A little fishing, camping and dipping

This past weekend started at 1100 AM on Thursday morning. How great was that?! Too bad I had to go home and rush to get the bags and coolers packed for our float. Brooke, Matt and Dustin all arrived a short time later and we were headed to the Eleven Point River by 230 PM!

He's so thrilled for the drive!

Good thing we got an early start because Dus forgot his tackle box. Keep in mind, he's the fisherman and we were going on a fishing trip...normally a tackle box would be the first thing I think to pack. So, Dustin and myself had a quick detour to Bass Pro in Springfield, MO. We also stopped off for a HORRIBLE meal at McAllister's. All in all we were delayed about 40 minutes.

We arrived at the campground and could not find Brooke or Matt. Needless to say, cell phones were not an option. Dus and I kind of looked at each other and said hmmm. We drove up to the next campground and didn't see them. Knowing we all agreed to stay at Greer, Dustin and I headed back there to set up camp. Lo and behold we found the rest of our party. Turns out Dustin and I drove right by them. We're so observant.

After setting up, it was time to get all the fishing stuff ready. After all, that was the point of this trip. It took awhile...

All of us were pretty exhausted so we called it a night once all the fishing stuff was prepared. We wanted to get early the next morning to hit the river to fish.

Turns out, the Eleven Point is a hard river to wade with limited access from the banks. We froze in the water while not even getting a bite. After an hour or so we headed back to camp for a DELISH Mountain Man breakfast expertly prepared in the dutch oven by Chef Matt.

Over breakfast we decided to head to Greer Spring and then up to Richard's Canoe Rental to see about getting a canoe for Friday and Saturday. We had quite the treat in store for us at Greer Spring. I'll let the pictures back me up on that statement...

It was a mile hike through the woods and bluffs to the spring


We loved this bark on this tree


Our first glimpse of the spring although we'd been hearing it for about a 1/2 of mile


Wonder what lives in this cave?


This shot shows a little deeper


Dustin channelling his inner caveman.




Love the fog...and Dustin's butt!




About to get wet!


Slippery!


Completely worth getting wet




The spring bubbling up from the cave


The mouth of the spring. Daily, it pumps 220 gallons of 55 degree water into the Eleven Point


Dustin wanted a closer look


After Brooke and I's dip. She was brave and hopped in first!

After the spring we went up and rented a canoe and did the Cane Bluff to Greer crossing float. The river above greer is wide and deep. It was perfect for fishing because if we didn't paddle we didn't move much. We caught a lot of fish but the catch of the day came as soon as we were about to end the float. Dustin landed at 15" rainbow trout. He was a beauty, but unfortunately he was too small to keep. Once we passed Greer Spring we entered the Blue Ribbon Trout Area. That means only ONE 18" or larger fish is allowed.

We ended the day with a great dinner at the campground washed down for a few beers. So that was day one...a great day. I have more pics from day two, but haven't developed the camera yet! I will post those as soon as I do! Gosh looking at these pics makes me want to go back. I can't wait!