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.

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.

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.

This journey down the Missouri River from Three Forks to St. Louis is a major undertaking both in gear and time. Much of the gear is not what I use in our normal adventures and is being purchased for this specific trip. Time is the other major commitment, this journey will most likely take more than three months. Though not an investment, there is a huge mental commitment and trial to complete this as a solo traveler.

By asking others to participate through donations I am making a commitment that is beyond myself to complete this undertaking. I will be going regardless of the donations made, however, those that donate will be investing in my commitment to finish.

Whether on my tenth or twentieth day paddling across much of the flat water of the reservoirs and getting wind bound on shore for days on end I will remind my self of those that beleave in me and my ability to do this. Through the clouds of misery and discontent I will remind myself I must go on and thank those that are encouraging me to do so.

• Core strength is key for correct kayak paddling form. I am using the TRX Training System to develop core body strength.
• For a two to three-month journey having the right gear can be the difference between success and failure. As I select my gear I will write about my selections and do some pre trip reviews.
• I will be getting on the water locally around Colorado Springs to learn and practice and will share these experiences with you.
• Since this is about insomnia I will discuss successes and failures I have leading up to and during the trip.
• I am doing lots of trip planning and mapping and I will share all this data here on the blog site.

Feel free to share what I post with others and become a part of my story as I work on and undertake this odyssey of mind and body.

Tomas