In case you missed Part 1 – I’ve linked it there. The 2nd day paddle was a little bit of a challenge with more wind and a few shoals to maneuver, but no less beautiful. Often on the 2nd day is when we start to relax and really start to enjoy the float. After having spent the morning looking at the otters and eagles along the way (from previous post) we decided to stop right at the crook of Horseshoe bend for lunch, in a beautiful spot which wasn’t marked on any of our maps, but should have been. There happened to be a cave in the nearby bluff which we scrambled up to see:

There’s a nice fire ring and a flat meadow which would be perfect for camping, but we were not nearly ready to stop yet for the night. As we were finishing up lunch, 3 USFS Rangers pulled up in a flat bottom boat with a motor. As we watched them approach, of course we wondered if we were in trouble. After they greeted us, they all 3 got out of the boat and headed strait up to the cave. They were gone again before we were! As it was Eclipse 2024 weekend, surely they expected lots of suspicious activity. After lunch, we packed up and were on our way again.

There’s not any written information about the Horseshoe bend section of the river that I could find but I can tell you that motor boats are allowed in this area. We have not often been on rivers in canoes with others in motor boats – but most of them were respectful of their speed so as not to capsize us in their wakes. Someone posted a Youtube video about Devil’s tree just before Horseshoe bend- so I’ll share that here:

We floated a few more hours, and decided to set up camp in the early afternoon so we could enjoy some trout fishing, and some hammock naps. We stopped about .55 miles before Whitten, which was around mile 27. I started trout fishing while Shannon set up camp and was thrilled to catch a good one. Shannon caught another one later and we enjoyed some excellent fresh trout over the camp fire with dinner:

After dinner, we stayed up late enough to be able to see the stars and satellites. The view of the sky was incredible, and with the sound of the river and the sound of the wildlife it was an exceptional experience. We fell asleep easily and woke to a cold morning.

• Side note – at the very end of the year, my employer sent out an email with a list of items we could choose from as a “thank you” gift. Many of the people I work with chose a tan fleece pullover, or an umbrella. I chose a dry bag and this was the first opportunity I’ve had to try it out and I want to say that it was an excellent item! Thank you COA! I am grateful to work for an organization who takes such great care of their employees.

This was the morning of the eclipse and we were very happy to see that the skies were relatively clear. We’d been nervous to see that cloudy skies were a possible prediction, and after having come all this way, we were hopeful that we’d get to see the total eclipse. We paddled for a couple of hours, past the Greenbriar float camp and found a nice spot to have some lunch and watch the eclipse which was set to begin around 12:30pm. We got out our glasses, set up a hammock, and enjoyed chatting with the other paddlers on the river about the excitement of the clear skies and likely being able to see it.

Without a previous reference point for a total eclipse, although excited to see it, I wasn’t prepared for how incredible it would be! It was truly amazing. We had around 4 minutes of total eclipse and it was extraordinary. We were interested and excited to hear the owls start to hoot, and Shannon said he could hear the wood ducks “going to roost” by a certain noise they made. There was a slight sunrise to the east and sunset to the west and I tried to capture it in a video.

We could hear people ahead of and behind us on the river whooping and cheering when it was happening. While we didn’t want to exactly be shoulder to shoulder with a field-full of watchers, it was fun and brought a sense of camaraderie to hear everyone cheering and playing songs like “total eclipse of the heart” on theme.

And then just as quickly as it came – the light started to return. We’d been watching it every step of the way as it was happening, but after totality had passed, we were ready to get back to paddling! As the takeout was at mile 35, we wanted to make it to just before so that we only had a few miles to go the next morning as we had to drive the full 7 hours back to Alabama. There was one last old mill and Spring to see on the way out called the Turtle Island Spring.

We didn’t take any pictures of our 3rd night campsite but it was more convenient than awesome. The next morning, we paddled out in about 20 minutes. Here’s a picture of the bridge just before the Riverton Access, and a few of the signs marking the location:

We were more excited to see the eclipse than we were about floating this river, however, the river float far exceeded our expectations. Not only is it a beautiful float, with gorgeous clear water, but the wildlife is abundant. As it’s a lesser known river, there are no large crowds – at least in early April. We would jump at the chance to return. Last but not least, I want to mention the excellent lunch we had on the way back in Pocahontas, Arkansas at Kerley’s. I couldn’t find a website but I’ve linked their facebook page. After 3 days on the river, it was absolute perfection. Shannon and Lee had Meat and 3 and Jango and I had cheeseburgers and we all had some coconut and chocolate pie! It looked like everyone in town in a work truck was eating there with us – always a good sign!!!!