This past weekend, 11 ambitious Jr. Bills embarked on the St. Louis U. High Outdoor Adventure Club’s (OAC) annual Fall trip. 

Staying close to home, the group drove two and a half hours Saturday morning through Southern Missouri into the foothills of the Ozark Highlands to the shore of the Current River, where they planned for a 20-mile excursion downstream. There, the group of voyagers divided themselves into their canoes and began their trip down the river. After overcoming natural obstacles and a fair share of spelunking, the group finished the day inside the humble abode of their cabin, and returned to Oakland Avenue Sunday morning. 

Longtime OAC moderator Patrick Zarrick had been planning for the club’s Fall trip since the start of the school year. Typically conducted at the end of first quarter exam week, Zarrick had to adjust his agenda when planning the trip according to the new school curriculum of not including designated quarter exams. Finally settling on the weekend of Friday, Oct. 1 to Sunday, Oct. 3, Zarrick thought he was in the clear until he was forced to pivot to make his first change to the itinerary due to poor weather projections.

“Our original plan was to depart from SLUH after school on Friday, camp Friday and Saturday night, and return Sunday morning,” said Zarrick. “However, as the date got closer, we had to eliminate the camping portion from our trip and decided to leave early Saturday morning.”

After canceling the campground reservations for Friday night, Zarrick was able to secure an A-frame house for the group to sleep in Saturday night. Making proper arrangements to the new itinerary, Zarrick was confident and excited about taking the diverse group, which consisted of six seniors, three freshmen, and two sophomores, on the trip down a domestic Missouri river. 

“The Current is just a beautiful river,” said Zarrick. “Being spring fed, I knew that we would have a decent water level to work with, especially for this time of year.”

Adapting to their revised calendar, the group gathered at SLUH early Saturday morning and departed from the Oakland lot shortly after 6 a.m. The drive took them two and a half hours to arrive at Akers Ferry Canoe Rental on the bank of the Current River. There, the pack adorned their life jackets and subdivided into groups of two or three to take to their canoes to get on the river as soon as possible. Zarrick, however, commandeered a single-person kayak to be more nimble and flexible on the river. 

“I had to assure the safety of the group,” said Zarrick. “By being in a kayak, I was able to jump between the front and back of the group in case an accident occurred. Fortunately, for me and the group, there were none.”

The group touched water shortly before 9:30 a.m., planning to spend the rest of the morning and the afternoon reaching their destination by 4 p.m., which lay 20 miles downstream. Only running into several other groups throughout the voyage, the group was able to experience the transcendental beauty that the Current River has to offer in almost complete serenity. 

“The weather was ideal,” said senior Sam Kean. “It was not too hot and not cool and there was this awesome mist that was coming off of the water. It truly was a phenomenal experience.”

Tragedy struck however when Zarrick, hoping to save the beautiful sights of the group on the river, reached for his phone to take some pictures. Unbeknownst to him, there was a large rock that was sticking out of the water at the wrong place and at the wrong time. Zarrick collided with the rock, jolting his kayak. Zarrick regained his balance, but unfortunately lost his iPhone during the process. Though he lost all his photos, Zarrick did not lose hope. 

“The woman at the campground said that scuba divers will swim along the river in order to find various items,” said Zarrick. “I am hoping they will comb through the riverbed and come across my phone.”

In the meantime, Zarrick has joined a Facebook page where lost and found items found in the Current River are posted for their owners to see.)

Shortly after losing his phone, Zarrick decided to take the group on a lunch break as the clouds above them began to darken. Luckily for them, right as the rain started, they took shelter in Cave Spring Cave, which was located in an enclave right on the river. Some of the seniors utilized their downtime, and extra breadcrumbs and leftovers, to fish inside the cave. 

“We had extreme luck fishing in the cave,” said senior Colin Bryan. “We caught about two dozen rock bass from the depths of the pool. As soon as we released one, we caught another one.”

Following their lunch, the group continued at a leisurely pace down the river. They enjoyed a couple hours of being on the river, still mostly isolated from other canoe groups. Though they had lost some time waiting the storm out in the cave, the group was confident they would reach their rendezvous point by 4 p.m. However, when the group reached their halfway point at Pulltite Campground shortly after 2 p.m., Zarrick faced a dilemma. The skies were darkening and getting more ominous by the minute but they were still 10 miles from their destination. He was forced to pivot a second time to change the group’s itinerary. 

“I had to use the campground’s emergency telephone to contact Aker’s Ferry to pick us up and take us to our A-frame ASAP,” said Zarrick. “If we wouldn’t have done that, we wouldn’t have gotten off the river until 8 p.m.”

When they arrived at the A-frame house, the group relaxed as the sky erupted with thunder and lightning, which would have paralyzed their excursion if they were still on the river. Though upset they could not complete their maritime journey, the boys still had a good time playing cards, hanging out, or listening to music as there was no reception on the property. All the while, Zarrick cooked burgers, brats, and a salad for the group to feast on. Once all the rain and food disappeared, the group got the opportunity to explore the property and the woods nearby.

“We found an abandoned Chris McCandless-type bus that we got to explore,” said senior Thomas Ziegler. “After that, we went back to the A-frame and fell asleep at 8 o’clock. Needless to say, we had an extremely long day.”

“It was unfortunate that we could not complete the trip and camp, but it was still a phenomenal experience,” said Kean. “We all learned a lot of new things about each other, especially the fact that we all suck at canoeing.”

“I just want the guys to be able to disconnect from their screens every once in a while to see the beauty of the nature around them that they so often take for granted,” said Zarrick. “I have seen some proud seniors grow in leadership over these past years in the club and can see how the younger guys look up to them as mentors. It proves to be an incredible experience that keeps me running this club.”

Next up for SLUH’s OAC club is a President’s Day Weekend ski trip to Colorado, from Feb. 18 to 21 for upperclassmen.