This river trip started April 21,2002 in Nebraska City, Nebraska.
And ended on April 25,2002 in St Joe.

I started at the Riverview Marina in Nebraska City at about 5pm.
I got my canoe out of my dad's pickup at the bottom of the ramp.
I put the loose stuff in a tarp and tied it up with rope, and then
to the canoe. I put the cooler, chair, wet bag, and paddle into the canoe
and tied them in. Picture at the ramp.

I took pictures of the camp grounds with electricity
and the bathrooms before I left.

The journey starts on the Chart 34 of the Corp of Engineer's book
Missouri River Navigation Charts. Sioux City, Iowa to Kansas City
Missouri. The river mile is 536.
I wrote on my charts to help pin point where I encountered animals
and took pictures. So I have scanned in the charts and will combine
them with my logs, so I can refer to mile marks and can keep the
descriptive language to the scenery and not the directions.

The first few miles were somewhat uneventful. The smokestack
of the powerplant at mile 556 can be seen for miles. I would later
see it from Peru Nebraska. There are no trees on the side of the river
with the power plant. Powerplant 1 Powerplant 2
This is on chart 35.
I stopped at the Hamburg-Mitchell ramp and took pictures of the
parking lot. Mile marker 554.4. Hamburg-Mitchell 1
Hamburg-Mitchell 2 Hamburg-Mitchell 3
I had the Navigational Charts out so I could tell where the
Missouri-Iowa border should be. I pull over, and found a good place to
get out. Then I noticed the sign on the tree marking the border.
I set up camp with my tent in both states. Mile Marker 552.8.
Missouri State Line 1 Missouri State Line 2
I got some Gps readings to make it easier to find next time.
I have tried to get my Etrex Legend to match the Delorme Missouri Atlas
but no luck.
So I took the readings on two scales 40.58641 95.76234
and the default scale 40.35.177 95.45.741 also 40.35.09.9 95.45.44.7
On Sunday evening 4/21/02 I sat on the Iowa side and made some notes
as the sun set. I was glad I wore my jacket, It got too close to freezing
that night.
I put everything in the tent. Inflated the air matrace and put the
sleeping bag on it. I pulled the canoe up to the top of the bank.
I saved the pictures to the Laptop. And set the GPS back to it's
default format.

Some of the Notes I took were the things that I remembered to bring.
Food
Tent, Air matrase and pump. Sleeping bag good down to 10-15 degrees
Cooler with assorted drinks
Wet bag, which contains, phone and chargers, Legend gps, money, Books
sun block, and a tape measure my dad talked me into bringing
Large wet bag, for clothes and Laptop
Rain suite, Jacket, Hat, Lifejacket
Canoe, paddle, lawnchair
Lantern which can run off a cigarette lighter and has a remote control
Mo River Nav Charts, Mo atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme, Steno pad
Binoculars, Duffle bag w/bathroom & med supplies
QuikTrip 32oz cup

I did not bring anything to cook. Even though I have waterproof
matches.

Monday morning 4/22/02
I took 2 more pictures Missouri State Line 3 Missouri State Line 4
While I was eating a granola bar a chunk of one of my teeth
broke off and I spit it at the base of the tree with the Missouri
State border sign.
The tent was wet with dew and the river had fog on it. I could
see my breath in the sunlight.
I have 30 miles to go today. I will charge the phone and the laptop
in Brownville. The battery of the cell phone is dead because the
is about 2 years old and I had left it on all night.
I load the canoe after looking around just a little bit. The Iowa
side is a wild life management area.
I turned on the GPS and changed the screen to show miles per hour.
I was doing about 3.5 mph for a while at the start of chart 37,
but showed down to 1.7 mph later. I think the average that day was
close to 2.5 mph. At 3.5 mph it would be about 3 hours to the Peru
ramp and Nishnabotna River. The MDC Watson ramp is on the
Nishnabotna River.

Camp Creek, at Mile 549, could only be floated 150 yards. No where
close to a road which could supply people paddling boats. GPS reading
40.32.239 95.46.269. The river is very low now, almost draught
conditions.

There are parallel wing dams here. They run parallel to the bank.
Almost always they are open at each end.
After the power plant and at Mile 551, the water was lower on the
upstream side. At the power plant there was white water.
The GPS said I was moving faster then.

