Camping at Powder Mill (Owl's Bend)

Blue Spring

Cold and Misty Morning on the Current River

Trying to catch trout at Cedar Grove

Midland Water Snake(subspecies of Northern Water)?

Fowler's Toad

It was trying very hard to blend in, but our resident animal catcher spotted him.

Bullfrog

This juvenile water snake was eating a juvenile catfish.  Babies eating babies.

Our daily catch

Montauk Spring

The beginning of the Current River

 Muskrat in the spring

He kept popping up to eat plants

Phacelia(Miami Mist)

Blue Phlox (Wild Sweet William)

Wild Geranium(Crane's Bill)

We went south to the Current River for a much needed camping trip.  The dogwoods were in bloom and provided a dusting of white through the barely green forest.
The first 2 nights were bitterly cold and we were forced to use tablecloths, beach towels, mittens, hats, and winter coats.  Judy was also allowed to sleep in the tent in order to provide more body heat.  All of this was done in vain though and we didn't sleep much.  There was frost in the morning.
Owl's bend only has 8 sites and it was ours alone for the first 2 nights.  It is in the national scenic riverways and the Ozark Trail passes by on the other side of the river.
Blue spring, which is located 1.5 miles down the river, is a large, beautiful undisturbed spring.  The hike is scenic and includes a little bit of everything.  The area right around the spring was last logged around 1872, oh my goodness it is beautiful!  The Osage Indians called this spring "Spring of the Summer Sky" because of its brilliant blue color.
We traveled up the river to Cedar Grove and also to Montauk to try our hand at trout fishing.  We failed.  Montauk is where the Current river begins and it starts out surprisingly strong.
We discovered once again that another popular and expensive tick medicine does NOT work as promised.  Judy came home with so many ticks i stopped pulling them off.
I brought home many ticks myself, despite taking the proper precautions.  And they make me quite miserable afterwards, itching for several months.  Not sure why it has gotten worse as i have gotten older.  Oh well, helps keep this beautiful place wild.