Ozark Adventures

Who’s Your Mom Photo Contest

Lesley — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:38:40 +0000

Starting April 23, 2012 we will be accepting moms in the outdoors photos for our “Who’s Your Mom Photo Contest”. The entered photographs will be voted on by Ozark Adventures employees on May 5 and the contestant with the winning photo will be awarded a $50 gift card from OA to spend on the Mother in their life! Photographs are to be of a Mother in your life outside. The photos can be submitted to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/OzarkAdventures or a copy can be submitted at our retail location of 1111 E Republic Rd. #140 Springfield, Missouri 65807. The winning photo will be featured on our website and Facebook page for our Celebration of Mothers on Mother’s Day 2012! We’re excited to celebrate our moms with you!

OA Used Gear Event!

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:53:19 +0000

We are very excited to announce our first Used Gear Event! Here’s how it works…For every piece of used and still usable gear or apparel, we will give you 10% off of a new product. That’s right, just bring in your used boots and receive 10% off of that new pair you’ve been wanting! Tired of your North Face fleece from three seasons ago? Just bring it in to get discounted climbing gear, shoes or whatever you need. Each piece of used gear/apparel will count as 10% off of one item. We will collect these items, categorize them and host our first Used Gear Sale this Summer with incredible deals on these used items! Now here’s the fine print: Only one item may count as a discount toward a new product, no doubling up and racking up higher percentages. There is, however, no limit to how many used gear discounts you can take advantage of. Bring in 10 pieces of used gear and get 10% off of 10 new items. Used climbing gear of any kind cannot be accepted for these discounts. The used items must still be usable. No boots with holes in the soles or crushed GPSs that no longer function. We are looking for used items, but still something that someone else could enjoy. Once you turn in a used item for discount, it is no longer available to be returned to you as used items will be stored off-site. Returns on your new items will be credited to you according to our regular store policy. This event begins now and will continue until we’ve gathered enough used gear for our sale, so come on in and bring your stuff and get geared up for this season!

Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area

Lesley — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:35:10 +0000

It was a great way to spend the last day of the year. My thanks to Ruth and Paul Henning for the Henning Conservation Area near Branson, Mo. Over 5 miles of well developed trails and beautiful vistas make for a good opportunity to get outside for a small hike. Many of the trails were loops and offered new ground to see throughout the hike. A good portion of the mileage is alongside a perfectly crystal clear stream that slips and falls over the rocky outcroppings in this glade area. There are areas of significant elevation change, but all is clearly notated in the topographic trail maps at trail heads and scattered throughout the area. There were some great heart-pumping stretches and would offer great trail running with benches for pit stops from time to time. I give this area a hearty thumbs up and encourage you to remember sun-screen and bring more water than you think you’ll need as the climbs make for dry throats.

A Day on The Niangua River

Lesley — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:51:30 +0000

I’m still exploring good recreational floats for this time of year. Last weekend I took the kayaks to the Niangua near Bennett Springs. I knew there was a threat of rain, but with the day off decided to try it anyway. It rained the whole time, but was still a fun trip. We decided on a take out at NRO and although the campground and river is a ghost town in the Winter we still we able to find someone to drive us up to the put it. Charlie was willing to give us and our boats a lift to Fort Niangua for $25. The float was short, between 4 and 5 hours, but the water was clear and still swift enough for some fun. There are lots of bald eagles on the water in this section. We stopped to watch several pairs and even some juveniles soaring near the bluffs. This was the maiden voyage for my new Dagger Axis 10.5. I was really happy with the improvements on the similarly designed Blackwater, which I have used for years. In a flat out race the Axis outperforms the Blackwater, which I attribute to the swedeform (torpedo) shape of the Axis. With the keel shaped bow and stern, the drop-down skeg and the new asymmetrical shape, it seems to have made a boat that tracks nicely and moves fast with a possible slight reduction in the maneuverability. A great ride for Ozark streams. My only complaint is that with removing the felt pads between the skeg and it’s housing there is a clunking sound with each stroke as the skeg swings from side to side and makes contact with the housing. A little home-modification will fix this. I recommend water-proof socks and gloves for this time of year SealLine makes a nice neoprene version, but simple rain gear will keep you dry in other respects. My set of Patagonia Rain Shadow rain gear works great for this. Keep paddling folks!

Busiek…So close you might miss it!

