June 18, 2021

June 18, 2021

Springfield, MO is also known as the Queen City of the Ozarks. We spent the day exploring this very scenic region driving east through the back-country. The southern half of Missouri is a region of heavily forested limestone hills. We passed several sawmills producing hardwood flooring.

After two hours we cross the Current River and arrive at Ozark National Scenic Riverways. In the park Visitor Center we learn that the Jacks Fork and Current River network was the first protected National River in the US. After many of the other Ozark streams had been dammed, public outcry saved these two rivers in 1964. Today they are a popular source of recreation for many people. Aimee and I took a canoe trip here many years ago with my brother’s family. Our vivid memory of the outing was overturning the canoe against a downed tree. Because of the force of the river current we could not dislodge the canoe. Only with the help of several other canoers were we able to slide the canoe and free it. No wonder these streams are in high demand for hydroelectric power.

The majority of the Ozark river flow is spring fed. We drove five miles south to Big Spring, the largest. Big enough to fill Busch Stadium in a day, it is among the largest springs in the US. The outflow is a beautiful blue color because of the dissolved minerals; but we are most impressed with the power of the water surging from underground.

The Ozark Mountains are a Karst limestone wonderland. Vast underground rivers eat channels through the mountains before bursting onto the surface. When these caverns eventually dry they become one of the thousand caves that can be explored in the Ozarks. It is also no wonder sinkholes are common in Missouri.

Aimee and I have gotten interested in earth science because we have been watching a Geology course at home. The Washington University professor teaching it often mentions examples in his Ozarks backyard. From Big Spring we drive north an hour to visit two more geologic oddities. The first is at Elephant Rocks State Park. From the parking lot we take a short scramble atop a huge boulder field where we explore some exposed granite Plutons. The West has many examples (eg Yosemite), but we didn’t expect to find them in the Midwest.

Farther north we hike Hughes Mountain Natural Area to visit the Devil's Honeycomb. It is a short but very hot and sweaty hike to the top of a roadside mountain. The hilltop has an exposed 'bald' rock outcrop. The honeycomb name refers to the hexagonal columnar jointing associated with volcanic outflows that cool slowly underground. They contract into these pencil shaped rods. We have seen many examples formed of black Basalt. This spot is unique, consisting instead of red Rhyolite, made from a thicker gooier high-silica magma.

We then drove east to the Mississippi River to visit Ste. Genevieve National Historic park. This cute historic French town is the oldest city of Upper Louisiana, part of New France. It contains a number of  remarkably preserved early houses. This new National Park site is mostly owned and operated by the Missouri State Park system. We tour one house called Felix Valle House State Historic Site. First founded in the mid 1700’s, Ste. Genevieve grew when the French lost their territories east of the Mississippi (e.g. Kaskaskia) during the French and Indian War. The region was important for food production and mining, especially lead and salt.

We finished the day driving to the St Louis area, another historic town established by the French. St Louis thrived because it was on higher ground and less flood prone than St Genevieve and closer to the mouth of the Missouri River and its gateway to the West.

We met up with one of my sisters for dinner intending to eat in St Louis' famous Italian Hill neighborhood. Apparently the Hill's favorite son Yogi Berra was right when he quipped 'no one goes there nowadays; it's too crowded'. We couldn't get a reservation; so we settled for a suburban offshoot. It was excellent. Aimee and I shared a delicious pasta entrée that the owner's father served at Ronald Reagan's first inauguration.