340 degrees and baking in the hot sun

I must be getting into the groove of being outdoors and off the grid, I have no idea what day it is and how long since I last posted.  It appears that my last blog post was about the put-in and day #1 adventures; possibly… My goal is to post when I have internet access and when I don’t I either go for a hike or go to bed early.  When I’m able to connect I’ll try to remember all that’s happened since the last update.  Funny thing, the days in the seat of a canoe go so slow that time seems to stretch.

“Strong” Montana wind!

I’ve come to the conclusion that this section of the Missouri River is best described as the Montana Be Dammed.  There are nine dams between the MO River headwaters and the Montana border.  Five dams are around the city of Great Falls and stretch over a distance of 15 miles.  That segment is basically impassable by canoe so shuttle by car is necessary.  That leaves four dams above Great Falls, three of which can be portaged easily (they are short and downhill) while the Canyon Ferry portage is a bit grueling so if an offer for a shuttle is offered the smart bet is to take it.

So…my last update was after my first portage of the trip around the Toston dam. As with every paddle trip I’ve made, the first time lugging gear feels impossible.  My approach to packing for paddling is to streamline my gear into as few bags as possible.  Pulling in the other direction is my desire to have my coffee cup, phone (gotta take some photos!), GPS, water bottle, weather radio, and other comfort items close at hand in the canoe cockpit.  I purchased a mesh duffle bag for this trip where all those items are stashed when I come to a portage.  It, and the other bags, can be quickly tossed onto the bank and the canoe attached to the canoe cart and everything humped to the end of the portage.  I was stupid on the Toston dam portage and got greedy.  I figured that since I had a canoe cart I could load all my gear in the canoe and away I’d go.  Things didn’t, of course, go as planned.

Canyon Lake campsite

Day #2 dawned clear, sunny, and gorgeous.  My first morning I was a bit slow gathering up my gear and getting on the river.  I didn’t shove off until after 8:00 a.m. but no worries, it was such a beautiful morning that I knew the day could only get better, and it did.  The float below Toston is an easy paddle with a swift current and great scenery.  The river comes into Canyon Lake, a 25 mile long body of water shaped like the Florida peninsula.  Coming into the south end of the lake it’s nearly straight north until one reaches the Canyon Ferry Dam.  In The Complete Paddler, Dave Miller recommends timing the crossing when the wind is low and to stay to the shelter of the shoreline.  What I encountered threw that advice right out the window.  Only once before (on the ocean in Belize) have I encountered water that calm.  It was a smooth glass mirror that appeared to well up all around me.  The effect created a bit of vertigo and I had to fight to concentrate on paddling and not become seasick.  Thus, I set a compass bearing at 340 degrees, focused on an object in distance, and started across.

Hello mamma moose!

After about 15 miles it was getting to be late afternoon and time to start thinking of where to camp.  I started to make for an established campsite but every stroke of the paddle seemed to pull me backwards.  I just didn’t seem to be able to make any headway.  It was at this point of the day as my energy was ebbing that I realized that the boat was improperly loaded; too much forward weight was pushing the nose down.  I made for shore and selected an isolated spot occupied by a family of Canada Geese that noisily made room for me to set up camp.

The following morning the water was still mirror glass calm.  Not wanting to tempt fate, I worked at reloading the canoe into a more balance arrangement and got a quick start.  Once out on the water I received a text from Norman Miller of the Missouri River Paddler’s Group telling me that a member would be at the portage to assist me.  It was going to be another excellent day…

May 15th is MO River launch day

Nebraska City, NE; May 15, 2011

 Do you know what you did on this date exactly 10 years ago?  I do!  I launched from Nebraska City on what I hoped would be a several month paddle to the Florida coast.  Record flooding on the lower Missouri and Mississippi Rivers forced that trip to terminate at the St. Louis, MO, confluence of the two rivers.  This morning I launched again on the mighty MO (at the headwaters) and I’m heading home to Nebraska and bragging rights to having completed the entire river course.  I maybe slow at accomplishing a task but I (eventually) get the job done.