Lesley — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:21:58 +0000

I like finding short day hikes in the area that offer an opportunity to get away for just an afternoon every once in a while. I was happy to get reacquainted with Busiek State Forest. It had been several years since visiting there, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had in just a few hours. I took the red trail on the East side of highway 65, and taking my time to enjoy a few sites along the way, it took only 3 hours to complete the loop and get back to my car. Just a few yards from the parking lot is the first stream crossing and it can get over your boots in places, so choose your steps carefully or bring your Chacos along for a quick change. At the top of the first steep climb you’ll see Carter Cemetery. It’s worth stopping to take a look at some of the engravings there. Further on down a much more gradual slope are several primitive campsites with permitted access. This time of year there are almost no other people on the trails and in the rivers. I guess when the leaves are off it can seem like there isn’t much to see, but I found lots of smaller views to take in that were beautiful in their own way. It was a simple hike, short enough that I only needed to bring along my Camelbak water bottle and still warm enough that my Helly Hanson Rapide soft-shell jacket was plenty of protection from the wind and cold. I would recommend bringing along your creek crossing shoes. I didn’t and got a bit of water down my boot. Happy Trails!

Sizing up my creek crossing options

Plenty of water on the James!

Lesley — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:50:52 +0000

If you’re looking for a close place that you can still float this time of year, the James has plenty of water for a nice trip. My crew took a quick afternoon outing yesterday from Shelvin Rock access to Hootentown. There were no portages involved so our feet stayed dry and warm. With only minimal paddling the river time was no more than 2.5 hours. The water has channeled into the swifter but narrower routes that kept our boats moving at a very decent pace. There were zero other floaters and the water was crystal clear. One Old Town Rogue River 14′ canoe and a Dagger Blackwater 11.5′ kayak made the trip easily. I love my Blackwater and covet the newer better version the Dagger Axis. These boats are available in the store in 10.5 and 11.5 lengths. One hour from Shelvin Rock a nice gravel bar at the Finley River inlet provides a great midpoint for lunch. I hope to see some of you out there soon. This is still a wonderful time of year to float!

If you have a Yak rack even a little car can bring big adventure!

Bois d’arc Conservation Area

Lesley — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:46:16 +0000

Bois d'arc trail

I have started to realize that whenever I want to go hiking or paddling or just get outside, I usually start thinking of places South of the Springfield area. I think about what Arkansas has to offer and the deeper Ozarks. I wanted to explore a little bit of what there is to be found in the way of outdoor activities to the North of Springfield or at least somewhere closer to home. I decided to see what the Bois d’arc Conservation Area had as far as hiking trails.

Yesterday was nice and warm with clear skies and I was wanting to try out my Merrell shoes on a trail, so I headed out. I thought about wearing shorts because of the temperature, but not knowing the trails well I decided on pants, which I’m thankful for. Convertible hiking pants would have been a great choice. Many brands make quality convertible pants including The North Face, Royal Robbins and Columbia Sportswear.

Zone 5 of the Conservation Area has several miles of trails ranging from well kept to quite primitive. After Watkins Cave entrance, which is gated and requires a permit to enter, there was a small pond with a lot of good bird watching to offer. Beyond that the trails quickly became overgrown and harder to travel. The trails at times became even difficult to see. I guess not many people venture out to Bois d’arc to hike. I guess the area caters more to the hunting crowd as I saw a lot of big turkeys cross my path. Besides good eaten’, bird watchers would have had a fun time. There were many different varieties of wood peckers and song birds as well as some wood ducks in the pond and kestrels hunting from the trees.

As far as testing out the shoes, I was very pleased with my Merrell Chameleon Stretch. Besides being just really cool looking they kept my feet happy on some pretty uneven and hard to navigate terrain. I wear mine as every day shoes all the time and keep the elastic laces loose. The descents on the trail made my feet slide to the front so I tightened them up around the ankle and was pleasantly surprised at how well they stayed in place. With all the Fall leaves on the ground, the rocks in the path were impossible to see, so I was thankful for the rubber toe, sides and heel on more than one occasion. The Vibram soles were handy there too and made my feet stick to the exposed rocks and hold on. I will say that on a day as hot as yesterday, my feet got a little warm, but with the easy to loosen laces I slid out of them in a few seconds during water breaks and let my feet breathe. I was extremely happy with them and can see why they are somewhat of a cult classic among Merrell lovers.