Floating the Upper Jacks Fork

Outdoor Revelations Bill Cooper June

2016

On the upper Jacks Fork River wilderness reigns. There are no road overpasses, hordes of humans nor drone of jetboat engines. A few strokes of the paddle and my floating partner, Ron Kruger and I, are swept into the speedy current, away from the simple access at Blue Spring and into a wild, watery world which few people ever experience. The Jacks Fork is a tributary of the much larger Current River. Combined these two rivers form the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, America’s first designated national park for a wild river stream system and the longest protected, free-flowing waterways in the nation. I have lived in the Ozarks for over 40 years and have floated lower sections of the Jacks Fork, which are spectacular. The upper reaches of the river have evaded me for decades. Floatable usually only in early spring, the upper portions of the river lack enough water to float a canoe the rest of the year. The working life, obligations and bad timing had kept me from exploring this most wild and scenic portion of any of our Ozark rivers, until now. Blue Spring emerges from a cave at the base of a bluff almost three miles below Buck Hollow at Highway 17, the usual spring time put-in for the upper river. The spring adds 3 million gallons of some of the purest water in the state to the Jacks Fork’s flow. We silently pushed our kayaks into the current and were immediately swept into a world of natural wonderment. Gin clear water allowed a magical clear view of every rock and living thing on the bottom of the river, which lay three feet below, yet appeared to be at the surface. Towering, multi-colored bluffs and emerald green, deep pools greeted us at every turn. I soon understood why the Jacks Fork is called the Mozart of Ozark streams. It truly is a step above the rest, an amazing wild collection of water, geologic features and plant and animal life. Engulfed in the beauty that surround3ed me, I felt like I had been ushered into my idea of heaven on earth. Less than two miles downstream we entered the Jacks Fork Natural Area, which is accessible only by canoe. The river flows three miles though this designated natural area, known for its extensive and unique biodiversity, which includes over 450 native plant species. We round a curve and flow with the current, now to the south. According to maps, near the south end of the west-facing slope is the little-known Jacks Fork Natural Arch. It is a few hundred feet u a steep, forested hillside hidden from summertime floaters. Most float on by oblivious to its existence. I will visit it this fall or winter, when the leaves are down. A sea of ferns drape the faces of shaded, seep-dampened, dolomite bluffs. My favorite, ebony spleenwort is prolific. Walking ferns and maidenhairs feed the eery, mysterious atmosphere of these hidden places. I fully expect to spot Leprechauns. Rare plants, relics of our last Ice Age, some 12,000 years ago, cling to life here among the cooler north-facing slopes. Glacial relics like the harebell and false bugbane still exist, tucked into their micro-habitats. Kruger photographed the bugbane, to add to his collection of over 500 wildflowers. Every stretch of the upper Jacks Fork is magnificent beyond words. One could spend a lifetime here absorbing the elixir of the wild and scenic that soothes our souls like nothing else. The Creation is exemplified here by its very nature of existence. If only the hurting of the world could experience, the peace, the tranquility, the transcendence of the spirit above body and mind. All exposed to the wonder would leave renewed and inspired. The Jacks Fork continues to reveal itself to us as we drift downstream. A mere three miles from Blue Spring we round the bend and are struck by the magnificent opening of Jam Up Cave. A cathedral-sized archway, an enormous 80x100 feet leaves us spellbound. My imagination runs wild. How many eons did the power of water droplets take to shape this amazing creation? How long is the passage? What lives there? One of the most spectacular cave entrances in the state, Jam Up Cave holds many mysteries. I understand that it is gated far back in the cave to protect breeding bats. Old writings indicate that the cave may be explored in daylight hours back to a lake which is the plunge-basin for falls from the upper section. The upper section may be entered from a sinkhole in Lost Hollow. The Jacks Fork is home to an amazing variety of aquatic life including 67 species of fish, such as smallmouth bass, suckers, long-ear sunfish, goggle-eye, largemouth bass, gar and chain pickerel. Forty of the species are native and six are found nowhere outside the Ozarks: Ozark shiners, Ozark madtoms, checkered madtoms, Current River saddled darters, Ozark chubs and Ozark sculpins. Although Kruger and I love every spectacular aspect of the Jacks Fork, we had smallmouth bass on our minds, too. This section of the river is a designated smallmouth management area by the Missouri Department of Conservation. During the open season on stream bass, from Memorial Day until the end of February, only one smallmouth of 18-inches or better may be kept per day. However, I highly encourage anglers to release these rare fish. An 18-inch smallmouth may be a dozen years old. Few live long enough to reach those proportions. Let them go to thrill another angler and live their lives out in the wilds of the Jacks Fork River. Weather front and dropping water foiled our smallmouth fishing plans, but the prolific long-ear sunfish, or pumpkinseed, kept our flyrods bouncing. All to soon, we reached our take-out at Rhymers Access. We had experienced an incredible day afloat on the Jacks Fork. I’ll be this fall to float the “Jacks Fork Canyon once more.”