Floating the Jacks Fork River - My First Float in Over a Year
Last week I was invited by my two oldest and bestest friends, @melodyrussell and our friend TC, to float a small section of the Jacks Fork. All of our men were busy so we shuttled our own kayaks and did it all ourselves! We are strong, independent women who don't need no man! (Just kidding, honey. Will you show me how to use a ratchet strap again?)
We began our float at the 17 hwy access, Buck Hollow. We were on the river by 10:30 or 11 am. Melody brought her doggo Bastian and I brought Willie Nelson. TC brought her fishing poles and was snatching fish out of the river left and right!
.JPG)
It was a sunny, beautiful day. We only saw two other groups of floaters on the river so we were basically alone. Lots of girl talk ensued.
There are lots of caves along the river, though they are all closed due to an increased presence of White Nose Syndrome.
We ended our float at about 4pm at an access called Baptism Hole. It's a bit of a walk from where you park to down to the edge of the river, but it isn't too steep. We loaded the kayaks into the back of my son's truck I had borrowed from the day and headed home.
We stopped about every hour to get out and swim and reapply sunscreen. Melody is a red-head and burns very easily. She managed to get through the day with minimal redness. I, on the other hand, almost ended up with sun poisoning.
You can't really tell from the pictures, but I was hot pink. My legs began to swell the next day. I used lavender and copiaba oils mixed with some coconut oil to treat the burn and fresh aloe vera gel I harvested from my house plant to soothe.
Cankles!
By the third day the swelling had disappeared and my burn was no longer hurting.
All in all we had a really terrific float. Nobody flipped their kayak, nobody got into even the smallest tiff. We drank plenty of water and all packed healthy kinds of snack foods. I can't wait to do it again. Lets hope I don't wait another year before getting my ass on the river again!
I am envious of your time on the river, but not envious of that painful sunburn!
That is something I rarely do. Not much opportunity to do it here in our place. That is such a great day and place for kayaking. It is peaceful. Nothing beats being close to nature. Sunburn is all part of that :D
We are lucky that we are only about 15 miles from our beloved river. I had previously been kayaking at least a couple of times a month but just never had the time last year. I'm hoping that this isn't my only trip this year.
Is that the only river where you can do that near you? I find this activity relaxing. You are lucky for you can do that and enjoy the great environment :D
There is another river about 30 minutes to the north of the Jacks Fork called the Current River. The Jacks Fork flows into the Current River. I have floated the Current. It has many springs emptying into it and it is much deeper and faster than the Jacks Fork. Not as relaxing.
You got beautiful photos along the way! I'm jealous because I love kayaking and still don't have one yet ;) Someday! Too bad you got burned so badly, but I'm glad it's better now.
Thank you! It is so peaceful. It was totally worth the sunburn.
Thanks for sharing your float with us! I miss kayaking and wish we still had ours. Too bad about that sunburn...the price we pay for being out on the water ☹️ Glad you're feeling better!
I want a bigger, sit-inside one with all the nooks and crannies to stuff things in. The one I took on this trip was a sit-on-top with absolutely nothing to attach anything to. If I had flipped I would probably have lost my backpack.
Mine was a sit on top. It was impossible to flip...although I guess you could fall off. We used to kayak in Florida and chase the gators!
Wowwww...... this looks like SO MUCH FUN!! ♥
I have to add this to the list of things to do 'someday'!
Hope your sunburn feels better soon! I am pale and I know your pain! All it takes is about 5min for me to start burning... FYI, adding peppermint oil to the mix will help with pain, if it is still hurting.
:)
Thankfully it stopped hurting after the swelling went down. I will have to keep peppermint in mind though! I was afraid of using any "hot" oils so I didn't even try it out.
I made a cream for my friend a while back, with coconut oil, lavender and peppermint, and she said it was the BEST and the cooling of the mint just took the pain away. Glad you're feeling better! Sunburns are bad!
That was quite funny the way you started.
Your getting bruises is it from sunburn or handling the strings as a super woman. Lol. Wish I was close enough to supervise the fish prepared meal.
Oh I've always got bruises and bug bites. Sometimes the outdoors can hurt! We didn't keep any of the fish. Only one was of legal size so it was catch and release.
Alright then.
I salivate no more.
Thank God you're better now.
Sounds like a perfect day! And I liked "cankles". :))
It was wonderful! I did not enjoy having cankles. Haha! I was lucky I didn't have to go to the doctor for the swelling.
What a beautiful place to kayak!
It's my favorite place. What astounds me is I have lived in this town my whole life and it wasn't until 5 or 6 years ago that I began to really learn about our local river and enjoy it. My parents never took us to the river for any reason. We take our kids almost weekly just to swim and explore. I really hope they grow up appreciating our resources and respecting them.
What a great way to share some family time!
I only briefly got to scroll through this the other day on my break. But I’ve gotta say, that was one of the BEST days I’ve had in a very long time. Perfect day out with two of my favorite people! Glad that burn is all healed up. That was a bad one!
You my friend @hethur240 are a trip! I laugh so hard when you tell your stories here on steemit. You tough independent gals with your dogs and a fishing pole. I hope you are feeling better. There is nothing worse than a sun burn. 🐓🐓
Haha!! Thank you so much, @mother2chicks. I'm happy to be entertaining. We did feel pretty damn good about ourselves. We did great and I can't wait to do it again! The sunburn is much better. It finally started peeling, which was gross of course, but I have a nice tan to sport around now! Haha!