Hufstedlers

[steve l]

Have canoes reserved for next week. Tried calling to confirm, but no answer. I see on their web site the business is for sale.

Can anyone confirm they are still up & running?

Thanks.

[Brian Sloss]

They are for sale, but still operating.

[steve l]

Got ahold of them this morning.

Brian, thanks for the reply.

Hopefully your tips from the spinning gear thread help. We'll know next week.

[Scooper]

Is the business still owned by the Huffsteder family? My first trip on the Eleven Point was in 1973 and we used their canoe livery. At the time, there were several Huffsteders involved in the business including an elderly gentleman who was probably 75 at the time. He had some great stories about growing up on the Eleven Point back when that area was a near wilderness. He talked about guideing on the river by "polling" customers upstream in a homemade johnboat, and then floating back down. He was known throughout that area for the john boats he made, using native white pine lumber. In fact, our old next door neighbor in Columbia, an ENT MD, had been floating the Ozark rivers since the 1930s and knew "Old Man" Huffsteder well, as a guide and an expert john boat maker. In fact, he owned one of Huffsteder's boats. I often wonder what happened to it...

[Brian Sloss]

No Hufstedlers own or work for that canoe rental anymore, but you can buy it if you like. It is on the market.

[Mark]

I would just like to add that the current owners, Mike and Wendy Jones, are about the most hospitable people you could ever hope to meet. We have used Hufstedlers for the past 10 years and Mike would do about anything to accommodate your every wish.