A kayaking trip to Arkansas

[big-tex]

Well, I'm new to the site and new to kayaking. My name's Justin, I live in Tulsa, OK and my girlfriend and I have recently decided to start kayaking. We have Jackson Rogue's a 9 for her and 10 for me, Werner rio paddles and about to order IR Klingon skirts. That's my short intro.

The question is, what rivers to run on July 8th-10th? We have those three days off and intend to take a trip. Class II rapids are all I'm searching for. So what do y'all think?

Thanks,
Justin

[EMTyak]

Probably the only thing running in july will be the spring river (class 1-2) and the lower buffalo (mostly class 1) unless there happens to be a big rain event during or slightly before your trip.

[RandyJ]

Justin, here in Oklahoma, there's the Illinois River (multiple sections) near Tahlequah and the Lower Mountain Fork down near Broken Bow.

Those will be your best choices for that time of year. If you can, try to grab some weekend paddling on other rivers in the area. Pretty much everything (except Lower Mountain Fork (OK), and White River below Beaver Dam is natural flow and rain-dependent, and it's hard to find suitable flows past mid-May, though there can be some fairly drastic variations to that rule of thumb.

[big-tex]

Cool the spring river looks good on paper. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this, so how would one go about shuttling? Should I pick up a cheap 50cc scooter to run back up and grab the Jeep or are we talking miles outta the way and a headache?

[Jaytee]

If you can allow yourself some flexibility to play it by ear, post a query on this board about 4-5 days out (even a week or so ahead we'll have some idea...)

Rivers in this area are very rain dependent, but anything can happen. Any of the rivers you are likely to consider include outfitters who will either shuttle your car or shuttle you and your boats for a price (varies with distance and place, but think 30-50 bucks) and that's a great way to do it.

I think of the Spring (and the Elk over in SW Missouri) as sort of good backup plan (rivers of last resort) when I want to paddle and everything else is too low but you might be able to do something even better (ie., with fewer partiers and more wilderness feel) depending on water conditions.

Stay in touch; this is a nice group and you can get some good guidance as time approaches (even recommendations of outfitters in some places).

[big-tex]

Thanks y'all. So what outfitters should I talk with on the Spring river to get shuttled around?

Unfortunatly we are locked into the 8th-10th, so I'm afraid we'll have to deal with the party crowd, unless a freak rain helps out some of the other rivers.

[n2outdrs]

Justin,

We have a Dustbowl chapter meeting in Tulsa this Wednesday evening. 6:30 p.m. at Martin Regional Library, 2601 S Garnett Rd.


Judy

[big-tex]

Are the meetings always on wednesdays? I work every evenings right now so it's tough to get to events and such.

[n2outdrs]

Yes, they are Wednesday evenings usually. In the summer we will have often have a lake day at a near by lake on a weekend day.

[big-tex]

Alright, I look forward to a lake day, that doesn't involve 40mph gusts and 2' swells. haha

Justin.