GALENA, Mo.–About $250,000 is being spent to stop Mother Nature from causing any further damage in Galena.
Large rock will be put in place to stop erosion and try to correct the flow of the James River. About fifty feet of the bank has disappeared in the last few years. Flooding in 2008 and again this Spring have accelerated the problem, and if it keeps up, it could compromise the Highway 413/248 bridge. (more)
A collection of images from the James River between Delaware Town and Hootentown. Produced by James River Basin Partnership
The Galena Farmers And Crafters Market kicked off it’s 2011 season earlier this month and by all accounts it was a success. More vendors are needed to supply spring produce including lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage and onions. Fee’s are $10 and according to Debbie Bridges you can sell all summer long! It is a perfect way for the community to come together and provide fresh fruits and vegetables, canned goods and local crafts for our community and visitors alike. And once a month on Saturday’s we can all enjoy some family entertainment! For more information on how to join call Debbie Bridges at 417-559- 1089 or Connie Johnson at 417- 357-6061
Crane Creek Market opens at 8:00 a.m. till noon every Saturday. Located on highway 413 at the old grocery store parking lot. There is still vendor space available. Vendors that have not already signed up are welcome to come that morning, and remember that everything must be locally produced, homemade or handmade. There will not be any fees for vendors. The are also looking for local musicians so grab your fiddles, guitars and banjos for an hometown jam session. Come join us Saturday to sell or shop and support your local community. Contact Patty at mcmpatty@gmail.com for more information and with any questions.
A flash flood watch for Southwest Missouri is now extended through Sunday morning because of all the rain from Friday. A meterologist with the National Weather Service says 1 to 2 1/2 inches of rain fell across the area. The runoff will cause rivers, creeks and streams to rise. Folks downstream from Table Rock and Beaver Lakes could see more water as the Army Corps of Engineers may release the excess. Expect the rain to stick with us. There’s a daily chance of showers and thunderstorms through the middle of next week.
THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR
* PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND MISSOURI…INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS…
IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS…BOURBON…CHEROKEE AND CRAWFORD.
IN MISSOURI…BARRY…BARTON…BENTON…
CAMDEN…CEDAR…CHRISTIAN…DADE…DALLAS…DENT…DOUGLAS…GREENE…HICKORY…HOWELL…JASPER…LACLEDE…LAWRENCE…MARIES…MCDONALD…MILLER…MORGAN…NEWTON…OREGON…
OZARK…PHELPS…POLK…PULASKI…SHANNON…ST. CLAIR…STONE…TANEY…TEXAS…VERNON…WEBSTER AND WRIGHT.
* THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING.
* ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AS MORE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. HEAVY RAINFALL ON ALREADY SATURATED SOIL COULD LEAD TO FLASH FLOODINGAS WELL AS RIVER FLOODING.
* LOW LYING AREAS NEAR CREEKS AND STREAMS AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS WILL BE ESPECIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLASH FLOODING.
THOSE CAMPING OR FLOATING ON AREA RIVERS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR RIVER LEVELS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK HIGHER GROUND.
THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS ANNOUNCED THAT RELEASES FROM BEAVER AND TABLE ROCK LAKES MAY BE INCREASED AS A RESULT OF ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL. THOSE DOWN STREAM FROM THESE DAMS INCLUDING LAKE TANEYCOMO SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE PROPER ACTION IF INCREASED RELEASES ARE REQUIRED.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.
We would love to see the photos you gathered during the 2011 flood.
Compared to the flood of 2008
July 8-10, 2011 at Hootentown
Hootontown Motorcycle Rally
Hootontown Campground on James River
1254 Hooten Town Road
417-369-2266
Take Highway 160 south through Nixa and Highlandville, then turn west on Highway O before you get to Spokane.
Old school biker camping like it used to be with live music, Poker Run, wet t-shirt contest, tattoo contest, bike games, vendors, and canoe rental is available. Lots of shady camping.
Admission $15 per person and No one under 18 is permitted.
