Blog Archive

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Also called Double Springs. Doubles the size of the North Fork below the lower outlet. Spring comes from beneath a high hill at the base of a ledge/rock pile. It flows about 150′ east and then divides north (about 150 yards) and south (about 3/4 mile) before the two outlets enter the North Fork of the White River. The property is strictly private.Permission of owner was granted to me.  ENJOY !!!

Old autumn picture makes the water look like a real rainbow.

I cute and gentle little adult Ring Neck snake found 2 years ago by River of Life Spring in the rocks; he was release completely unharmed after we examined him.

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More commonly known as Stinging nettle is painful when you drag your leg across it. I just did it yesterday in a garden with a mature plant I did not see. They are not dangerous; do not contain  poison, they just seem to reach out and hurt your legs when you least expect it. In fact, the leaves are highly edible (tastes like spinach), and the roots are use in many beneficial drugs. Just Ouch !!

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Missouri’s Ozark trout streams have patches of bright green plants growing in the spring branches or along isolated gravel bars.   That plant is Watercress, the same herb you can sometimes buy at the local grocery store.

Nasturtium 

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This plant has overspread eastern Missouri during the past 10-15 years. Used a chainsaw to cut it down a year ago April (2007), and it is back and bigger than ever choking out all native bushes and covering partly sunny areas with complete shade; thereby causing native part sun loving wildflowers to die off.

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Common to the North Fork, this heavy bodied water snake is often confused the the highly venomous Cotton Mouth Water Moccasin. They are frequently killed on sight; which should not be done. These snakes have a bad temper and will run if pursued and bite and writh around if cornered. I see many of these snake about 18 inche long and their diamond pattern is very clear.  Observe this snake and move on; please.

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Starting in mid-late June and running through July this member of the carrot family covers most fields near the North Fork and ROLF. It is always a harbinger of warmer weather to come. Common in fields at ROLF.

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Shortleaf pine covered much of the southern 1/3 of the State of Missouri. it is our only native pine tree.  It was always mixed with oak and hickory but there were much larger and older stands. It has been seeded and seedlings planted in Missouri since about 1945 and is making a comeback over it’s native range. Shortleaf Pine is a yellow pine with lots of knots.

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These pictures are from my grand-father C. M. Patten in 1929, when he spent 2 weeks at Rainbow springs and took 2-3 floats on the North Fork and of a friend of Myron McKee’s and his newly made Jon Boat from 2008. Only difference — about 80 years.