Meeting Ed and Ellen at 12:30 PM, we unloaded the kayaks at the confluence of the Norfork and White Rivers, and shuttled two vehicles to Red’s Landing, our intended takeout. After the approximate 45-minute round trip, Ed, Kay, and I returned to the confluence to rejoin Ellen.  The White River was low, having experienced little generation from either Bull Shoals or Norfork Dams.

Because of the unusually low water, the first riffle caused us—at least some of us—to drag, and this was something we would experience several times in the 7-mile trip, but we did not have to get out and drag the kayaks over any of the low water areas.

With lots of sunshine, it was quite warm—actually hot—even on the cool river, and with low flows, traveling downstream required some serious paddling, though Ed managed to always find the fast current and stay in the lead.  He reads the river well, but then he’s a civil engineer!

Despite this hot “work”, the trip was good. Kay is becoming a good paddler, but definitely prefers the intrinsic aspects of kayaking over the pure raw paddling experience.

The scenery was great and there was little boat traffic, making for an overall pleasant float. I was amazed at the river bottom, smoothed by eons of water flowing over the bedrock.

Along the way we saw lots of shorebirds, a bald eagle, and some deer, but no turkeys. The float took us slightly less than 3 hours.