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Cossatot River at High Water, Too High to Paddle Alone
5/9/14
Thursday afternoon found me driving to the southwest corner of the state. There was a good forecast for rain that afternoon and night so chances were good the rivers in the area would rise. That evening I sat in the Ozark Inn in Mena while the rain came down quite hard. The creeks in the town were already flowing well. Little did I know the area got six inches that night and had some local flooding. At 5:30 the next morning breakfast was eaten at the Skyline Cafe. No signs of flooding were noticed at that time. By 7:00 The Cossatot river was before me. It was running too high for kayaking that early in the day (alone), so I messed around the river for a while then headed east. A stop was made at one of my favorite Forest Service recreation areas. Charlton is on Hwy 270 just south of Lake Ouachita and has some nice camping and picnic and swimming amenities. After piddling around there I headed home. By now there was fog and occasional mist. Overall the drive was a good one but missing being on the river made it less of an adventure.