At mile 547.7, I got out to see if I could get some electricity.
I was lucky that day. I turns out I had found Carl Iske. He is retired
and is starting a public boat ramp as the word gets around.
He likes the name Ruby's or Ruby's Place.
He has showers, camp sites, electricity, and of course a boat ramp.
He will take people to town for fuel, food and beer, 3.5 miles away.
He has plans for a Sanitary pump. Ruby's Place 1
He used to make art work from tin roofing. He left quite a bit at the
farm he sold, thinking he would have no use for it and no place to
put it. But the future always surprises people.
I plugged in my Laptop transfered pictures and call the office.
Call just in time to answer a question about some software settings.
Carl drove me to town to make sure I could get the directions right.
Just like you are going to the main boat ramp, go past the college
to the downtown. Don't turn east on Olive. Keep going past the new
bathrooms and covered picnic area on the Steamboat trail. Which runs
from Nebraska City to the Nuclear Power Plant south of Brownville.
We drove to the quansit hut. The dark color on the bottom is due
to the flood of '93. Pics 3-12. Ruby's Place 2
Ruby's Place 3 Ruby's Place 4 Ruby's Place 5 Ruby's Place 6
The town has a bike trail. Grocery store, open at 6am except Sunday.
Bank, Cafe & Bar and a bar. Kacey's with fuel out by the highway has
a ATM.
He showed me the old dirt ramp at 546.7 It is the on the Navigation
charts. It is mostly the site of college parties now. It is 1 mile
east of his place.
I packed up and left after we got back.
I spotted the dirt ramp. Peru Sportsman Club
Then around the corner I came across a
house with a sign that said Racoon Ranch. It has a dirt ramp.
I think they will do something with it to keep it from erroding.
This is the start of chart 37. Raccoon
I stopped at the Peru Ramp and took a picture of the parking lot.
I talked to a guy who told me that the town had spent $10,000 on
rock, though you could not see it now.
The bathroom had been drug up to the dike about 8 or 9 times
because of floods, and was no longer in good shape.
He also said people go to Rockport for fuel even though
it is 5-6 miles from the river on the other side.

The dirt ramp at mile 538 is pic 18. Dirt Ramp
Then I made it to Brownville. I paddled around the cruise ship
and came back around the tug boat to find a place to get out.
The cruise ship is the Spirit of Brownville. For reservations and
schedules call 402-297-3344.
I went to TJ's. They let me plug in my laptop and cell phone.
I transfered pictures and made a phone call. TJ's
By the time I got done, it was dark. So I camped in the Nebraska
State Park. The party barge, cruise ship and Merewether Lewis sand
dredge also are in the park. The Steamboat trail goes through the
edge of it. 1 Trail 2 Camp Grounds 3 Boat

Tuesday morning 4/23/02
It was a rainy night. I was not prepared. I got the ends of my sleeping
bag damp. I retrieved the rest of the stuff from the canoe, in case
it rained again. The tarp would have kept me from getting wetter if
it had rained again.
TJ's Lounge is open afternoon and evenings. The tourist shops are open
during the day. There is also a health food store. I took pictures of
them before I packed up. Brownville 1 Brownville 2 Brownville 3 Brownville 4
The grain elevator at Brownville can be seen for miles in both
directions.
I packed up and talked to a guy who works on the barge. He was glad
to be rid of his office job. He has 8MM file of the dredge in use.
I left about 10am. I slept good every night.
It was too windy for my hat. The river runs about 2-3 mph. upto 3.5
mph, depending on the grade.
It is just warm enough at 10am to not need a jacket. The high for
today will be in the low 60's. Tomorrow it will be only about 57.
I rowed off and on for about 2 hours to try to make up for some of
the time I'd lost yesterday. I had planned to make 30 miles, but
only made 17. I wanted to be in St Joe thursday afternoon. I had
called Dad monday evening at TJ's to tell him it might be Friday
afternoon instead. This starts chart 39.

At Nebraska City only a few of the trees had leaves. Just one
here or there. Now at Langdon Boat Ramp quite a few trees have
leaves and the rest have leaves popping out.

The Cooper Nuclear Station is a mile 532.7 on chart 39.
Cooper Nuclear Station 1. Cooper Nuclear Station 2.

Langdon Access mile 530.5, chart 39, is just around the bend
from the Nuclear power plant. Langdon Access 1. Langdon Access 2.
I stopped for pictures of the parking lot. The bathroom was real nice
too. There was a woman there hunting mushrooms with her husband.
She had 5-6 all one inch, except for a 2.5 inch long one.
At Thurnau Access last year, I found 10 mushrooms all about 2 inches

The wind always blows upriver. The temperature may hit 70 today.
The wind always is blowing me into the bank or out of the channel.
I write a sentence or two, look up, and I am back to the bank
again. So I paddle back out about 50 feet, drop the paddle, pickup
the pen and paper, and write one or two more sentences. Then look
up again. I gave up trying to go down the river forword, I just
kept it in the channel.

