Southern Missouri

November 21, 2008
Today’s drive consisted of 3 hours of classic minor roads in Missouri to Alley Spring. It has changed since Mary and I were here in the early 70’s. Back then, we stayed literally at the spring. Today, I am on the other side of the Jacks Fork River and across 106 from the spring. Still, there is lots more room and I have the place to myself.



November 22, 2008
Today we toured Alley Spring, Big Spring, Blue Spring (1/2 mile hike in) and Round Spring.



I had been of the belief based on information from many years ago that the water in the springs was thousands of years old. They have now identified many of the sources. Infiltration in karst topography feeds to the ground water system, which emerges at the springs. Time in the ground can be as little as 17 days, and can be from 40 miles away. Therefore, the springs cannot be relied upon as pure, because they are dependent upon the inflow water quality. The water moves too fast for in-ground filtration and purification.
Oh well…
We camped first at Alley Spring, then at Round Spring.

The thing about this area that impresses me most is the number of, and size of, the springs. I visited five - Alley Spring, Big Spring, Blue Spring, Maramec Spring and Round Spring. Each have something unique about them.
ROUND SPRING
Round Spring is the least volume of the five. It seems to emerge from the base of a cliff with a small overhang.


The overhang is actually an arch or bridge. Just beyond it is a sinkhole that lets you look straight down into the spring and is round, thus the name.



Both Alley Spring and Blue Spring ruun at about 87 million gallons per day. At Alley Spring, that flow was used to run a mill.



BLUE SPRING
I had to hike half a mile to get to this one. I have been paying for it with ankle pain since, but it was worth it. Blue Spring gets its deep blue color from its depth (over 300 feet) and the clarity of the water. It is said to be the most beautiful of the Ozark springs. Within my experience, I would agree. I remember seeing it as kid, summer, with the sun overhead and shining deep into the pool, not hiding behind the cliff like in these photos. It was spectacular.



















Big Spring boils out of the ground at a rate of up to 840 million gallons per day. It is a river. The violence of the upwelling is a bit intimidating as one stands at the edge.