Once arriving on Great Falls I continued preparations for the next section of river which include returning some addition gear home. At the same time I made an appointment with a local clinic. In the afternoon of my recovery day I had my visit too the clinic and learned the bad news that I had a hernia and should not return to the river.

With great disappointment I arranged for a rental car and returned to Colorado Springs the following day, May 24. This week I was able to see a surgeon and was scheduled for hernia repair surgery yesterday, May 31. With the surgery now complete I am looking at about a month until for full recovery. This puts my full recovery and about July 1 which is really to late to return to the river for the full through trip. It would put me in Montana and the Dakota’s during the peak severe summer weather season. I am planning on a shorter 2 week Missouri Breaks trip sometime towards the end of the summer and then a redo of my through trip next year.

Having never kayaked, the 10 days I spend completing the Chain of Lakes section and the upper upper Missouri has given me a much better understanding of the gear required for a successful through trip. I got a lot of things right and a few things really wrong. I will be posting some discussions of gear in the weeks and months to come.

With the Missouri River now always a part of me I will not be able to stay away.

The trip crosses through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. It finishes in St. Louis, Missouri. The lowest three states share a border along the river, and I will camp on either side. In all the river covers 2341 miles long. Through the reservoirs the distance is measured following the traditional riverbed. I will paddle further on the reservoirs’ flat water than the traditional river bed, increasing the total mileage. Follow my progress here when I start.

With just a few small additional things to get done the day will soon be here.

On May 14 at 9 a.m. I will start out at Confluence State Park in Three Forks, Montana.

Today I fully loaded the Eddyline Shasta so as to get an idea of weight and stowage for all my gear and food. Listed here is all the gear and food:

• Food 3 Weeks – 54.5
• Dog Food and gear – 21
• Camp (Tent etc.)  – 16
• Kitchen & Water Filters – 15.5
• Clothes – 11
• Day Bag – 4
• Electronic Case – 24.5
• Chair – 3.7
• First Aid Kit and Emergency Medications – 2.6
• Kayak Lock – 4.4
• Portage Cart – 8.5
• Paddles – 4
• Kayak Repair Kit – .5
• 30 liters Water – 67
• Dry Suit – 2.6
• Camera – 7.2
• Bow Rope – 1.2
• Solar Panel – 1.5
• Emergency Pack w/water – 7

Total Gear – 254.9

Tagg and I – 210

Total Weight – 464.9

As you can see, with everything I am over the Shasta carrying capacity of 450 lb. Some changes that will make this work; on the upper part of the river I am going to filter water so I will only carry 10 liters, most of the time I will be carrying only 2 to 2.5 weeks of food. Shedding 40 liters of water drops me down to around 420 lb. This works.

I still want to shed some weight and there are other things that can go.

Loaded Boat

I love maps and the planning that goes into any adventure that I undertake. Back in the day, I relied on paper maps and guide books to plan adventures. Today, planning has radically changed due to the internet revolution.

Historic Lewis and Clark Map

I still love to pour over paper maps, and I feel they are a critical part of planning. Laying a paper map out on the table helps one gain perspective and get a good overview of the land to be traveled. For this trip, my main paper map source has been standard road atlases and park service maps.

Enter the digital age

The river starts in Three Forks, Montana and ends in Saint Louis, Missouri, and the river sets a defined route. That part is easy, I put on the river at Three Forks and take out at Saint Louis. Going down this river for months will be much more complicated than just going with the flow.

Add the logistics: the biggest one being re-supplies, dam portages to plan, reservoirs to cross, places to camp, emergency take outs, veterinary clinics, and places where I can sleep in a bed and recharge batteries. I want to map all of this out before I embark on this journey so I made my own map.

Through a Missouri River Facebook page, there is a good bit of digital map data available. I took all this data, pulled it into Google Earth, and cleaned it up. It included river miles, camps, and ramps.

I did this by converting all the data to Google compatible KML files using an free GPS data application called GPSbable. GPSbable is strictly a GPS data conversion utility. This application is a must have if you use GPS data from different devices. Once converted, I loaded the river mile data into Google Earth to provide me key reference points for locations along the river and to provide a common reference for talking with others.

Google Earth with markers added

I then converted and loaded available camps and ramps data into Google Earth.

With this data loaded, I was then ready to start building my own geo reference database for the trip. I started by locating any stops that had been recommended through all available sources.

Now came the tedious part, I traveled the river from start to finish using Google Earth. My goal was to mark all points of interest or concern. Google Earth provides high resolution earth imaging so I literally was looking for unique land features.

