It was about time that I checked a bit of this river out.
We have been hearing about this river since we moved down to Arkansas. Finally, we got the opportunity to go check it out on Sunday. Some friends were having a baptism there, and it was an incredible location.
First off, the river itself is very clear and cool. It winds through the Ozark Mountains and twists and turns the whole way. I can imagine how big it must get after a heavy rain. I've always enjoyed checking out rivers anyway, but this one was more magnificent than a lot that I have seen.
THE BLUFFS
The bluffs on the side of the river were amazing. Part of me wished that the river was deeper so that I could jump off the bluffs and plunge into the water below. When I say "part of me," I guess that I mean all of me. I once stood at the edge of a 90 foot cliff and looked down, preparing to jump. As I looked down, I noticed another cliff about 30 feet below me, so I climbed down to it instead!
Even that 60 foot cliff seemed too high, although I made it. Unfortunately, I wasted my breath screaming that it was too high of a jump all the way down, so by the time that I hit the water and was plunged deep beneath the surface, I was already out of breath. Long story short, I made it that time, and did not jump off of any of these. They were still cool just to look at.
THE ANIMALS
As usual, I even found animals there! One of the first that I noticed were the tadpoles. There were quite a few near the edge of the river, but they would swim out deeper when you walked by.
I did see a few American Bullfrogs too, but they were all juveniles. I am guessing that the tadpoles were the same species, though I did not catch any to check.
I also happened upon this interesting clue.
Yes, that is a bit of a shed snake skin. Sometimes you will find this evidence of their presence before you ever see the snake (if you can even find him.) For me, this is encouragement to check the surrounding area.
Before too long I found what I was looking for. Actually, I caught two Northern Water Snakes that day.
In the end, I let this one go in the water. Here it is starting to hide between the rocks on the bottom of the river.
THE FISHING
At one point, I caught a few crickets under a rock and decided to toss them into the water. Sure enough, some fish immediately came to the surface and gobbled them up. When I saw this, I went back to the truck and grabbed a couple fishing poles. Before too long, Monster Truck and I were having fun catching a few sunfish and bass.
THE JUMPING IN WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON TO CATCH TURTLES
Yeah, this is the same reason that some people do not like going out on boats with me. Sooner or later, I often wind up in the water, and it is usually intentional. I remember once canoeing with @truconspiracy and his son. We had not even been out in the canoe for five minutes and I jumped out after a water snake. About as quickly as I had jumped out I jumped back in, with the water serpent in my hand. @Truconspiracy then notified me that he was not exactly too fond of snakes... now he tells me!
Anyway, while Monster Truck and I were fishing, I saw what I thought was a turtle on the other side of the river. The fact that it was "all the way over there" was not much of a deterrent. In fact, if it was supposed to be a deterrent, it did not work at all. As I observed the turtle-like shape so very far away, I asked Monster Truck, "Do I have spare clothes in the truck?" He assured me that I did, so I emptied my pockets and took off my boots.
Within moments I was on stealth mode swimming across the river. As I got closer, I noticed that there was not one, but three turtles basking on logs near the other shore. Soon, I had caught them all, so at least I did not get wet for nothing!
ALREADY PLANNING A RETURN
Both @mama-pepper and myself really enjoyed our time there, and we are planning on heading back for longer. Perhaps soon we will even plan on spending the day at the river, but, before too long, we want to take the @little-peppers camping there too! Time will tell and we will see, but it is nice to have finally visited this great river.
The area that I explored was only a few hundred feet long too, so hopefully we can check out a lot more of the Buffalo River in the near future.
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-buffalo-river
Until next time…
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Your pictures bring back memories :) When we moved to Arkansas, canoeing the Buffalo was one of the first things we did!
Very cool. Also, thanks for reading the post and making a real comment. Have a 100% upvote on your comment as my way of saying thank you and encouraging others to do likewise.
Thanks @hammockhouse!
Sweet, thanks!
l would be happy if you could comment on my travel post too
tanks.
https://steemit.com/travel/@beautypics/travel-to-hungary-201786t05627636z
https://steemit.com/travel/@beautypics/travel-to-hungary-part-2-201787t233057760z
It's bad manners to pimp your posts in the comments. You earned a 100% flag.
thats beautiful photography of animals. hope you enjoyed lot ...
Oh, I did enjoy it a lot! Thank you!
Did you say camping? Count us in.
That sounds good! We were actually talking about you guys too, so bring a tent. It is not that far away!
Picked up my Lifetime Senior National Parks pass today in Necedah for $10. Near the end of August they jump to $80. We can discuss such camping options the next time we see you.