Three Forks, MT; May 15, 2021

Launch day always go slow.  The canoe had to be reassembled (the rudder system and cockpit stowage) and all the bags had to fit in their practiced spots (I did lots of practice packing in my garage before I left NE).  I’m currently carrying 5 weeks of food and all my cold weather clothing and gear.  The result is that I’m heavy at the start of this trip.  Today was a gorgeous day and I was hot as I paddled down to the Toston dam.  I was lamenting having brought along too much stuff, especially when I was busting a gut on the first portage.  Now that I’m in camp and the sun has set I’m not sure about that idea. The temperature is rapidly falling and my toes are cold!

A big thank you to Mark and Sarah Deopsomer for hosting me while I was in Bozeman and for dropping me off at the headwaters this morning.  I was a very good first day and the Montana scenery doesn’t disappoint.  It will take a few more days to find the rhythm of paddling, portaging, and camping but so far things are off to a great start!

Note: I’m still working on the Mapshare link at the top of this page to display my current location.  I think I’ve got it set correctly for tomorrow’s float.

Wyoming I’ve missed ya!

Ten months of preparation are behind me and the departure date finally arrived.  I turned in grades last Friday and spent the last week wrapping up loose ends in preparation for the big trip.  Part of me can’t believe how much energy I’ve put into making lists, working on my canoe, and fretting about little details.  My other self wonders if I’m truly ready to be on the water paddling day after day for eight weeks.  I guess only time will tell.

The plan for today was to drive to Glenrock, Wyoming, and stay with Scott Butler, a colleague from our teaching days at the community college in Cheyenne, WY.  Scott is currently managing The Higgins Hotel in Glenrock, WY which is just over the halfway point in my drive from Lincoln, NE.  I had forgotten how gorgeous Wyoming is, especially in the spring, so it’s good to be back and see an old friend at the same time.

The drive from Lincoln was long but fairly uneventful.  My route took me through western Nebraska via Scottsbluff.  The canoe rode pretty well on top of the truck although the rudder assembly shook loose due to a crack that I hadn’t noticed before.  I called Scott Smith from Superior Canoes who buillt the boat and, even though he’s no longer actively building canoes, he agreed to try to locate a replacement part and mail it to me at my food pickup in North Dakota.  He thought the location of the crack won’t be a problem but having a backup will ease my mind.  In the mean time, I’ll epoxy the crack and reassemble and keep an eye on things.  I guess I now have a problem to keep my overactive mind occupied instead of the negative thoughts that hit me at the beginning of any trip.

Tomorrow is an early departure and drive to Bozeman, Montana.  At some point I have to have my watercraft inspected for zebra mussels.  I tried to do that as I entered Wyoming but the check station had closed 15 minutes before I arrived.  So much for trying to be a good citizen. :)

The boring view from my front window on the approach to Chimney Rock.

North Dakota, here we come!

Well not exactly we, more like a bunch of a food items heading out via UPS.  This week’s major goals for trip preparation include shipping out the second month of freeze dried food and assembling reading materials.  Hopefully, when I reach Tobacco Gardens (located outside the metropolis of Watford, ND) my food will be waiting.  I tossed in a special treat as a reward for making it through Montana and the first reservoir in the Dakotas.  I hope that by the time we meet again that I’ve settled into a good grove and the paddle is going easy...

My second task this week is assembling maps, books, and music/entertainment to bring along on the trip.  The great thing about carrying an iPad is that it has lots of storage room to include reference books and items to read for pleasure.  I hope to do a little wandering while around camp and on shore encountering plants, insects, and other wild creatures.  I’ve also been warned that the winds on the big lakes can be overwhelming and to expect to be windbound on shore for several days.  Having some good reading material will make the hours pass by a little quicker while waiting for conditions to improve.

Two weeks from tomorrow I’ll be departing Lincoln.  I’m trying to wrap up my to do list which mostly includes loose ends around the house.  The canoe, food, and equipment are all ready to go.  I know I’m forgetting something important, I just can’t remember what it is! 

Shaking it down, the final packing list, making decisions...

Way too much stuff!

