November Dawn at ROLF from TT Hideaway

Picture taken as the sun came up over the ridge to the east of the North Fork of the White River.

Have a Merry Christmas

The Falls at ROLF at 410 CFS on November 2008

410 CFS is very low flow. A late evening picture with a Canon 5D exposed one full second at the falls on the North Fork of the White River at River of Life Farm (Click to enlarge).

Few more pictures of a Nov. 2008 day at Rock Bridge

Sun in the afternoon  gave way to a few nice shots of the mill and dam. Click to enlarge.

Ozark County Survey from ~ 1900; possibly 1895

Notice the picture of Zanoni Mill on the second page. Click to nnlarge.

Moonlight on the North Fork of the White River

Taken September 2008 at 11:00 PM at Kelly Ford, with a  Canon 5D with a 50mm f1.4.  

Looking upstream from the ROLF boat launch

A November 7th pictures on a colder and partly cloudy day at River of Life Farm. This picture was taken from the boat launch area looking up the North Fork of the White River. Some color was still visible in the trees across the river especially an old sycamore tree.

Male Northern Cardinal

Picture taken December 2008.

Dawt Mill aerial view and downstream view 1947

Dawt Mill from above and from downstream looking up at the old wood bridge in the summer and winter  of 1947.

The Golden November North Fork Evening

A couple of pictures, both above the falls,  at early dusk and closer to dark on November 5th, 2008 near the falls at ROLF.

Smoke Tree saplings in Ozark County

On a trip on November 6th to River of Life Farm, my sister and I made a side trip to Trail Top Glade (about 30 minutes away). Even though the majority of adult Smoke trees were past their peak in color, the saplings were still in fall dress. Click to enlarge.

Brown Creeper

An fairly rare bird in Missouri. Taken Canon EOS 5DM2 with 200mm f2.8 lens and 2.0 TC.

A school of late season smallmouth bass in the North Fork

I was able to photograph these 3 two year old bass just below the ROLF cabins. They were chasing and eating crawfish. Picture taken November 6th, 2008.

Rockbridge in the late 1880's

You can see the PO, the blacksmith shop, the mill, and the stream (Spring Creek), the Bank and a scattering of homes through out the valley. Rockbridge was the county seat prior to moving to Gainesville (where it is today).

Spring Creek at Rockbridge

A nice view of Spring Creek, a beautiful creek managed for hatchery stocked rainbow trout fishing at Rockbridge.

Bottoms near Kelly Ford 11/6/08

A crop of a much large picture near the old crossing at Kelly Ford on 11/6/08. Click to enlarge.

Red-bellied Woodpecker near Whispering Pines

This guy was working a dead tree where I placed a chunk of suet with peanuts embedded. It took him about 45 minutes to located the food. Canon 5D with 400mm f5.6 lens on monopod. 11/6/08.

Ann McKee's October Rose

Ann has some beautiful roses at ROLF, and a got a picture of one with a macro lens on October 2, 2008.

Maps from 1st edition "Missouri Ozark Waterways" 1965

These maps are 30-35 years later than the previous posted maps. I helped chart the rivers in the mid-1960's with Oz Hawksley. They are still 45 years old, however. The roads and in some cases the roads numbering are still much different from 2008. Click to enlarge also. I rotated these maps for a north-south orientation which rotate the text out of normal position.

1930's Map of the North Fork Country

Click to enlarge to 20" x 20". Notice Hammond Mill, upstream from ROLF, is located and not yet razed. This was my grandfathers map and was probably used to navigate to Rainbow Springs in the early 1930's - 1940. This map was printed by the state of Missouri my guess is during the proposal phase of the North Fork of the White River dam to create Norfork Lake. once again, click to make readable.

Fall view from the Treetop Loft at ROLF

When I made my last trip to ROLF, I arrived after the peak of fall had past. But the morning view from the cabin was extraordinary in the morning sun. Notice the remnants of the early morning fog in the river valley.

Ozark County RockBrige School 11/7/08

This old schoolhouse is till standing on Highway "N" about 18 miles from River of Life Farm. Otherwise known as Lower Brixey School.  It was still used in the late 1950's to early 1960's. It is typical of country schoolhouses in Missouri and Arkansas. Directions from ROLF are easy.

Dawn at ROLF on 11/6/08

Sunrise at ROLF from a porch at a cabin on November 6th. The North Fork River is in the valley below.

