Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Any interest in SFLR (upper, but not upper, upper) section?

I think we have a small group - meeting at Conway Exxon at 8:45am...those north of Conway...we could arrange a second meeting time at McDonald's in Clinton.

Cheers,
Heather

Keep postin these please. I need to get on this piece of river again. Got an event in Conway this mornin.

Hope to get out somewhere this afternoon.

i'll meet ya'll in conway. Number is 870-833-2582
-nick

Yeah, Good Plan! We're meeting at the Exxon, We're going to Richland South Fork Little Red...

Despite having our leader kidnapped by Cowper and taken to Richland, great day had by myself, Sarah, Mike B, Andy,
& Victor on the SFLR, thrills and spills, me almost giving a young deer a ride the takeout after suprising it in an eddy,
don't think it had ever seen a canoe before Victor pinning at snag rapid and Mike B making a great rescue
I'll let Mike and Victor give all the details

Again a Great day with good friends on the RIVER

Your hijacked leader had a bombproof day! Lots of fun on the "upper/upper/upper putin for the western most extreme watershed of the SFLR! AT least that's what Cowper said. Glad you guys had a good day!

OK, level that day was ~4.5 feet on the new gage at Gulf Mountain WMA.

What was everyone's impression, as measured by the following questions:

1) Did you consider the river to be "low", "optimum", or ?

2) How much lower do you think it could be, and still be worth floating?

3) How much higher would it have to be, before you would have called it "high" of feel that it was getting unsafe for newer or less experienced boaters?

(After everyone (or anyone) weighs in on this, I'm going to see if Fish can find the time to update the link on his Ozark Whitewater page to reference this gage instead of the one down at Clinton.)

Cowper,
4.5' - Low (4.0' would be the very lowest level i think that would be worth the effort)
5.5' - 7.0 Good level
7.0' + High ?


Wayne

I think Wayne has got the levels about right.

I looked at the gauge Saturday morning before we left and thought it was about perfect at 5.4. I failed to recognize the update time of the gauge and it was actually about 4.2/4.3 about the time we put on. This would be about the recommended cut-off between ample/low but floatable.

Cowper asked?

1) Did you consider the river to be "low", "optimum", or ?
A little lower than optimum. Enjoyable but most of the waves and friendly holes were absent.

2) How much lower do you think it could be, and still be worth floating?
4 feet on the Gulf Mt. gauge

3) How much higher would it have to be, before you would have called it "high" of feel that it was getting unsafe for newer or less experienced boaters?
- Hard to say, probably 7 – 8 feet.

There were a few trees down and one all the way across the river about 2/3s the way down. Easily avoidable with a sneak route to river right but could be ugly if someone was swept into it.

We also had one incident at “Snag Rapid” This rapid was originally named “Snag” do to a tree/root ball that occupied the right side and is probably a II+. It was fun to boof and provided a little excitement. The tree/root ball has washed out and now involves a far left line close to an overhanging tree or far right, hugging close to a rock outcrop to avoid rocks.

The third kayak through got bounced around at the top and center pinned on one of the rocks in the chute. A higher level may have prevented this but also could have made it worse if a boat pinned.

The kayaker was pinned, head above water, but head up-stream with the current crashing down on the deck/spray skirt. The boat was stable and the boater remained calm. We were able to wade/swim to the boater, make contact an access.

Shortly after the kayaker lost his paddle and brace on the bottom of the river. The boat shifted a little and was difficult to stabilize. After a lot of force we were able to work the kayak free with the paddler in the boat and get them into the eddy.

No harm done but a good reminder to stay calm and put rescue training to use.

Edit to add: The deer was about two feet shy of landing in Waynes canoe and was a sight to see.
The water, of cousse, appeared to drop out a little more quickly than on the lower gauge.

Cowper,
Newton White and I paddled the SFLR in the early 90's. I don't remember anything about gage heights, but I do remember catching one of the largest bass that I have ever caught. It was a great trip, especially for fishing.

David,
Dang, if you floated it back then, how did this one get left out of Kennon's book? We're you trying to keep this gem a secret?

The gage we're trying to figure out was installed just a few months ago, so it wasn't even there when you floated.

I'll bet the water quality was great when you floated. Even in 2005, we noted how clear the water was. Unfortunately, it has recently taken a turn for the worse due to recent developments in the watershed, but it is still a beautiful place.

Cowper,
You are absolutely right about the water quality. It was spectacular, plus we always felt like we were in very remote country. I never thought about telling anyone about the SFLR as we were there mostly for fishing, which was spectacular. I do remember that there were some interesting rapids (probably class II), but I don't remember any details. The participants that I can remember were myself, Newton White, Terry & Kathy Keefe, Bob Morgan, Reggie Corbitt, James Koch, and Mack Vought. Keefe had a real good story about the take out. He tried to drive his van (the red one - I'm sure all the old timers will remember it) up a steep bank to get to the highway and didn't make it. We need to ask Keefe about that story as I remember that it was a good one, but I don't remember the details. No one else saw it happen because Keefe, as usual, was at the take out by himself.