I'll be paddling for 8 weeks and traveling almost 1,800 miles; that means I need LOTS OF STUFF, correct!?  Clearly, I'm a product of western civilization as I have well over a hundred items on my packing list and all of them are absolutely critical 😂.  Then again, Grandma Gatewood hiked the Appalachian trail three times carrying her required essentials in a pillow case!  Last weekend's activity was to dump all my gear out on the living room floor and toss out what I don't need.  Unfortunately, the discard pile ended up being woefully small.  I just have TOO MUCH STUFF!

Where will I sit!?

After repacking my bags I went about the task of seeing how it will ride in the canoe.  I quickly deduced what's already been said, too much stuff.  The problem is my original intention to carry my entire eight week supply of food instead of doing a food pickup halfway through the trip.  If I stick to that plan my boat will be overloaded on the upper Montana stretch of the river above the Missouri Breaks.  An overloaded canoe going through rapids is hard to control, even in minor ones.  Thus, I've made the decision to mail month two of my food bill to Washburn, North Dakota, for pickup when I pass through.  I don't, however, like the idea of trying to time my food rations, especially if I get wind bound on Lake Sakakawea but that's how she rolls sometimes. 

Click here to view the entire packing list

Thus, the current plan is to carry five weeks of food and ship the remaining to North Dakota.  The trip from Three Forks, MT, to Washburn, ND, should be about 30 days (assuming a travel rate of 30 miles/day) which will give me an extra week of food before the pickup.  Carrying all of my supplies would have been much simpler but now I'll be back to the streamlined packing profile I had 10 years ago on my Lower Missouri River trip.  Each day that passes on the river makes the food bag a bit lighter and the paddler (me!) a bit more trimmed and efficient.  It's a good tradeoff in the end.

And in case you're wondering, here's my complete packing list.  I developed it for my last big mileage trip using a couple of resources including Cliff Jacobson's book Expedition Canoeing and my own experience over the last few decades of outdoor travel.  Enjoy reading!

Numbers, what's in a name, and decals

The countdown to the May 15th put-in continues!  This week I'm working on itinerary and thinking about the details of traveling to Montana.  I've loaded the boat on the truck a few times and she seems to ride nicely but I did need to purchase some new anchors for the hood/front tie down straps.  I guess it never hurts to work out those kinds of loose ends before the actual day of departure.

This week's blog update is a short one as all the major packing and planning is done.  I thought it might be a good time to talk about boat registration and decals.  Nebraska law doesn't require registering a canoe and the same is true for the states of Montana and North Dakota.  Unfortunately, South Dakota regulations state, in part, that "non-motorized boats over 12 feet in length must have a validation sticker, but boat numbering is optional."  A bit confusing, especially for a river through-padder.

My take when reading the regulation was that if I didn't want to worry about being hassled I should register my canoe.  Of course, doing so turns out to be harder than you'd think.  After locating the proper form on the Nebraska DMV website, I made my way over to the nearest office.  I was told by the clerk that I wasn't required to register my canoe and she was a bit surprised at my response of "yes, but I want to."  Evidently, there are few idiots that insist on filling out paperwork, standing in line for over an hour, and spending $27 when they aren't required to do so. After three supervisors were called for assistance and I was questioned several times about why, I left with my pink registration form in hand (yeah me!).

The next step in this odyssey was to locate stick-on decals.  Google being the friend that it is, a quick online search yielded a couple of companies with online tools for designing and ordering the correct setup.

While ordering my registration decals I decided it would be good to throw in an order for my boat's name.  One of my blog posts from my trip down the lower Missouri ten years ago highlighted my decision to name her the "James Caird."  I have long been intrigued with the 1916 Ernest Shackleton led open boat rescue voyage from Elephant Island to St. George Island (800 miles across the roughest waters on the planet!).  Since my boat is about the same length as that craft and will be occasionally under sail, I figure I'm justified in giving her an official name.  After all, I will be living in her for about 8 straight weeks and she's more than a weekend sit on top canoe.

