NEW CLASS II - III CREEK TRIP FORMING

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

I hope to be paddling East Gaffords Creek south of Bluffton the next time it rains. It has a variable nature, being both narrow or wide in places. It has enough gradient to keep the current brisk with only short pools between rapids. A competent Class II paddler should be able to navigate it without problems. The single large rapid is easy to walk around if desired. I expect there to be a lot of surfing spots. I'll post a full write up on class2arkansas.com as time permits. Below is a photo of the creek; a complete photographic tour down the creek can be seen on Flickr at

https://www.flickr.com/photos/17863908@ ... 762924061/

Please post here if you are interested in joining a group venture trip. I am retired and may be able to paddle most days of the week.


024 SAME SPOT, DIFFERENT VIEW by CaptainAleve, alias Mike Coogan



Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[bird dog]

Falls on Gafford creek.

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

Nice shot of the West Gaffords falls. I have caught a cold and will have to recover before getting out again. I don't see any real rain in the forecast, anyway.

I'm working on the East Gafford page for class2arkansas.com as a get a minute here and there. As much as I love the idea of paddling down a remote, unspoiled creek in Arkansas, the truth of the matter seems to be that all the creek valleys were settled at one time. I found an intact, heavily rusted barbed wire fence on the bank of East Gaffords in an area that would be great for farming if all the present large trees were gone. It would be great until it rained since the fence and land were about 5 feet above the creek. The creek has been up REAL HIGH in the last few months, as evidenced by the leaves being washed away and leaving bare dirt up to a certain height: roughly 20 feet above the creek level in my pictures. There are very few signs of habitation along the creek until you come to TRUCK RAPID. That's what I'm naming the multi-tiered rapid that has a twisted flatbed (?) truck frame in it. Maybe someone would like to be the first to paddle through the arch formed by the leaf springs. I didn't see the frame while scouting with my camera. I saw the truck cab mangled around a tree on a separate chute, farther towards river left, and thought that was where we'd be running. The right chute with the frame will be much more entertaining.

Mike

This spot is near the confluence with West Gaffords Creek:

043 THE BLUFF CONTINUES by CaptainAleve, alias Mike Coogan, on Flickr