Riverway Getaway

Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR) is Missouri’s largest National Park Services property, of which there are twelve, and the first national park in the United States to protect a river. It is a wonderful space for family camping or for an outing with friends, and summer float trips here are both a State tradition and right of passage. 

Adventure

1. Big Muddy Adventures
2. Toxic Tour
3. A Cherokee Street Adventure Story
4. Hanging with the UP in South City
5. Rainy Day Hiking and Nature Photography

A Cherokee Street Adventure Story

Enjoy this tale of how my friend, Chris Naffziger, tried to feed me to C.H.U.D. When you are done, head over to Cherokee Street and enjoy a cold one at Earthbound Beer.

It was cool, but not cold outside when a writer for a regional magazine contacted me to discuss the possibility of photographing a renovation project underway in South St. Louis City. The writer, Chris, only asks for my help when something about the assignment he is working on makes photography difficult. That said, the shoots are always interesting, and usually provide once-in-a-lifetime access to some site of significance. What can I say, he has a way.

Camp Grits, In the Shadow of the Smokies

Fall and spring in the Midwest are those lovely times of year when either summer’s veil of heat has lifted or the icy grip of winter has loosened, enough for most of us to yearn for those activities that bring us closer to nature.  The hiking boots slip on and our feet once again stomp the earthen paths through the forests of our imagination that have steadily grown up over the months of our climatized isolation indoors.  

Interlude: Big Muddy Adventures

For Father’s Day, my beautiful wife booked a moonlight canoe trip with Big Muddy Adventures, an adventure tour operator located adjacent to the Riverview neighborhood of St. Louis.  The business’ founder and primary guide is “Big Muddy” Mike Clark, who has logged more than 10,000 miles on the water.  For a mere $75 and a bit of “devil-may-care” daring, Clark will lead you onto the world’s fourth largest watershed, with nothing between you and 300,000 cubic feet of water per second but a wooden canoe and “Big Muddy” Mike’s ingenuity.