A Q&A session with other paddlers, testing the sail kit

The highlight of this week's trip preparation was a Zoom question and answer session on Monday
evening with 20+ other paddlers.  A big thanks to host Norman Miller of Missouri River Paddlers for hosting the event; I got a few good tips and it was great meeting other peeps that either have done the river or are heading out soon.

Our weather finally warmed up enough for me to get onto the water and give the modifications to the boat a test run.  There's a small lake in the neighborhood across the street so I loaded her onto my portage cart and wheeled over.  I purchased the cart for my float on the Lower Missouri ten years ago and never needed to use it.  The Upper Missouri has over 15 dams to portage around with a few being longer distances (up to 2 miles) so it's smart to see how the cart will handle.

I thought my first time using the sail kit would be best in a smaller body of water.  So, after my 1/2 mile "portage," I dropped the boat into the water and gave it a try.  The winds were a bit strong (ca. 20 mph) and swirling unpredictably which made putting up the sail and getting underway difficult.  Since the lake (more like a pond) has such a short fetch, this outing was more about testing the rigging and the overall setup.

Today's weather was gorgeous (sunny, 65º F) with little wind.  I put the canoe racks on the truck and loaded the canoe for the short drive over to Holmes Lake.  Holmes is also a small body of water but large enough to make a few runs downwind and then turn around to learn how to sail upwind.  The conditions were perfect for learning how to trim the sail and test the overall setup.

The route of the Missouri River through North Dakota and South Dakota is a series of five reservoirs.  
I'm hoping the sail will ease paddling across the long distances of calm lake water.  The winds on those lakes are notoriously wicked and I'm hoping they'll cooperate (strong enough to assist and blowing in the right direction).  I'll need to get onto one of our larger reservoirs and continue to master how to sail but today was a good start.

Lastly, this outing was a good time to test my GPS install/placement and the stowage options I talked about in last week's blog post.  It appears that I got it right, everything is within easy reach and organized efficiently.

Time is flying by, my countdown is by the number of days remaining instead of weeks or months.  The goal for the upcoming week is to unpack everything and do a shakedown and repack.  For all my trips, and my peace of mind, I like the last to-do items to be related to logistics and not equipment and packing.

Small modifications equals big comfort?

Only 55 days/8 weeks remain until the big put-in on the Missouri River at Three Forks, Montana!  Most of my planning is complete and I'm way ahead of things (that thought actually panics me, I know I'm missing something on my to-do list!).  I thought I'd use a few of my upcoming weekly pre-trip posts to summarize the improvements I've made on my canoe since last September.

From the moment in 2011 that Scott Smith, owner and manufacturer of Superior Canoes, delivered my Superior Expedition (a closed deck solo rudder canoe), I've known there were little things that would make paddling her more comfortable.  I love the overall design and handling of the canoe and she's perfect for flat water trekking on big water like the Missouri River.  A long distance trip requires long periods of seat time and that's when a small inconvenience in the layout of the cockpit becomes a growing irritant.

Every time I've sat in the seat of my boat one glaring deficiency became immediately apparent, stowage and placement of small gear is severely lacking.  There's a built in map stow area to the left of the seat but no place to put a drink cup, GPS unit, weather radio, etc.  I didn't have time to work on ergonomics prior to my paddle down the Lower Missouri in 2011.  For the 2021 trip on the Upper Missouri I spent several months researching and installing upgrades to the cockpit.  A summary of what I've done follows.

Down River Stash Bag

Stowage:

• A Stash Pocket (see photo) from Down River for holding my marine radio and coffee cup/water bottle.  I considered other means of stowing items but the rudder cables that run past the cockpit seat are exposed.  The solution was to install an under deck line from which to hang the Stash Pocket.  Having a hot coffee at hand will totally rock the start of the paddling day!

GPS unit & UnderDeck Bag

 

• The UnderDeck Bag from North Water (see photo).  Compared to a kayak, the cockpit of the Superior Expedition is fairly open.  This allows for rapid stowage and removal of equipment but results in a large area of dead space ahead of the padder.  My setup uses the bag's quick-releases and a set of #2 Nite-Ize S-Biners to hang the UnderDeck Bag via rigging in the open cockpit.

