Lower Buffy: Trip Report and Laugh at Deuce's Expense

[Deuce]

Thinking about throwing together a trip on the lower Buffy this weekend, maybe Rush to Buffalo City. My objectives for this expedition are to splash my newly rigged raft, fish, camp, and have a good time. I've never made this trip, and I've never rowed a raft, but it looks like the water level is at least floatable and I'm jonesin' BAD for some H20 time. Plus, given the near zero chance of flipping this seems like a good section to begin teaching myself how to handle this frankenraft I've assembled. Anyone have thoughts; general or specific, good or bad?

[daxhaltom]

Depending on how much water they are releasing from bull shoals dam I would recommend floating down the white river to shipps ferry. otherwise you will have to paddle upstream to buffalo city. I did it once and it was terrible.

[Deuce]

Good advice, Dax. Thanks. I'll be equipped with a 42 lb thrust trolling motor for times when I want a break from the oars. Do you think it would be sufficient to get me (14' raft) upstream under normal conditions? Can't imagine there will be a lot of generation. Also, don't think I made it clear, but this should considered an open invitation and not just a solicitation for advice.

[daxhaltom]

I wouldnt expect them to be letting out much water so you should be fine. The time I floated to Buffalo City was when the lake was flooding into the campgorunds so they had some of the gates open. We were in canoes and ended up getting towed by some helpful people in john boats. lol. I love that float though.

[Owl]

Rather than paddling upstream to Buffalo City you can also take out at the outfitter Riley's Station which requires mostly just ferrying across the the White from the Buffalo confluence. Link below.

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[panicman]

Keep in mind if you have a trolling motor on your raft technically you are supposed to have your boat registered in arkansas. Any craft powered by motor or sail in arkansas. If they wanted to be a @#$% they could hit you with a ticket. Thats the only reason I have my canoe registered.

[Deuce]

Thanks for the reminder. I'll do it today.

[Deuce]

The Lower Buffalo float did go down. We arrived at Rush Saturday a couple hours late due to a trailer issue and didn't get on the water until 5:00 or so. The weather was outstanding except for the wind, which always seems to accompany nice weather in February. The level was around four feet, which I will now concur is the bare mininum for a raft. As expected we had our pick of gravel bars for camping. Other than a mild stomach bug that afflicted my buddy the float from Rush to the mouth was fun but uneventful. The fishing was less than stellar, but it was great just to be there. We did encounter a very friendly young man and his female companion in a john boat. We were also accompanied by a very loud dog for several miles. She ran alongside us on the bank baying like a coon hound and swam back and forth across the river, occasionally trying to enter the raft. If she had managed to scramble in we probably would have let her ride with us for a while. For obvious reasons we decided to call her Sounder. We arrived at the confluence around 11:30 Monday morning and proceeded to float past what we later learned was Riley's Landing but at the time incorrectly believed was White Buffalo. :shock: Somehow we managed to get on the water sans map or GPS. Not a good idea. We continued down the White for several hours with a growing sense of dread that something was amiss. We eventually began to see houses, but they were all empty, so we did the only thing we could; kept floating. We finally encountered a gentleman from Shreveport working on his boss's vacation home. He had no idea where Riley's Landing was but was kind enough to cart me from house to house until we finally found a local who confirmed my worst fear and advised us that our only option at that point was to float on down to Norfork. By then it was 3:30 and floating several more miles was not really a viable option, so the gentleman from Shreveport drove me to Riley's to retrieve my truck. By the time I returned my buddy had unloaded the dry boxes and cooler from the frame and deflated the raft. What a guy. We loaded up and hightailed it back to central Arkansas, arriving at 9:50 two weary but wiser river rats. My wife is accustomed to my misadventures and thought nothing of it, but I'm pretty sure I got my partner in dutch with his old lady. He may not be able to go with me any more. We returned home safe with no injuries or equipment failure and had a good time despite the miscues, so I call it a win. I'll definitely be spending more time on the Buffy and on the raft but will be equipped with an additional source of propulsion for when the wind and/or sore arms render it preferable to human power.

[Cowper]

My wife is accustomed to my misadventures and thought nothing of it....

I'll definitely be spending more time on the Buffy and on the raft but will be equipped with an additional source of propulsion for when the wind and/or sore arms render it preferable to human power.

Your wife has the right idea. You don't remember the trips where nothing happened.

Just curious, did you decide not to take the trolling motor after all, did the battery just run out of juice before the trip ended, or was it just that knowing it was a multi-day trip you had to conserve some battery power by rowing more?

My current battery is good for about one long day, running maybe 75% of the time at half speed, but I wouldn't expect it to still be going on day 3 if I used it more than just a little bit each day. A friend of mine who did a 2 or 3 day trip dealt with this by taking two batteries, which were both drained by the time the trip ended.

[Deuce]

I had good intentions of getting set up to use the trolling motor, but just couldn't find time to get the mount rigged so I had to leave it behind. My plan is to have two bends made on a stick of 1.25" EMT and bolt a piece of treated plywood onto it. Then I'll slide two T fittings with set screws onto the back rail of my frame and attach the mount when I want to use it. That's the plany anyway. I've bought a two horse that will be perfect for the raft and my square stern canoe.