Hi @papa-pepper I have been following you for a day or so and really like your stuff. I was especially touched by the video you made on youtube of your first year on steem real honest genuine stuff and im glad its working out for you and your family. Steem on brother !!
It would be really great if the water was deeper mate! It would have been so much fun jumping!
I can't understand how come you always find these creatures during each of your trip!
Snakes, turtles, frogs!
Wow!
Seems like my sweet Monster Truck enjoyed himself a lot!
Cheers
@progressivechef
The animals are usually there somewhere, you just have to know where to look.
Plus, we have a greater variety than you do, which makes it easier.
And you are the expert for sure!
You are right, here it's rare that you can find a wild animal roaming outside!
@papa-pepper - Amazing Collection Man!
They are a good bunch of photos! Thank you!
Amazing collection ....👌
Following you for more post.👍💐
beautiful posting
i love fishing
what is the big fish name there?
Small mouth Bass.
So cute
How happy you are....
Hope you would have enjoyed the trip as well as got more peace of mind there.
You are great.Your every post is very nice.I always like your post.
Thanks @head10.
Upvoted!
Man man man what a post great fan of your post what a photography (it's just classic) loved to see it
I really appreciate your post
Thanks for sharing
The photos are good but the best thing I liked about this post is your way of telling. Keep posting.
Steemit is going to turn a lot of people into bloggers and story-tellers and then into best selling authors! I believe!
Thank you, I am glad that you enjoyed the story!
An wild wild adventure @papa-pepper . I see the kids really enjoyed their fishing . Seeing all those animals was kinda creepy because could it be dangerous for the kids ? I know you are a man of wild wild adventures but a snake 🐍 that's kinda scary . I have actually seen many of these river places while living upstate , and fishing is the best thing to do there :D or sight seeing
They were not so dangerous for the kids, but we appreciate your concern.
Nice photography @papa-pepper. You really amazed us jumping on the river with snakes was dangerous. Take care of yourself
Oh, I take care. Thank you!
The pictures are nice but this location needs the extra attention of a drone. I think drone footage would be killing!
You are very correct.
I guess you have enjoyed a lot there.The river is beautiful but wondering why it has named Buffalo river.By the way your posts are always adventurous and thanks for letting us know something new.
I don't know how you can jump from bluffs... it's so high up! Jumping from anything 90 feet in the air is way too intense for me.
Where is the buffalo?
Why is it called the Buffalo River?
I am not sure why it is called the Buffalo River, and we did not see any. The river is just on the other side of Harrison, so perhaps I will have to do some research.
Looks like such an beautiful area, love those cliffs as well the patterns and textures in the formations
Back when I was younger I would have done the jumps without a doubt, not so much these days with age I have developed a little bit of common sense finally and understand my body isn't quite what it used to be. :)
I think that I'd still be jumping, maybe I need more common sense.
Maybe what's really true is if I was there alone I would go for it
If my wife was nearby I would say I would pretend to be sensible and not do it LOL
If you ever come back to this end of Arkansas, you need to check out Devil's Den and Natural Dam.
I might have to head over there just to check it out. Thanks for the tip!
This is Natural Dam
That river is so lush and full of life, lots of diversity in it.
Does the river have deep parts if you ever jumped from the bluff?
At least there were no gators around; but the snakes, darn those slinky creatures. |_・)
(so no troll or spam comments here? That's nice to know...xD)
There are some deeper parts I saw where it was just over my head, so I could jump off of a tree or something but the Bluffs may be too tall.
Seem to be like they are too tall and steep too. The frog looks cool though. :)
Upvoted and RESTEEMED :]
Hey I actually can touch snakes now. Well some of them. That was a fun trip.
It was a fun trip! Maybe we can do one down here sometime.
Gorgeous spot and so great to have nearby! Good thinking in having the fishing poles along, too. Looks like there's plenty more exploring left to be done.
I try to travel with the necessities: fishing poles, nets, snake bags, etc.
Okay, snake bags as a necessity made me laugh...
coming from you, it makes perfect sense!
You take some of the coolest pictures of animals, whether they are in water or out, that I've every seen. :D I love the look on Monster Truck's face when he's holding up his catch for photographing. ;D He's so cute and that smile of his is infectious. :D
Thanks for another wonderful post and for sharing it with us all. :D Have an awesome day! :D
Beautiful pictures.
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What an interesting river and your photos really brought it to life for me. I can see you're very adventurous but I'd have to agree with your friend about the snake. Lol Can't wait to see where you head next.
Nice descriptive day out in your neck of the woods @papa-pepper thanks for taking us along for the ride.