 

 GPS Navigation & Safety:

• I continue to be amazed at the ease and convenience of handheld GPS units.  The downside, however, is that the small screen is hard to see while out on the open water.  This is exasperated by the fact that there's no place to set the GPS unit.  Usually I place the GPS on the canoe floor and either stoop or periodically pick up the unit when I need to view the screen; difficult tasks when paddling in strong wind or current.  My first thought for a solution was an under deck attachment and swing arm to mount the GPS unit.  That configuration, however, would be impede my paddle stroke; not a good solution.  It was clear that the best situation would be to mount the GPS unit between the paddler's legs with the screen in an elevated position.  To do so would require a glue mount thus creating an obstacle when egressing from the boat.

SidePort below seat

RailBlaza under seat extension arm for GPS

My solution (see photos) was to attach a RailBlaza arm on the underside of the canoe saddle/seat bottom using a SidePort mount.  The system extends forward between the paddler's legs where the GPS unit is attached to a Fish Finder Mount.  When entering and exiting the boat the GPS/Fish Finder can be set aside so its not obstructing the padder's movement.  We'll see how well this system works on test paddling outings in the next few weeks...

Cockpit facing to stern

Seat, removable GPS mount, map stowage

 

• For my 2011 trip I purchased set of Navisafe Portable Navigation Lights.  I wanted to be prepared for any needed night paddling situation (due to escaping hot weather, strong winds, etc.).   

My Navisafe lights attach via strong magnets through the boat deck.  The result is a precarious assembly that can easily be knocked loose.  My solution was to modify my lights by attaching their magnetic base to a RailBlaza Attachment Adapter.  This gives a firm mount while allowing the light to be removed when not in use.  The mount for the front tri-color light is a RailBlaza QuickPort (see photo) while the rear (white) Navilight 360º is mounted using a RailBlaza Expanda Track (this allows threading of the rudder elevator line –– see photo).

Rear light over rudder rope

Front tri-color light

That's enough for now.  Look for upcoming posts about decals, hull protection, sail installation, electronics/communication package, food, and my equipment list.

Planning 2021 trip on the Upper Missouri River!

It's time to finish what I started...  It's been ten years since I pointed my canoe downstream on the Missouri River and began paddling.  When I arrived at St. Louis, MO, I was already thinking about the "next big trip."  Little did I know that an entire decade would pass before I'd be able to attempt another big float.  In that time there have been a few changes in life (children graduating, losing 35 pounds, knee surgery) and the big upsets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  All in all, this year is a really good time to once again point my canoe downstream on the Missouri River...

So, I'm going to finish what I started.  On May 15, 2011 I launched at river mile 563 in Nebraska City, NE, and made the run (in 18 days) to river mile 0 at St. Louis.  My current plan is put in (on May 15, 2021!) at the headwaters of the Missouri River (mile 2,321) at Three Forks, MT, and take out at Nebraska City.  I will thus have traversed the river completely.  Some paddlers accomplish this task in a single outing while others break it up over a few seasons.  My story is that a decade's time counts as complete and I'm not gonna change that thought no matter how much you argue!

Real planning for this began last September and it has been a great replacement for what I'd usually being doing; organizing/completing research projects and/or a study abroad trip for my real life gig as a university professor.  The COVID shutdown has forced us all to scale back or change what we usually do in life, at work, or play.  Getting ready to paddle almost 2,000 miles by canoe has been the perfect diversion during the winter months... 

Where am I in the planning process?  The simple answer is lists, lists, and more lists (of things needed to be done)!  My plan for reactivating this blog is to start posting about what I've done and what needs to completed before I head to Montana in May.  I'm pretty confident that I'm on track to be ready to go in eight weeks (eek!).  Until then, thanks for reading my blog and for all the support that I've received thus far. 

Enjoy reading and look for me on the water. 🛶

At the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

After an 18 day trip I can proudly say "I came, I saw, I kicked that river's ass!" (well kinda, it actually owned me for about 550 of the 560 miles I traveled).