had to have a crane to put siding on since there was no place to put any scafolding.

Dan

[ebell]

I ran that section with the monkey house to the mill back in the 90's. haven't gone back since. we were with a high school science club trip so several of us ran the mill dam against our chaperones wishes. None of us ran it successfully.

I wonder is the monkey house people are still pumping water from the creek to erode the bank leading up to their house. they had a pump in the river and were using a large hose to spray the bank/bluff below their deck to erode the soil.

I assume because they got tired of teenagers and drunks climbing up to their deck to see what was going on up there.

I recall the float being quite fun.

eric

[DanMo]

I think the monkey people have passed away. The house is still there. When I asked my friend Roger what it was like working for them when he built the house, he said they where weird, and not just because they kept monkeys. He said they had some specific breed of attack dogs that they tormented, starved and generally treated badly to keep mean.

[Donna]

I have heard this place on the North Fork river is a good paddle spot anyone ever paddled it any suggestions we were planning on going there on the 9th of july

Did you make your trip up there? If so, please share the juicy details. I am planning to spend a few days in that area next week and it will be my first visit to the area so any tips you might have would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping to camp at Hammond and float down from there. Feel free to PM if the details are not suitable for public comsumption. I would still appreciate any advance and useful info.

Oh yeah. I am also planning first time floats on Spring and Eleven Point rivers while camping at Old Davidson prior to Hammond. If anyone who might see this and would like to chime in on that angle, that would be cool too. I will be entering stange lands with nothing but internet research so any first hand info will be welcome. Thanks in advance!

[coldspring]

The monkey people stories always crack me up. I know them. They aren't monkeys by the way, they are chimpanzees. When the chimps were small and controllable they used to take them to the river, and one of them liked to drink beer. Now, that the chimps are older and three times as strong as a man, they are kept in a facility just off the square of West Plains.

The huge deck is awesome, still has a few left over ropes on it that the chimps could climb on. They haven't passed away or anything. The chimp owner is a vintage science fiction and comic book art publisher, you might say he had a childhood fascination with Tarzan. They are all pretty interesting people, very intelligent, but a little eccentric.

[garrfish]

We had a ball the water was very clear and cold very nice place to float except when it is raining. look forward to going there again

[coldspring]

He said they had some specific breed of attack dogs that they tormented, starved and generally treated badly to keep mean.

I was eating at Red Apple Grill in West Plains, this week, and told the owner, whom lives there, about this. He got a kick out of it. He said they had labs and a boxer, and they were spoiled lovable pets.