A pre NANFA 2005 Convention option:
Camping on the Buffalo River.
A couple years ago after visiting Bill Hoppe in YELLville i crossed the
Buffalo River on my way south to Little Rock. I found a neat snorkel site on the
Buffalo about a mile east of highway 65 called Shine Eye that offered free
primitive camping, safe parking, a wide sandy gravel bar to play on and massive,
beautiful cliffs dominating the far side of this scenic river. I snorkeled
in the cool water and it was beautiful, clear and wide. I saw the Arkansas
Saddled Darter which motivated me to ask Dave Nelly to illustrate it for this
year's shirt. It is not only a handsome darter but a unique fish to the
Arkansas and Missouri Ozarks. Suprisingly i also observed White Tail Shiners as i
see them way over in Chattanooga. In my Peterson's i see there are 2 distinct
ranges for White Tails. Interesting and lots of other neat things, but i only
had an hour or two that day. I'm heading back this year! Lots of folks canoe
this beautiful, clear river and its whole length seems to be designated a
national wilderness area. Very pristine.
I plan on camping for 2 nights, the Tuesday & Wednesday before the
convention, June 7 & 8. This is a perfect place to snorkel, relax, camp and watch the
stars from.
Cabins are also available just 4 or 5 miles away-in-Buffalo Camping &
Canoeing. Their website is _www.gilbertstore.com_ (http://www.gilbertstore.com) .
Several options are available in the cabins. I'm keen on camping but a cabin
would be interesting if enough folks were so motivated. Their "Benjamin Cabin"
is still available and sleeps 10. It would run about $35 each per night w/ a
2 night minimum. Full kitchen, linens, TV and its only 30 yards to the river.
2 or 4 person cabins are also available for $65 a night. Check their site
for details.
This pre convention camping opportunity provides a good look-in-some Ozark
species thus freeing one up for a different convention foray saturday as there
will be 5 options and you can only do one that day!
If you have an Arkansas Gazeer check out page 25, 7i and you will see a red
road running east off of 65 just north of the river. This is the camping site
known as Shine Eye tho it is not labeled or even signed-in-the site. Just
follow the dirt road and it deadends-in-the parking site and river. The cabins
are just northeast-in-Gilbert, back to hwy 65, a bit north then east on 333.
If your interested email me and let me know what nights and wether primitive
or fancy cabin camping suits you. We can also work out details such as
weather logistics and cell phone numbers.
I am also planning on spending the previous Saturday, Sunday and possibly
Monday-in-Reelfoot Lake. There is a Grey's Fish Camp on the West side that has
cheap, rustic cabins and motor boat rentals. Neat place and lots of fun to
explore from. I stayed there a couple years ago w/ my son Coby... seems like i
wrote a posti for the list but i cant find a record of it. ? ( does anyone
know how to search old posts from the list? ) Critter road, lots of snakes and
frogs, swarming silversides and an isolated population of Golden Topminnows.
Bald Cypresses, stumps and Cobb's Fishhead.
some notes...
No outhouse-in-Shine Eye but the Tyler Bend Visitor Center and its
facilities are just across the highway.
The Buffalo River-in-Hwy 65 is about 2 hours north of little Rock. It would
be too hard to break camp and arrive in Little Rock for the first speakers
Friday morning, thus i will be staying in Little Rock Thursday night.
I dont know the regulations for the Buffalo yet. It would be fun to pull a
siene. My simple desire is to snorkel and observe and relax. No collecting for
me-in-this time. I know people can fish there for small mouth, so i figure
other typical fishing regulations apply.
ok... if your interested let me know!
casper
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