Day 1 – Saturday(Pruit to Carver)

We started the day around 7 am. We had decided to take the motel lady’s advice and drive most of our gear to Carver and set up camp before we got on the river. In retrospect it was a pretty good idea. We stopped at the local Conoco for a few bags of ice. It seems that the coffee and cookies are good, but the sausage and biscuit was more like beef jerky and biscuit.

We drove out to Carver (15-20 minutes I think) and set up camp. Then we went back over to Jasper, left the truck at the motel, and caught a van down to the river. Luckily, we put in before the other 1000 people that day. After tying our cooler and buckets into the canoe, we were off. It was a great day for a float. The water was cool, the sun was warm, and the river was quiet.

Occasionally, we would pass a waterfall that trickled down the side of a bluff and into the river. With the river levels as low as they were, we would have to follow the sound to find the waterfall.

The river is lined with limestone bluffs that have been carved over the years. According to my useless map, the tallest bluffs ranged from 300 to 500 feet over the river. It was interesting to see the different colors that appear in the bluffs. From a distance they look grey, but when you look closer, you’ll see shades of red, orange, brown, and even pink.

After floating/paddling for a few hours, we reached our lunch spot where the Little Buffalo River flows into the Buffalo River. I think we ate half of our loaf of bread with our lunch on the first day. We hung out at the river junction for a while on the warm rocks. I think that it was about this time that other groups started to catch up with us. This is also were we found the “trail of ticks.”

About halfway between the Little Buffalo River and Carver, we passed the Hasty takeout point. This is where most of the day-trippers were being picked up. Also, just past the takeout point is the Hasty low-water bridge. It’s basically just a road across the river that can be crossed only when the river is low. I could kick myself for not getting a photo of it. We had to carry our canoes across the road – definitely wasn’t on the brochure!

We made it to Carver landing a few hours after passing Hasty. Dad had a pretty bad headache, so Tim and I carried the canoes uphill to the campsite. We decided to move the tents to a campsite closer to the river. A few notes on Carver campground:

• Nice restrooms.
• Absolutely no firewood to be found – probably true of all of the established campsites.
• NOT a peaceful place on a Saturday night, however it may be a decent replacement for the Saturday night episode of COPS.
• Did I mention the nice restrooms?

We were tired, and Dad was already sacked out from his headache. I built a small fire with the little wood that I could find, and Tim and I ate a pack of hot dogs. I had three. Then we turned in as the soap opera began. Some drunk guy left his car keys in a friend’s truck – who had already left. Some drunk girl was offended by a comment made about her mother and decided to see how many F-bombs she could fit into a sentence. The next thing I know, it’s morning again.