ROCKHOUSE — A "defining moment"has become an overhyped term in the historical realm of human events, but it’s a common characteristic of just about each and every individual endeavor in outdoors enjoyment, be it fishing, hiking, hunting paddling, sightseeing and such. On a shining fall day Saturday, the defining moments throughout the Ozarks were simply described as beautiful. The word was especially a frequent refrain of paddlers enjoying a relatively rare opportunity to float Ozark streams like the Buffalo, Kings and Mulberry rivers, which were all running wonderfully in the aftermath of recent and unusual amounts of rainfall. It was certainly so for paddlers on the popular and friendly stretch of the Kings River from Rockhouse to Trigger Gap. The put-in at Rockhouse Creek was already crowded when Ernie Kilman of Kings River Outfitters arrived at midmorning to help guide a group drawn from near and far to see why The Nature Conservancy was devoting so much attention and efforts to conservation of the Ozark Region. Professional conservancy staff with the group included Tim Snell of Fayetteville, who leads the program to preserve the "karst"habitat of caves and springs in Northwest Arkansas, and Doyle Crosswhite, who was recently named to head up the region’s Rivers Legacy Program.
Newly arrived from the flatlands of Oklahoma, Crosswhite would be seeing the river for the first time.
The same would apply to many conservancy supporters from around the state and parts of Missouri. Many, in fact, had signed up for the first paddling adventure of their lives. A few would be truly "baptized."
I was able to tag along in a canoe with Kilman and his 7-year-old son, Skylar, a river runner accomplished beyond his years.
WONDERFUL WEATHER It was a toss-up over which accounted for the veteran outfitter’s ebullient mood — the extended paddling year or the chance to get to be on the river in wonderful conditions. "We’ve had one of the best falls for floating in the past few years,"Kilman said. "We had all of October and now we are getting November."With the ground as saturated as it is now, he believes we could be set for the rest of the year if recent rainfall patterns prevail. While Kilman directed getting nine canoes into the water at the confluence of the river and Rockhouse Creek, several experienced paddlers who had camped out at the mouth of the creek approached to inquire about paddling recommendations. Such was the flow of the river, Kilman mentioned upstream areas at Marble and Marshall Ford, where there would be faster water and more riffles and bluffs. He noted that the 16-mile distance between Marshall Ford and Rockhouse Creek could be done in as little as four or five hours. Our seven-mile run to Trigger Gap figured to be a leisurely float stretched out by going slowly and taking a long lunch break. "A beautiful day for it,"Kilman said, making a comment that was enthusiastically echoed by everybody in the group. Upon entering the river, the current of clear water was flowing at a pace to carry a canoe along with the greatest of ease. "It’s going to be a float today, not a paddle,"Kilman announced to our little flotilla. He also issued a warning.
WORST SPOT "The worst spot on the river comes up quick at the first bend where the current can carry you into a couple of big trees laying in the river, so we are going to beach on a gravel bar on the right side and wade our canoes around the bend,"he instructed.
This proved to be not much of a wading problem, partly because the water temperature was more refreshing than chilling. "With all these warm rains we’ve had, the water temperature now is actually warmer than it was a month ago. That’s one reason the smallmouth fishing has stayed good,"Kilman said.
Getting back in our canoes, we floated through a short, bluff-lined pool, took a bend to the left around a gravel bar and entered another long pool with a high bluff along one side.
That set the pattern of the river’s course remembered from previous floats of a stretch more often floated than any other along the river.
Except, we would pass higher and more visible bluffs farther downstream, along with longer and faster riffles and many wide and inviting gravel bars. By then, many of the novice paddlers would have mastered the basics of paddling, albeit with plenty of incentive. Leading the way through a narrow, winding riffle with trees overhanging one side, we looked back to see one canoe going through sideways, another going backward and another capsizing after colliding with a tree. "I’m really surprised to see that in this part of the river,"Kilman observed as we reversed course to provide assistance. With the water not being too deep, too swift or too cold, the mishap was easily resolved in a light-hearted way, as were a couple of more turnovers farther downstream.
A PAINTER’S EYE Besides being a canoeing outfitter, Kilman is also a painter of natural landscapes with a growing reputation for his talent. Much of his appreciation of the scenery was with an artist’s eye. "Look at the blue sky, you don’t see such a deep blue that often. Beautiful,"he said.
When we passed a spot where the current swirled over a deep hole, he noted: "Look how pretty green the water is. It’s starting to get that emerald color you see in the winter."
More often, Kilman remarked on the play of brilliant light on the water’s surface. At certain angles in the riffles, the dancing water would be ablaze with myriad glints of flashing lights. "A river running like a silver thread,"Kilman said at one defining moment.
If he wasn’t making some remark about eyecatching sights, someone else in another canoe was saying something similar about his special vision. Among them were sightings of soaring bald eagles that had recently arrived along the Kings River in good numbers.
During an hour-long shore lunch on a high gravel bar in a bend beside a deep green pool, I sought out Crosswhite for his first impression of one of the rivers that would be the focus of his professional attentions for the conservancy. "It’s one of the nicest rivers I’ve ever been on, and I’ve floated a lot of them,"Crosswhite said, adding that he was eager to start learning more about its hydrology and ecology.
As the only member of the group with a rod and reel, I had made occasional casts with a tube worm but hadn’t had a bump, not even from the great pool where we had lunch. I attributed the lack of action to the bright, highpressure conditions that can be a notorious turnoff for smallmouths.
However, toward the end of the float when shadows began to reach out from the banks, the smallmouths woke up.
During one 30-minute period, a half-dozen bronzebacks up to a fat 14 inches jumped all over the tube worm, whereupon my fishing partner, Skylar, undertook the tough task of fighting the fish to the boat.
His smiles when he showed off and then released the catches were certainly defining moments.
Shooting into the haystacks below the lowwater bridge at Trigger Gap was the final thrill for our seasoned group of paddlers.
Well, almost.
As Crosswhite and his paddling partner, Ann West of Little Rock, beached the bow of their canoe on the gravel bar at the take-out, they didn’t know the bar dropped off like a wall. Although the bow was grounded, the stern hung out over about four feet of water.
Thus, as the newest member of the conservancy crew in Northwest Arkansas, Crosswhite was officially and thoroughly "baptized"when he stepped from the canoe.
Could have been a defining moment.
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