Buffalo River: Girls Camping Trip

Let me start by saying what an AMAZING group of friends I have! Some of us knew each other in HS and weren't actually friends til our college years. Some of us are from the college years. We are a tight knit group and I love everyone of you!

We have a tradition of canoeing the Buffalo every year. An all girls, only girls camping/canoe trip. There are years where one or the other can't make it (that's been me the past 2 yrs.) and they are sorely missed. Soooo if you didn't make it this year, here's how it all went down.

The drive to Wayne County, TN is mostly done by back roads and highways. In one word, SCENIC!! It was a beautiful day as we curved around mountains, went in and out of small valleys and ventured through small town life. All this combined with some good conversation with Mrs. Overton made for one peaceful 2 hour trip.

We arrive at our destination, Crazy Horse Campin!
Now I have a theory behind the name of this place. On our way to get here we pass by the Natchez Trail. I'm pretty sure Crazy Horse is the name of a famous Indian who has a legend deep in these parts. No, I have no proof but I do plan on researching it.

So we roll in about 3:30 pm and get straight to settin up camp. A few of us arrived much earlier to attempt to get "Our Spot" saved. It is at the very end of the campgrounds with 2 levels one of which is on the edge of the river bank. Sadly someone had gotten there even earlier than our crew and Made Their Claim! We did have quite a large spot just not as secluded as normal.

This is only about half of our site. To the right were more tents and the homemade bathroom...thanks to Jill and her skillz (also great job on the cutlery)! And yes, I said homemade bathroom.

After the setup was done we took to enjoying ourselves. Jill kept askin if we wanted to play CornHole and I'm thinking, "OK, she brought her travel size tailgating one." OH NO! She busted out with her homemade,very sturdy heavy wood one! Carol and I won so I decided to hang up my throwin hands on a high note.

Some nice fellow camper took this group shot for us. Although, it seems there were 2 camera people cause Carrie is the ONLY one lookin the right way. And man is she posin ;)

There's a little local Dive Bar right down the street so after some cornhole and enjoying the fire Jamie decided it was time to put on her Dancin Pants! Man, this girl has the fastest feet in the South! And believe me, there were some interesting locals!

Quick Funny Story Time:

Jamie has hairigami. Jamie Loooooves Hairigami.

Jamie never leaves home Without her Hairigami!

We all tell her, "Jamie it's time to let your hair down (literally) and stop with the Hairigami already!" Mistakenly she left one (yes, she has more than one) at my house a few months ago and asks me EVERY TIME I see her If I've brought the beloved hair piece. Well I happened to find it as I'm packing for the trip and attempt to surprise her with it fashioned ever so gently into my hair. This was a good as I could get it. Apparently I need Hairigami lessons from Jamie but she was elated! Now, I'm thinkin I probably shoulda just thrown the stinkin thing away.

Back to the Crazy Horse. We leave the Outpost ( I think that's the name of said local dive bar) and enjoy some fire cooked hot dogs and smores. We awake bright eyed and bushy tailed (not really) ready for a day of canoeing. We congregate around the fire and await the arrival of our 2 late friends...MeShell & T.

Ready to Hit The Rapids

Tiner is my partner and I'm in the back which means she's the speed person and I'm the direction person. We aren't but 15 min down the river and we see the current start to pick up with a turn to the left and a LARGE tree sticking out of the water. Most of our commrades have made it safely to the bank and are waiting on us...or maybe their just waiting to see someone flip! I'm thinking, "OK, we just don't need to paddle because the current here is pretty darn fast and it will just carry us in."

Keep in mind that I've missed the last 2 trips and my skillz are a little rusty. Faster and faster we speed towards the large brush of tree (or whateva the heck it is) and I stick my orr out to, I don't know...maybe soften the blow! But then what if said orr rams into my juggular.

Orr goes down and we ram this tree thingy at full force tipping us INSTANTLY!! I'm tryin to swim to shore, all our belongings are swiftly making their way down the river, our friends and some randoms rush to help us and, well, Thanks to Mrs. Carol P from Tennessee for grabbing her camera and getting the action shot above.

Onward we push. We pass some pretty waterfalls and 2 areas were people like to

Jump Off the Cliffs. NO THANKS!

A little farther down I feel I'm gettin the hang of being in the back and have learned the Back Paddle...it's a wonderful little maneuver. However, Tiner and I have switched places at this point for a lil variety and, Heaven Help Me, if Mel doesn't get in our way! We hit them and it instantly tips us slowly. I think maybe we can save it and attempt to flip us back but water was fillin just a tad too fast and down we went. AGAIN!! You can see T & Mel cluelessly paddling away in the above picture. Oh and thanks again to Carol P from Tennessee for being ready with the camera.

We finish the 10 MILE TREK (thankyoujamie) in just under 8 hours! The river was packed and I'm pretty sure we were the LAST ones off it! Oh well, We Did It. No Injuries and just a few hang ups along the way. Head back to camp for nacho dinner and some bongo/guitar playing (thanks to our campin neighbors). After a very sleepless night Auto awakes me at 6:30 AM and we get to packin.

Headed home.

Past the Natchez Trail, through windy country roads,

in and out of small town life and a beautiful day ahead of us!

See You Next Year CRAZY HORSE!!