For more information call 417-334-0775 or 417-830-6900
* Needless to say this will not be a family oriented event. If you plan on a family float trip look for another date.
Carving its way through the Missouri Ozark Mountains is the spring fed and crystal clear, North Fork River.
In 1992 my brother and I took our father, Jerry Sr., to the North Fork for his first float trip. The “float trip” became an annual ritual for “Senior” and five others. Over the years, we have enjoyed the timeless beauty of the river, the thrill of jumping into Rainbow Spring and shooting the rapids, and the great times spent with family and friends. 
The float trip has included many other rituals such as, Senior insisting on a red canoe, frosty beverages, fireworks, grilling of fine steaks a/k/a “the good meat”, and a gallon of the “float trip pickles”. (more)
The Abandoned In Stone County Series
Way back off a now closed paved county highway I stumbled upon this gem sitting in a steep gully on a hillside.
It was overgrown, it was classic. A perfect place for an off the grid lifestyle. The “hollar” was laced with trash from dumpers, not the former owners but what I call traveling trashers. It kills me that people think they can drive up in a remote area and simply unload their trash.
Amazingly the property wasn’t more trashed. I guess the dumpers thought someone still lived there and left the driveway untouched with their garbage. I noticed the stone landscaping had been carefully placed at one time with a fairly long run of it, lining the drive. Cleaned up and polished this would be a nice cottage for a retired couple or some first time buyers.
A little closer look at the stonework above the garage shows it wasn’t just thrown together. I think someone had laid the stone after the house was constructed. This place had to have been rough cedar as shown above the front door. I also imagine the runoff from rains would have been a bit nasty from time to time. To the right of the house is a good sized ravine, maybe 40 foot drop near the house. I also bet it’s a magnet for copperheads.
That corner fireplace is sure a looker. Not much of a yard but here on the hill who cares…weed whack the yard. The front steps and porch had crumbled away so there wasn’t much to see. I keep looking for those copperheads…geez.
This perspective gives you an idea of the elevation on the place. The ravine on the other side was impossible to capture, trust me, it was wicked deep. It added to the charm, at least that’s what my wife would say. Besides the copperheads I kept my eye out for a cave where I might find an old still.
The real feature to this place wasn’t the house or the remote location. It wasn’t all that remote, it was just off the main highway not more than 500 yards. Across the highway was the James River, I could drop the boat in the water in 5 minutes time. This would be a great weekend getaway, a real mancave. Bet it’s cheap.
If this were to be “The Mancave” I’ll have to figure out where to put the giant flatscreen and the satellite dish. The corner fireplace was in pretty good overall shape…needs an insert though and a few of my buddies to watch the Chiefs…whose bringing the beer and wings?
Spending time on the James River doesn’t make me an expert. It does give me some insight in how to tackle situations in regards to catching fish. Here in The Ozark’s you might not catch a whopper but you will catch a great view of The Ozark’s from the front of the boat. I have taken folks fishing who have just moved to The Ozark’s and have literally no experience outdoors, that doesn’t make them any less “pumped” about going. They remind me of my kids when they were young and full of excitement about the next day’s trip, so much they couldn’t sleep. On the way down to the river in the truck they were sawing logs the entire way.
They asked a millions questions, always thinking I had the answers. Unfortunately, there are no magical, easy answers when it comes to catching fish. I learned through the years that the experts were a dime a dozen. I like to keep it simple especially when teaching kids. I explained to them that they have to learn the basics of fishing… current, depth, shade and casting.
Largemouth Bass Painting by Ralph Martens
The James River and it’s feeder creeks are engineered in two ways eddy’s and shoals. However no two are seemingly ever the same. Year in and year out they change, so you have to learn to read the water. Flooding makes the river structure shift, change or disappear so the log you saw last fall might be completely gone the following spring. Most fish like to hold in the shade of a tree in the summer months. In the winter months those fish will stage in deeper holes. These holes will be the deepest, largest bodies of water and tend to have the least amount or most drastic change during colder weather. As the temperatures rise in the spring those bass will move to feed more freely and start looking for places to spawn. The upper and lower ends of the holes can be depended upon for holding these fish as water conditions allow. Once spring has arrived in The Ozark’s and water temps stabilize fish will be consistently found in these holes.
