Yeah, Jim, you'd sure want your helmet for a ride on the Buffalo right now.

The Buffalo is truly a "Wild" river. No dams from source to mouth and it has some real fast drops in elevation up near the source (Boxly to Ponca). Past that, it really gets roaring, like the Kern in California, you can hear boulders rumbling downstream when it hits the levels it's at now and huge trees will catapult you or slam you around if you're in there with them. (I can see Jim now thinking, "Wow, that sounds like real fun <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm sure you're aware of all that stuff, but I'm always awed by the power of mountain rivers.

I'm with Chaz though, I do the River Ozark Style. On a weekday when the Sun is shining and the current is going fast enough to push you nicely along, no paddling required, and every now and then you get a little "Rapids" to give you a thrill, and the water is perfect for snorkeling and swimming and cliff jumping, that's when I'll be there.

We call it "Floating the River", not "Running the Rapids" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> You have to know when to go. I'm lucky, I can often go there when I know it's perfect.

Chaz's timing is about as good as you can schedule it ahead of time. There will probably be a 30% chance of thunderstorms that may produce heavy rain. (That's always the forecast that time of year) I look at it like this, 2 out of 3 times it will be perfect.

Bill