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Kayaking the Middle Fork of the Illinois Bayou
3/14/15
After much rain most of the rivers in Arkansas were rising and this is a good thing. Being an old guy, my paddling has been reduced to running short 2-3 mile stretches that give me just enough fun without too much distance. The Middle Fork of the Illinois Bayou fits those parameters. This run is 2 miles with an easy 2 legged shuttle. The road to the put-in was sooper muddy and really yucky...I hate mud! The rain had stopped with now an occasional mist. The temp was °58. The river was at 12.5 feet by the Corps gauge and rising again. This is a bit high as it washes out the rapids but there are still good waves at this level. By 8:00 a.m. my boat eased into Snow Creek where it was immediately taken down into a whirlpool that opened into a subterranean river with no light. Luckily I was spit out into the main body of the Middle Fork shorty after. A dead skunk on the bank did not fare as well as I...for it was missing its appendages. A quick inventory of my own confirmed they were still intact.
Onward down the river my kayak was propelled at upwards of 10 miles an hour. Many 10-12 foot waves tossed me into the air...luckily my boat always land right side up. Small feeder creeks flowed well with waterfalls dropping white froth over their ledges. This was lovely. Soon the take-out bridge was in sight, and it was there, that I took out. My life had been spared.
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