This included, additional ramps, unmarked take outs for dams, marinas on both the reservoirs and the lower segments of the river, possible good camping locations, grocery stores near the river, veterinary clinics, and location of historic interests and recommended stops. I traveled each reservoir and created waypoint markers for the crossing point of larger bays on the reservoirs. I will use these crossing points to aid in open water crossings.

With all this data cataloged in Google earth, I then proceeded to again travel up and down the river 5 more times cleaning up the data and looking for any sites I missed or duplicated.

Backcountry Navigator with data loaded

With the data created I exported in from Google Earth to a number of specific waypoint files: river miles, camps and ramps for the three different segments of the river, scenic and historic stops, grocery stores and veterinary clinics. This data will be loaded into my GPS application on my phone Backcountry Navigator, my old Garmin GPS, and an android tablet.

Waypoint details with notes

I am still bringing along paper maps and a compass because you never know what might happen.

I told her they are in Montana not far from where our daughter lives, three hours away to be precise.

I am not even a kayaker, but on that plane speeding us home, I thought, maybe I should paddle the the whole length of the Missouri.

Little did I know that this is a crown jewel for long distance paddlers, like the Appalachian trail of water. There is a following of several thousand people on Facebook and around three to eight people a year travel the length of the Missouri. Some individuals are even crazy enough to go against the current from Saint Louis to Three forks to follow the steps of Lewis and Clark.

A simple beginning to a fantastical journey of both mind and body.

Food selection and preparation is the most complicated part of organizing a long expedition. I am using easy prep meals to avoid the tediousness of cooking for myself over a long solo trip.

I must find a way to fit 3,000 to 4,000 calories into my body each day that are easy to cook and eat. And, I must find away to carry that massive amount of food. I also need to find a way to make the food I eat palatable over the months I paddle.

I will be eating five meals a day with traditional meals and two big snacks.

Breakfast (681 calories):

• Quick oats, 1/4 cup
• Walnuts, 1/3 cup
• Raisins, 1/4 cup
• Honey, 1 tablespoon
• Dried milk, 2 tablespoons
• Tea with honey and dried heavy cream

Lunch (809 calories):

• Salami, 3 oz
• Cheese, 3 oz
• Wasa crackers, 4

Dinner (800-1000 calories):

• Freeze dried meals, 30 different kinds (Mountain House and Backpackers Pantry)

Snacks (1117 calories):

• ProBar meal bar, 350 calories
• Dried fruit, 610 calories
• Pack of jerky, 157 calories

Drinks (300-600 calories):

• Sports drink, once a day

Stay tuned to see how I fit food in my boat and ration it out along my paddle trip.

Freezed dried meals for the trip.

It is getting real….

Water is more a part of us than anything else. It keeps our bodies alive. It helps feed and nourish our cells.

As a child and young adult, rivers were an integral part of my life. When I was five we moved our first house in to Aspen, Colorado on Castle Creek. My first memories are of camping in Aspen along Castle Creek and playing in its waters. I remember many days spent with in that rocky mountain snow melt fishing and playing.

The next house my dad built a house south of Aspen on the Roaring Fork River with our back porch overlooking the water. Swimming, fishing, and just sitting by the river were daily activities. When my family left Aspen for Crested Butte, my mother purchased a house right on Coal Creek. And again my back deck sat next to water.

The hours I played in these creeks and rivers taught me to respect them and trust them. On hot summer days, my brothers and I cooled off, fished, and sent toy boats made from branches floating off to wild adventures.

My sleep was always lulled by the sounds of the river running by.

The San Juan River me on my first rafting trip in high school. The week we spent on the water hooked me. I knew when I left high school I would follow the rivers calling.

After senior year, I joined a rafting company. Spring training was a rush. We spent three weeks training. We ran the Dolores, The Taos Box on the Rio Grande, and multiple trips on the Amimas River in Durango. I spent two summers as a river guide working both day and multi-day trips.

A career in computer information systems pulled me away from the wild water.

Paddling across our other border collie to a hike in Southwest Colorado.

I didn’t come back to the rivers until 2015 as an adventure resort guide in Southwest Colorado. Back on the river, I was struck by how much I missed it.

The last few years, I dabbled with rivers but did not fully commit to them. This summer, I will be truly returning to these rivers.

This trip is a return to water, to a huge part of the fabric of my being and of all humans’ existence. Once the rivers enter your life, they course through your veins forever.

I am returning once again to the waterways that cut through our lands. I am returning to the one thing that has always been home: a river.

I am returning to nature to find healing and solace.