There are more than a few objectives about reading the water and they concern bass behavior, variables of the river or stream and the weather. I am only touching on the basics.
Reading The Breaks
You need to identify a break in the river’s current as it generally is a holding area for fish. Smallmouth and largemouth are ambushers, they usually sit in the current break to conserve energy. Anything that breaks the current be it a log or a bridge pier is a resting place for these ambushers.
Shade
This is an absolute must for predators, they want to lurk in darkness and then pounce on the prey. Find the deepest, darkest places on the river and you’ll find dinner. Throw in a current break and you have it made in the shade. An oxygenated area where their food source is being washed into them can be excellent and you can, at times, sit there all day.
Casting
Perfect your skills, learn to cast on a dime and remember not to spook the fish. Throw beyond the target area and bring it back to the spot. Let it wash into the hole and hang on.
And perhaps the most important thing you can do is to take a kid fishing. Practice catch and release and teach them to respect the Ozarks outdoors.
Abandoned In Stone County
Ever driven down an old country road, past a crumbling old farm house and thought to yourself “I bet that place has a million stories. I wonder who lived there?” I know I have and in most cases I am so busy going somewhere I don’t even pay attention to them. Once in a great while I get up just enough gumption to park the truck and grab the camera. This is one place I couldn’t pass up.
This home was struck down by a huge tree that uprooted and fell through most of the structure.
Sometimes you have to look beyond the current condition of things and use your imagination to see the positives to a house like this. The stonework is classic Ozarks, you don’t find work like this in many places other than the Ozarks. It’s color and size make it especially nice and the craftsmanship was excellent. It is a shame that the tree took it out. It gets better, just follow me…
At this angle you can see that the tree simply ripped it's way through.
This tree was massive and did enormous amounts of damage.
The back porch is roughly a 10′ span attached to the house and covered with clear material to let the light in. I bet they had plants. It sat on a poured concrete slab which was very cool to the touch, we’ll get into the natural air conditioning shortly. The porch actually held under the weight of the tree, amazing stuff.
Behind the house stood the family (root cellar?), a two story built into the bluff side.
The well house was something extraordinary, two stories with built in shelves upstairs and large material storage downside. It was also equipt with electricity and ran a refridgerator which was still sitting where they left it.
Built in shelves to store canned goods, and lots of them.
Standing at the well house the view to the back of the house and the spring house in the foreground.
Notice the steps leading down from the house into the spring house, a perfect set up for the milk cans.
Used for storing milk and cream cans I imagine.
However another possibility hit me like a trout takes a mayfly…it might have been used to raise trout. With a small cool water lake adjacent to the house and connected to the spring it is possible.
This spring was really putting out the water, and cold...really cold. Making the concrete cool all the way to the back porch of the house. Natural AC!
I noticed that the walls of the springhouse were brown from probably iron in the water.
It flowed out and then into the lake through a concrete whistle that was built by hand.
This is what really caught my interest. The iron bridge minus the wood walkway is still usable.
I would love to walk out in my front yard to a view like this.
The proximity of the lake to the house was just right, not more than 50 feet away from the house and access from the back and the side of the house. This was well thought out, if I had the chance to do something with this place I would simply clean it up, remove the wooden structures and rebuild as close to original as I could. Cleaned up and fresh this would make one nice place to entertain. On a sad note, the house was fully furnished including clothes still hanging in the closet, a half stocked kitchen, appliances in tact, a wood burning stove, couches and chairs, bedding and such. It makes you think that the owners may have suffered consequences from the tree as it hit directly in a bedroom area and the fact it’s still furnished. It doesn’t look like it’s been lived in for 10 years or more.
I will mention I only take photos away from places like this. I never give out any locations and I usually am careful about property owners privacy…but I couldn’t resist. My apologies.
Ozarks Fishin’
