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Showers and a possible thunderstorm during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Morning high of 66F with temps falling to near 55. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..
Tonight
Partly cloudy skies. Low 36F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
My grandson, Ronnie Austin, spent a few weeks with me this summer. We shared a lot of outdoor adventures together, including, kayaking, hiking, camping, and fishing. Our favorite trip, however, was a three-day camping trip to Council Bluff Lake, a U.S. Forest Service Lake east of Bixby.
Council Bluff Lake consists of 440-acres on the Iron- Washington County line. Nestled in the oak hickory forests of the Ozark highlands, the lake is deep and clear. It spreads out over the hills and hollows like a mangled hand, fingers pointing in all directions of the compass.
Ronnie and I pulled our pop-up camper into the ridge-top campground around noon on Tuesday. We drove the entire loop in order to pick the perfect campsite. In the process, we only encountered three other campers. A large family group occupied one of the group campsites. Grandpas to babies and family dogs comprised this amiable group of people, who were obviously experienced campers.
It was a great pleasure to see such a large family group enjoying the outdoors together. They were well organized and appeared to be having a grand time. They enjoyed yard games, with a crowd of participants, complete with babies in strollers watching the antics of older cousins and adults.
Ronnie Austin and grandpa Bill enjoy their campsite at Council Bluff Lake.
Submitted
Ronnie and I settled on a campsite about half way through the 3/4 mile long campground. There are no electric hook-ups at the campground, but we were prepared. We could run lights off of our camper’s battery. We quickly erected the camper, placed chairs around the fire ring and began building a campfire. No camp is complete without a campfire.
Ronnie worked frantically to get the campfire going. A boy’s fascination with campfires is a subject of much discussion. I’ve heard some say that is a connection to our primordial past, while others say poking a fire is just a fun thing to do. Regardless, Ronnie had the fire going in short order and we soon enjoyed the roaring blaze from a healthy distance. The temperature hovered in the 90-degree range, but we had to have a campfire to make our camp feel complete.
After a lunch of hot-dogs, which we roasted over the campfire, while sweating profusely, we enjoyed our charred dogs, chips and cool drinks. After a brief rest, we prepared to head to the beach area. Council Bluff Lake sports a large beach area, complete with a shower house, small store and lots of sand. It is the perfect place for a summertime dip, or as a place to hang out with family and friends while enjoying the water and playing games on the sandy beach.
After a couple of hours on the beach, Ronnie and I packed it up and drove over the ridge to another cove of the lake where the boat ramp is located. There we unloaded our kayaks and fishing gear. It felt good to be paddling again. The previous week the two of us enjoyed an overnight float-camp trip on the Meramec River.
We paddled out into the arm of the lake and began fishing. I brought along a brand-new spinning outfit and a bait-caster. Ronnie brought one spinning outfit. We had hopes of catching a few largemouth bass.
I picked up my new spinning outfit, which I had gotten for my birthday, a week earlier. I made three casts with the rod and laid it aside to pick up my bait-caster, which was rigged with a top-water lure. In the process, I knocked the new rod into the lake. I managed to hook it twice with my paddle, but it ultimately slid off into the water and disappeared.
Ronnie paddled over and we began dragging bottom with lures in hopes of snagging the rod. When that failed, Ronnie beached his kayak and began diving for the rod. It went down in 6-feet of water, so Ronnie felt he had a good chance of finding it. Alas, all he managed to bring to the surface was a few sticks the diameter of my rod. He did, however, feel certain that he could locate the rod if he had a set of googles.
An evening fire and bbq ribs soon made me forget about losing my new rod. Ronnie and I enjoyed one another’s company around the fire as we recounted trips we had made together and all the fun we had enjoyed over the last few years. Screech owls and whip-poor-wills serenaded us into the night, until the rigors of our day of adventure began to work on our eyelids. Sleep came easy.
We awoke to a slight drizzle the next morning, but our campfire still smoldered. Ronnie had gotten up several times during the night to keep the fire alive. Boys and campfires seem to be joined at the hip.
We enjoyed a hot breakfast of bacon and pancakes as we planned our day. Weather reports indicated that it would rain most of the day. Therefore, we elected to go on a road trip through the Mark Twain National Forest.
We traveled gravel roads for many miles, often stopping to investigate majestic vistas from hilltops, wildflowers, crimson colored black gum trees and other oddities of nature.
We made a long stop at Elephant Rocks State Park, walked the trails and climbed to the top of the giant granite boulders. We traveled on to Arcadia Valley, purchased a snorkel set and enjoyed a fine BBQ dinner.
On our return trip to our campsite, we stopped and hiked a bit at Buford Mountain Conservation Area near Belgrade. Next, we stopped in Caledonia at the old country store where we indulged ourselves with very large ice cream cones and saltwater taffy.
Back at camp, Ronnie dove for an hour searching for my rod. We will need to make a return trip.
