Everyone who follows this forum probably saw the post of the photos from Puerto Rico. My wife, Cate, got a new job and in between we took a vacation. The Puerto Rico trip became the second honeymoon and it was our anniversary thing. We did the blow out super trip with fancy hotels, the beach and poolside cocktails so we were trying to plan something fun for our actual one year wedding anniversary on September 13th. Cate suggested that we go canoeing and I was all over the idea. We waffled a little about going back to Hotel Phillips in Kansas City, where we got married, but settled on a trip down the Eleven Point. I have the best wife ever.

So, Friday night after work we loaded up the wagon and headed down to Hufstedler’s with the canoe. The customer service at Hufstedler’s was awesome. I called to see if they had any cabins available and the man on the phone said sure. He told us we could just pull in and they’d leave the door unlocked and the lights on. You can see some photos of the inside of “the party house” a bit later.

So we make the long drive down to Southern Missouri. Route 67 is currently under construction and there are multiple 30mph lane switches. The GPS is going crazy because it thinks we’re on the service road and is telling us to make u-turns and to head down country roads. We ignore it for the most part and get off at Highway 60. After a bit on the nice 4 lane divided highway we turn right on 21 because we’re looking for a beer.

We end up at some American Legion post where ordering a Captain and Diet is a great production of finding the rum. The bartender regales us with a story of how her fathers land was seized for moon shining and how they lived in a tent for five years. She has no idea where Riverton is and asks another bar patron. “Twenty miles on 160, you’ll see ‘em on the left,” is the response from a ridiculously drunk man at the bar who now wants to talk to us about his canoeing exploits. These include running Buck Hollow Spring in a stolen canoe with the rangers chasing him and getting busted by Federal Agents for smoking weed. He tells us that they had been smoking but weren’t when they got arrested so they shoulda just let him go. There was some other stuff about being careful and watching out for river patrol if we were going to throw bottles in the river. We leave quickly.

We finally arrive at Hufsteder’s and as promised the sign out front is glowing. It was more of a reflective paint thing than an actual glow but close enough. The house also has the lights on and the door unlocked.

The ‘cabin’ is actually quite nice compared to the surroundings. We later learn there was a fire at the office and it looks like the got a deal on pine wainscoting because the kitchen and bathroom are covered in it. They floors are all brand new Pergo or some knock off. It is immaculately clean even if some of the ceiling tiles are pealing. It’s much more inviting than the scary house just behind it.

This is the scary canoe graveyard house. I’m glad we didn’t have to stay there.

Riverton is one of those strange Southern Missouri towns that has the name of the town on the front and back of the same sign. I wonder how hard it is to incorporate your front yard into a town. It shows up on Google Maps but not the latest version of Garmin City Navigator. If you’re looking for Hufstedler’s then follow this link. The address Google has is actually their PO box in Alton. These are the coordinates if you want them. N36 38.876 W91 11.767 It’s not hard to find but if you rely on a GPS to get you around you’ll need them.

Another view of the cabin.

The Prospector got pampered with its very own trailer to haul it to the Greer Springs put in.

The clear water had and interesting mix of a sandy and rocky bottom.

Getting ready to hit Mary Decker Shoal. It was really sort of a let down. I had assumed it would be difficult and require some maneuvering. We could have drifted though it from where this photo was taken. Most of the fast riffles in between were more entertaining.

Mary Decker from down stream…yep that’s the whole thing.

Cate checking the brochure/map to gauge our distance.

Fat Tire beer in cans. Kept cold by a @FatPaddler beer coozy.

A sort of messy campsite.

Somehow this one reminded me of when Mister Rodgers put his cardigan on…yes I know weird

There were several places where it felt like paddling a large narrow lake.

This is about the happiest way I can imagine spending a one year anniversary. Just Cate and I alone on the river. There was no one there to disappoint us, no mediocre food at some supposedly fancy restaurant and no distractions. Just the beautiful quiet and solitude watching the herons take off with wing tips kissing the placid water and the song of the paddle gliding down the river.

The canoe took some abuse running Halls Bay. I didn’t take any photos of the rapid because it was a little disappointing and there was a john boat parked on the beach. We ran it a little to far to river right and bounced through some small underwater rocks. None of these show on the inside of the boat but the Royalex Lite is pretty soft. I’ll probably just leave them or maybe try some heat and see if they pop back out.

Here is a photo of someone in TW’s (OzarkPaddler) group running it the same weekend. The rest of his photos are here http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/image/117251466

We hit the line about halfway between the bottom of the photo and the boat… Not as clean as the this paddler. I probably should have lined the boat back up and run it again for some pics…oh well, we’ll do it next time.

After paddling the 19 miles from Greer to Riverton we we’re tired and needed a shower. The friendly folks at Hufsteder’s told us they hadn’t cleaned the cabin yet so we could go back up there to take a shower. I snapped some photos. This place is worth $20 a night per person.

Driving home on highway 19

Yes, that is a Geo Metro with stomper wheels on it… I think the Samurai sacrificed some parts.

Over all it was a good trip. I’ll post some more commentary later.