Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

     Back to Hasty, our second visit in nine days,  nothing has changed.  Riggs Hole is still peaceful and relaxing as well as beautiful.  We set up our day camp in the same spot noticing there seems to be a few more people today, but three ladies nearest to us soon pack up and leave.  It’s just like last time, people come and go but nobody stays very long.    I don’t know why this is, but I’m not complaining.      I swim for a while and Kat floats around Riggs Hole a lot, I spend most of the afternoon napping in my beach chair.  All the exploring at Big Creek must have worn me out.   Between napping and swimming,  I go exploring up and down the beach.    Riggs hole is a lot longer than I thought, extending just as far downriver of the launch area as upriver.  The downriver portion isn't as deep though, the kids end of the pool you could call it.  Upstream Riggs Hole ends at the bend to...

    There is a spot along SR 123 south of Piercetown where Big Creek is right next to the highway, at a big parking area.  We have driven past here many times and always say ‘someday we’ll stop to check it out’, well today we do just that.  It’s a gorgeous location on Big Creek but from the parking area you can’t really get down to the water, to make things worse someone has been dumping trash all along here, but we don't give up just yet.      Backtrack less than a quarter mile to the first road down to Big Creek and a concrete low water bridge, this is Bethlehem Road (NC 4515).  Just across the bridge are fields on both sides of the road and seldom used paths going both north and south.    We head south towards that spot we saw from the highway.  The ‘road’ soon enters the woods and a fork with ‘private property’ postings on the left fork, so we take the right which turns into a narrow ATV trail at a nice campsite.  This...

     Leaving Carver, we head north on Highway 123 a short way to the Hasty Cut-off.  After crossing the high bridge it’s only about a quarter mile to the entrance east down to Hasty Canoe Landing.  Pulling off the pavement it is about 100 yards down the steep, rutted access road to the parking lot and restroom.    We came here once last year with the intention of spending a day swimming and relaxing but as soon as we got out of the truck the dark skies broke loose with a downpour.      We didn’t do any swimming that day but instead settled for a drive around in the rain on some very muddy back roads.    Today under sunny skies we grab our stuff and head down the steep, sandy bank to the canoe launch area and gravel beach.  This is about the middle of Riggs Hole, we head upstream, across the river is towering Chimney Rock Bluff.  This is easily the tallest bluff we have seen at a swimming hole, and a beauty of a bluff ...

    So far this summer  life has been pretty hectic,  we have kept busy with home-improvement projects and health issues.  Here it is July already, today   w ith temperatures predicted in the upper nineties, we're finally going to get a late start on swimming season.   I have chosen Tin Hole at Carver Landing as someplace new to check out.      We have been to Carver many times, usually it’s nothing more than a pit-stop on our way further south.   Since Carver is so easy to get to, I wonder how we've overlooked Tin Hole for this long.   We drive down the Carver Campground Road east off of Highway 123, past the campground and restroom all the way to the Buffalo River canoe launch area at the confluence with Big Creek.   Here we turn right, upstream less than 100 yards to a shady area close to the highway bridge over the Buffalo. gravel bar at Carver Landing (pic taken in winter)     Tin Hole just downstream of ri...