From Salem, MO, we set out for a day of natural beauty. Maramec Spring was a warm-up for today's activities. We are headed towards Eminence, MO and we will visit all the natural springs and parks we pass along the way. It has been very dry all summer long and I was concerned that there might no be much water flowing from the springs. As it turned out, the volume of water was much lower than usual but we still had enough to enjoy the springs.
The first stop of the morning was Dillard Mill. The mill produced flower in it's heyday and was powered by a water wheel driven by a spring feed stream. Our plan was to tour the inside of the mill, but the Department of Natural Resources person who manages the museum never showed up for work leaving us to look in windows.....a bad deal.
It is about a 1/2 mile hike to get to the mill but it is all flat and the scenery is great. We had fun and found some photo ops along the way.
Lars still has a little bit of kid left in him.
We are now at Blue Spring which is located about 6 miles east of Eminence, MO. This is one of our favorite springs to visit. You have to know where you are going since the entrance road is not marked well. You then have to drive about a mile on a gravel road with some very steep spots along the road. You can get in but I wouldn't want to try coming back out without a four-wheel drive vehicle when the road is muddy. After you reach the parking area, it is another 1/2 of hiking to get to the spring. The walk is worth it. Blue Spring gets it's name because it is thought to be the "bluest" of the natural springs in Missouri. We always enjoy photos of the stream with the green plants and rocky beds.
You can see the characteristic "blue" water flowing from the spring.
A nice group shot thanks to Georg's tripod. From the left we have Gisela, John, Sigrid, Lars, and Georg.
Our only real disappointment was Rocky Falls.....there was virtually no water on the falls.
Our final stop of the day was Alley Spring and Park which is about 6 miles west of Eminence. The park has another old mill house to visit.
The geese fight it out on a log in the Jack Fork River along side of our hotel for the evening in Eminence.
Tomorrow, we drive to Memphis.
