Vacation

Camping on the Spring River

By Trey ⋅ July 24, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅ Post a comment

Jackie and I spent the weekend on the Spring River camping, fishing, and rafting.  We showed up at Riverside Resort located right below Mammoth Springs, AR on Friday afternoon before the flood of people and managed to get our tent setup and car unpacked without any issues.  A couple staying with us showed up right about the same time and did the same.  The four of us then packed our gear and waded out into the river in front of the camp site.  It always takes a little while to get used to water that’s 50 degrees and comes up to my waist – well, in Jackie’s case, up to her armpits.  Once the shock wore off we were able to get down to some fishing.

All four of us caught a fish right off the bat.  We then started moving our way down the river, and Jackie didn’t like that at all. There’s a lot of weeds in places that make it like walking blind since you just don’t know what’s in there.  The rocks are also extremely large and very slippery so it’s easy to trip over one.  Our friends kept moving on down the river, and we stopped and fished in a hole we thought looked good.  That turned out to be a great move as we caught a lot of fish there and actually kept six of them to bring back to camp.  We planned on having a fish fry on Saturday night so we were off to a good start.

On Saturday my friend and I went fishing again, but I wasn’t nearly as successful.  I only brought one back to camp that morning although I think he kept four.  After lunch we went to the campground store and rented one of the large rafts that carries four people.  We always get canoes but decided to try the raft this time since we always see so many people riding them.  That turned out to be a lot of fun as all four of us could just float together down the river and really not worry about too much.

The trip was 8 miles, and we decided to pull over right before we made it to the end so we could watch people go over “the triple” which is basically a set of 3 falls that everyone tends to wipe out on when they try to go down.  Here’s where my trip took a turn for the worse.

I waited until everyone was out of the raft and then started to get out myself.  I had my left leg out of the raft and my right leg still in when the raft starting moving with the current (it was really swift right there below the falls).  It was either hop out quickly or do the splits.  Unfortunately I didn’t find a good foothold with my left foot and crashed down on a rock with my shin.  I stood up immediately and noticed I was bleeding PROFUSELY into the river from two very deep puncture wounds.  Jackie poured Dr Pepper on the wound (helps with clotting) and grabbed one of her tank tops and wrapped it around my leg to try and stem the bleeding.  She then sat me in the cold river so the water would help to further clot the cuts.  After a little while, we got up and paddled our way to the pickup point where we boarded a bus that took us back to camp.  Jackie went and bought bandages and washed me up real good.  We had neosporin, but I was really wishing we had some alcohol or peroxide.

We made it back home the next day, and I was feeling really bad.  I had a low grade fever, and my leg felt like it was on fire.  I made it through Sunday and went to the doctor on Monday.  I hadn’t gone to the doctor for a cut since I was about 5 so I had to get a tetanus shot.  She also prescribed antibiotic pills and cream and told me to keep my leg elevated for the next several days and see how it goes.  It was obvious that a bit of an infection was starting to set in.

This morning I’m a bit better although it still hurts to walk on my left leg.  The wounds like look terrible, but I’m hopeful they will heal up soon as I’m trying to be diligent about taking my medication and staying off my leg.  I think it’s going to be a while before I go rafting on the river.

Tags: camping·fishing·spring river