Let's Go Camping: Buffalo River

The lower Buffalo River.

Last weekend I went camping and canoeing on the lower Buffalo River in Arkansas. It was extremely hot and humid during the day. It was so hot I felt for sure that it would never cool down enough to make sleeping worthwhile but, in fact, it got rather chilly after midnight.

Camp in the morning with fog.

Our camp was plagued with ticks and little stinging gnats. As abundant as they were, I'm not afraid to say that I used a lot of DEET. I was never completely bitten by any ticks but I did twice spot one beginning to burrow.

Very large moth.

During breakfast a raven watched over our camp looking for anything tasty. In the bathroom I spotted a spooky dusty purple and charcoal grey moth the size of my hand. At night I could hear a barn owl. The garbage was left out one night and raccoons tore into it. As we were leaving camp Sunday, we saw a deer cross the road, and stare at me until I finally got my camera out to take a picture -- then she ran away.

A very cold stream flowing into the main river which was much warmer. It felt pretty good after all the scorching heat from the sun.

Fishes underwater

Crawfish thing

View of the Buffalo river from atop a bluff.

Star-shaped moss growing at camp.

For more photos of this trip, visit this Flickr set. And to see photos from my trip last year, visit this one. More information the Buffalo National River can be found here [http://www.nps.gov/buff/index.htm]

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