Current River float 2026 – Pt 2

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I grew up in the 90s canoeing Ozark streams, and they contain some of my best memories of Missouri. I finally got to get Katt there so she could see where I grew up, and how fun the Ozarks can be. They better be fun because it felt like a BLAST OVEN when we came out of the airport! Here’s our float with Matt, Jennie and Ezra!

We met up at Heather and Matt’s and convoyed down to Salem, MO, about 40 minutes from our put-in. That evening we thought Jennie was out of her mind starting a fire at >90 degrees, but little did we know that we’d sit around that fire all night! We got to see a few lightning bugs at dusk, which we don’t have in the PNW!

We put in at Akers Ferry and got out at Pultite, about 9 miles on the upper Current River. We saw a couple of species of turtles, which we also don’t see in the PNW (they’re here, we just don’t run across them often).

AirBnB in Salem
Old friends!!
On the non-Buck Bus!!
Put in at Akers Ferry
Break time!
Katt (not Kate) and Jennie (not Jackie)
Ozark River goodness
Daryl (not Dave) and Matt (not Mark)
SOMO paradise
Crawfish!
Lazy day
Karst everywhere
Cave Spring
This is KARST!
The river CREW!
‘Ol MO crew
Katt chillaxin
My favorite part of Missouri is this
Tourist trap!
Cave canoeing!
Back at it
Jenny Gurl
The Washingtonians
Kewl Krew
Why yes thank you very much
Unintentional portrait mode
Stand Up Paddle Canoeing (SUPC?)
Go team!
Shaka BRAH and lady Brahs
Sit Down Paddle Canoeing

Eminence and Alley Spring

That night we camped at Pultite campground and the next day drove into Eminence for lunch, then to Alley Spring to check out the most photographed spot in the state!

Jerktail Landing

Following our time near the Jack’s Fork we drive out to Jerktail Landing, which is where Sean, Matt and I first camped when we were adolescents. As kids we drove this shitty road in a ‘76 Firebird with Matt crammed in the back seat with our gear (the trunk is about the size of a cooler!), and a flood came through our tent that night because we had set it up in an overflow channel and it rained all night long. Neither I nor Matt had been back here since (nearly 40 years!) so of course we had no idea where we set up our tent.

Regardless we had a great afternoon soaking up the water and sun, despite the many power boats that came by! (We had no idea they could run this high on the Current)

The afternoon came quick, Jennie bailed for home (with all the food, D’oh!) and the three of us went to Devil’s Well for a quick peek, and by time we drove towards the next spot we realized we we ravenous so we quickly headed back to Rolla for dinner and a room. The next morning we headed back to BoCoMO

Read Part 3 of our trip here: Columba & Ashland

Read Part 1 of our MO trip: Seattle > Kansas City > Columbia