Falls at Rockbridge at noon November 6th 2008

The waterfall at Rockbridge on Spring Creek during the November low light at the noon hour.

Falls just before sundown 11/6/2008

The falls at ROLF right before sundown on November 6th, 2008.

North Fork leaves in November 2008

Pines and hardwoods mixed on a sheltered hillside.

November 5th - Road to Whispering Pines

A picture taken at dusk on the gravel road to the Whispering Pines cabin.

Looking up into a Sugar Maple - Caney Mountain

This Sugar Maple struck me as particularly beautiful in the Caney Mountain Refuge in the late afternoon sun.

Juvenile Pileated Woodpecker near falls

This guy (could be a young female too) was incredible. Females also has a red tuft on their heads in this species of woodpecker.  Born summer 2008, he is already an excellent grub hunter. He worked a sycamore tree for about 20 minutes, peering in every hole, digging out the bark and leaves and finding many nice sized grubs. He (she) sometimes sent down a shower of sycamore dust and bark; then I saw dried leaves coming down too and realized he was just cleaning out all the holes in the tree. The call was adult and he called out about every 5 minutes. As you can see, he is not fully mature yet; smaller in size, less white feathering, and a not so cool "tuft". Taken with a Canon 5D and Canon 400mm f5.6 lens hand held. Click to enlarge.

Falls on Election Day 11/4/08

The colors in the North Fork valley are past their peak; but some great yellows and golds still exist in pockets and full color exists one some sheltered slopes. Click to enlarge.

September Morning Near Highway H

This pictures of the typical foggy early morning hours in Ozark County. This was taken not too long after sunrise on a farm road of Highway H just south of the Crossroads Store.

A different view of the Falls at ROLF

This picture was taken in late August on the east side of the river at 6:00 AM.

Juvenile Great Blue Heron 9/29/08

This picture was taken from a river cabin at ROLF at 125 yards with 840mm f4 on a Canon 5D body. This pictures is actually 30" x 40" and is cropped and re-sized downward.

Notice the lack of head feathers on this young bird, the sparse feathering and spots on the chest. Never the less, this bird was a very successful fisherman; taking a dozen or so large crawdads, sculpins, and darters, and finally one large sunfish. I got about 175 pictures of him. Click to enlarge.

Canon 5D with 600mm L EF IS Lens at ROLF

Which is the long lens I use with a 1.4X TC to reach out to 840mm for close-ups of birds, etc. It is connected to a Canon 5D full frame DSLR.

Close-up of Copperhead 9/27

I took this picture with a 105 mm on a Canon 5D DSLR so I wasn't as close as it looks -- but still too close. This snake was not active (actually kind of lethargic in the 44F morning temperatures).

This snake is one of the very few venomous snakes found at ROLF. If you watch where you are stepping and move quickly you would remain 99% safe from this variety of pit viper.

Note the elliptical eye slits.

Brian Wise's Big Brown caught about October 1, 2008

Caught on the North Fork, I believe around the left side of the island below Blair Bridge. Brian is a professional Guide who works out of ROLF. Click to enlarge. Courtesy Brian Wise.

North Fork Sycamore Reflections 9/28

During late afternoon, I took this photo with my Canon 5D and a 24mm f4 lens to capture what I though was a standard look of the clear North Fork water enhanced by yellowing sycamore trees. Click to enlarge.

Blue Springs on the Current River 10/20/08

A 1 - 1/2 hour (from ROLF) side-trip that is well worth it. Blue Springs is (I think) the prettiest spring and spring branch in Missouri. You can get there by taking Highway 60 from Cabool east to Highway 19 North to Highway 106 and East to the Trail-head just past the Current River Bridge. Click to enlarge.

North Fork in late September 2008 - an autumn view

I was standing next to the river watching the late afternoon day when this image appeared due to changing colors of the sycamores.

Pumpkin near Topaz Mill

Typical Ozark fall picture taken near the Old Topaz Mill; late September 2008.

Blackgums and Dogwoods between ROLF and Hammond

Fall colors 2008. Just starting. 

Stay tuned. Click to enlarge.

Old "low-water" Bridge 2 miles below Topaz

This is a 1930's - 1940's style concrete slab located on the upper North Fork about 2-2.5 miles below the old town of Topaz and 1/2 mile above the entrance of Indian Creek.

Two gorgeous September trout

Both these trout caught wading (by a ROLF customer) in the North Fork. The Wild Rainbow and the Brown were both 14-16".  Beautiful fish. Click to enlarge.