Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Peace, solitude, and two-fifty!
I've come to the conclusion that if you're looking for a little privacy and don't want to be the center of attention then you shouldn't pull into a boat landing in a closed deck solo canoe. Yesterday afternoon I unpacked as no less than five people carried on a conversation with me about my boat, the trip, the river conditions, and "how much fishing have you done?". I guess I can't complain about being lonely!
A strong storm system moved through the area in the middle of the night and I awoke at about 11:30 p.m. to strong winds and lightning all around my the area but nothing too close to the tent. The Dusty and John crew that was sleeping in the open by the river was quickly scrambling to pack up and get out of the incoming rain. I listened to the weather radio and when it was clear that the worst of the weather was far away from my location I rolled over and fell back asleep. It was the best night's rest I've had since I left home.
I awoke at about 6:30 a.m. this morning and was listening to the weather forecast for the day when a chap started talking to me about my trip (I wasn't even out of the tent yet!). Curt is a local that lives about a mile from the Cooley Landing and had come down the evening before to walk his dogs with his wife. He said he had wanted to talk to me then but ran into other friends at the landing and didn't get a chance. He was a real treasure of information about river conditions above and below Cooley, local fishing holes, and the kind of hunting/animals one sees in the area. Evidently, there are a number of large bobcat along the river and every once in a while one either gets hit by a car on a neighboring road or is sighted along the river bank. Something to look for as I float downstream.
Curt had lots of questions about how I'm doing my trip. His key phrase is one that I've heard dozens of times in the last week: "man, I've always dreamed of doing a trip like that." When I started organizing this trip I figured I was about the only person crazy enough to want to do something like this. It turns out lots of other guys share the dream. Funny, I haven't heard any women talk about paddling almost 600 miles in a canoe!
I saw my first other paddlers today. The weather was getting a bit rough just after lunch and I had paused to put on a rain jacket and zip up my spray cover when out of nowhere Dave and Grant appeared behind me. They were in sit-on-top racing kayaks and were doing a training run for the MR360 race in July. They paused long enough to chat and then kicked it in gear and disappeared into the distance. They were both traveling pretty light with just water, lunch, and a life jacket but it was impressive to see how fast they could travel.
Today was a short mileage day with me only paddling 25 miles. I did cross the monumental mark of having paddled 225 miles since I left Nebraska City a week ago. Actually, I've put in 247 miles in just a week. As a result I'll be a member of the 250 Club shortly after launch tomorrow morning. Not too bad considering this is the longest single trip I've ever made by boat.
When I got to Lexington today it was a mad house. Someone up river had told me that the river changes completely on the weekend and now I believe it. When I pulled up to the landing I saw a red school bus with the word "Emanuel Baptist Church" painted on the side. There were some teenage boys standing near the bus so I made the assumption that it was a Boy Scout or church group camping for the weekend. Turns out it was a group of local drunks letting loose on a Sunday afternoon. I unpacked slowly and set up my tent and waited for them to drive off in their red bus and I was thankful I'm not on the road myself this weekend. About an hour after they departed the police drove through and he said they're pretty well known and that he expected he'd be out to their house sometime this evening on a disturbance call. For some reason, I wasn't surprised!
That's about all I have to report today. Tomorrow is another short day, the shortest of my trek at only 23 miles. After that I'll be running about right around 25-30 miles a day for the rest of the trip with only one more long day (Wednesday) that will have me do 36 miles.
Sent from Jerry Bricker's iPad. Oooooh!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Returning back to the river
After a nice full day off in north Kansas City it was time to head back to the water. While at the Vacca's I was able to go through my food bags and whittle down what I needed for the run to St. Louis. I also weeded out the equipment that was weighing me down. The canoe is now riding as it should and the equipment bags are finally an appropriate weight. That ride from Nebraska City to Kansas City was definitely a strain because I was so overloaded. The good thing is that I've now had my "shakedown" trip and I'm in a very confident frame of mind about camping, paddling, etc. from here on out.
For my day off I went to dinner with Lora, Abbey, Grant, and one of Abbey's friends, Tiffany. It was a delicious meal at Buffalo Wild Wings, I'm so glad Grant told me it was my favorite restaurant and that I "just had to go"! Afterwards, we shopped at Zona Rosa where I picked up a new canoe seat at Dick's Sporting Goods and had a Cafe Mocha at the Barnes and Noble.
We didn't leave the house this morning until after 11:00 a.m. and it was about 11:40 a.m. when I finally got in the water. I paddled all afternoon with a single stop for lunch and made it the 36 miles to Cooley Landing at 5:40 p.m. The fast flowing high water is certainly a blessing. Even so, I'm not expecting to arrive in St. Louis until June 3rd. I intend to average 30 miles a day and enjoy the ride. Below Kansas City things are opening up a bit and it's a real pretty stretch of river. My favorite part is that the wild grapes are in bloom. When the wind dies down to a gentle breeze I can smell the grapes a hundred yards or so upstream, a very nice treat for a flower lover like myself.
The river was very busy today since it's the weekend. I saw more boat traffic in the few hours below Kansas City than I saw in the entire trip from Nebraska to KC. Lots of speed boats but no other paddle craft although I expect there will be a few coming along now that the weather is warming up.
Cooley Landing is another of those popular locations. Lots of people here fishing and I spent time talking with a couple guys who are camping out for the night. John and Dusty arrived just as I was pulling in and unloading the canoe. They are childhood friends that are now in their late 30s. John says he's just a Redneck but he wears the title as a badge of honor. They offered me a cold beer and we chatted a bit before this old man retreated to his tent to write his blog and go to sleep. Thunderstorms are threatening off to the west and it will be interesting what they'll do if it starts to pour since they don't own a tent.
The rest of the activity here tonight was an impromptu party at the boat landing after a group pulled out their boat. They were getting pretty loud and having a good time but they've since pulled out. Things have quieted down which is good as I'm one tired puppy.
Not much else to report. It was nice to get a real meal and a few hot showers the day and a half I was off the water. I was a bit sore before my rest day but I felt pretty good today, even though it was a hot and long day.
Thanks Brian and Lora for your great hospitality!
Cheers!
JB
Sent from Jerry Bricker's iPad. Oooooh!
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