Camp Zoe Memories
Float Trip
The Current River is a spring-fed stream of unparalleled beauty. The Ozark National Scenic Riverway was created to preserve the pristine scenery along the Current. Caves, old log cabins, springs, cliffs for diving, and numerous gravel bars line the banks of the Current river.
My first float trip was with Boys cabin in 1976. We put in at Pull-Tite and floated down to the Sinking-Current junction in about four hours. I spotted a heron looking for fish in the shallows. There were rapids too, but they weren't Deliverance rapids. I felt a twinge of adrenaline as I shot through the white caps without swamping.
The counselors found cold beer in the water along the way. They didn't bring it with them. The single cans of brands like Schlitz and Olympia came from other people who swamped in the tricky parts of the river. Nobody got drunk or anything, but that behavior by counselors warranted dismissal if the owners found out about it. I think they took a chance because previous camp director and co-owner John Hambacker was phasing out his participation. The principal owners, Jack and Lois Peters, had yet to take over the duties Hambacker did in the past. Counselors called the shots that summer.
Sometimes we took our overnight gear and spent the night on the water. The gravel bars made excellent campsites as long as you put a pad under your sleeping bag. Raccoons infiltrated the perimeter in search of food. We waived the "no throwing rocks" rule to save our lunch meat.
Veteran Zoe counselors knew of a giant cave populated by bats. You couldn't see the bat cave from the river. If you landed on a certain gravel bar, an unmarked dirt trail led up the mountain to the huge, half-rotunda entrance. Campers and counselors climbed the guano deposits that covered the cave floor. Guano spelunking stopped after people learned that it transmitted a disease of the lungs called histoplasmosis. The cave was also known to the park service. They posted a sign at the entrance. I forget what it said. In fact, I forgot where that trail to the bat cave was located. I searched for the bat cave trail on a float trip I took with college friends in 1988, but I couldn't find it.
Hear more about Current River canoe legends from Lucy Hirsch.