Jacks Fork is part of the "Ozarks National Scenic River ways" . This is near where our longtime member "Slowfoot" lives and plays.

We spent a little time there last year and I posted a photo of a swimming hole there. This week my wife and I took some time to float a few miles of the Jacks Fork and explore around a bit. We went to see "Round Spring", which is pretty much on the main path, and "Blue Spring", which is pretty far off the main path, but hardly forgotten. Right now the entire area is as lush as a rainforest.

At Blue Spring we met some locals our age that grew up in the area, Poli and Debbie. They were lounging on the gravel bar and loving life so we spent about an hour hanging out with them. Debbie told us about some caves near where we were, and showed us the cave where the Blue Spring is. It's pretty well hidden behind some boulders but once you're inside the water is around 300 feet deep. We swam in the swimming hole outside it but that water coming out of it was pretty darn cold so we stayed where it was nice and perfect. I think I'd rather float a boat over to it and peek inside anyway.

I'm thinking I'll have to go backpacking around in there this coming season. It's pretty crowded this time of year, and there's way too much poison ivy to want to bushwhack around now, but there are amazingly sweet spots all over along in there that really deserve to be explored in the cool season.

I didn't take any photos, but the link above has tons of them. None of them compare with swimming in that spring fed river this time of year though.

Bill, I have a friend who only does a bp trip or two a year wiht some of us, he's off kayaking bays along the coast here in Kalifornia with a group. I think the paddling is easier for him, maybe sees more women that way too. He is retired now, working a couple days a week, can't get his handicapped daughter to make it on her own, so she still lives in his house and he still has bills to pay, wanting to sell the house for something smaller. Don't know how much traveling I want to do in a few more years when I retire.
Duane

Used to float the Jacks Fork back in my college days. One of my classmates and his family had a float service, and he was working on a class project mapping geologic contacts along the river so of course several of us had to help him. There are a number of caves including one I think was called 'Jam Up' cave. someplace I have a picture of me and my group taken from the mouth of the cave but not sure I can put my hands on it. Floating was a nice change from backpacking, we could bring cast iron skillets and do some 'Shannon County Fishing' for shore lunch. I remember the waters of Blue Spring joining the Jack, it was beautiful, and I took several trips through that water. The Lewis family (my buddy) was always gracious and fed us real home-cooked food before and at the end of the trip.