Hoot owl bend is before a big bunch of houses. I was not able to
recognize it. I wanted some more pictures. Hoot Owl Bend ?
An MDC Agent came by and talked to me for a few minutes. He was
looking for fishing tackle. But I did not have any fishing tackle.
The sound of his 70 hp motor was very distinct. About 3 miles
later, I heard the motor start up again, I guess he wanted to
make sure I was telling the truth.
He told me that Hoot Owl Bend Access was before the houses.
At mile 519.2 I got a picture of some geese posing for a
picture. Chart 40. Geese.
The next picture is of a red bouy. A passed several of them
very closely so I decided to get the picture. Bouy
The has been so strong, it blew my hat off twice. At mile 520.2
Fortunately I had my head back leaning on it both times.

Indian Cave State Park goes along the river for aways.
I had hoped the showers might be by the river, but no luck.
I stopped at the ramp and took pictures of the parking lot
and toilet. I transferred pictures first. Indian Cave State Park 1
Indian Cave State Park 2
There were two ladies hunting mushrooms for almost 2 hours.
Mushrooms
I was able to take my shoes and socks off all afternoon and
let them dry out. I had shorts on too. I was glad that I
brought sun block.
I wanted to spend the night at Thurnau so I can hunt mushrooms.
I think today's heat has made them pop up late in the day.
There will be thunder storms tonight. It will rain cats and
dogs. It will rain so many that the dog catcher will call
suicide prevention. The clouds are starting to blow in for
tonights festivities.
A fish just jumped out of the water. This is the first fish
to do so since Sunday night.
The cave, at Indian Cave State Park, is at the 517 mile sign.
Cave
Sunday it was cold and the misquetos were not a problem. They
could not sneak up on you because their teeth chattered so
loud.
At mile 515.6 some deer swam the small creek dumping into the
river. The deer is running away. You can barely see it.
Deer Chart 42.

The wind is beginning to pickup. The surface is a little
choppy. I have batten down the hatches. Choppy surface
Then the headrest came off the captain's chair and had to be
retreived from the river and be shaken to get rid of the excess
water.(think $9 plastic folding lawn chair) I had to pull over!
Bathroom break.

Along mile marker 514 there are several strata of limestone
just about a foot below the ground.
Mile Marker 512.8 This has been a 8 or 9 mile bend. The bluffs
of Indian Cave State Park are in the distence now. While the
Nebraska bluffs seem to be getting closer.

Langdon Access has been the only ramp steep enough where
I could get in and out of the canoe and keep my feet dry.
Just up river from Thurnau you can see the bluffs of Indian
Cave State Park. There are bluffs across from Thurnau.
The tree with mile marker 511 is about out of site. Chart 43.
And the Green Sign across from Thurnau is clearly in view.
But just over a mile away.
The sun went down 10-15 minutes ago. The landscape colors are
greying out.
I may hunt mushrooms for a little while by lantern. There is
just a red glow in the west. Which is kind of like a yellow
street light, and signals you are about to stop.
I looked for a good camping site. I wished that I had picked
one farther away from the ramp, but I thought the ramp would
be easy loading and unloading the canoe than in the mud from
the rain.
You could not see my tent at night but was clearly visible
from the parking lot the next morning.
I was tired from carrying my equipment and canoe around as
well as paddling. Every night I slept about 10 hours.

Wednesday morning 4/24/02 chart 43. It was raining when I woke up. Half the drops were big ones
falling off the trees.I was prepared this time and the tarp
kept every thing dry.
Soon as the rain quit, a gail started overhead. It was real
loud. I looked out and the tree tops seldom moved. As far as
I could tell the river was not choppy.
I did not have enough experience with this type of weather
to know what to expect. I waited, when it did not rain after
30 minutes. I decided to go. I put every thing in trash bags
and then inside the tarp. That way even if it started to rain
while I was packing the boat or carrying things to it,
everything would be fine.
As I took the tent down, and everything set outside it in some
protection, a ray of sun hit the tent.
The rain suit kept me warm anyway. As soon as I launched the
canoe, the wind hit the trees around me and the river. The
wind made the temperature drop 5 or 10 degrees, but it did
not seem cold.
I was concerned about the waves swamping my boat. This is the
first time I had seen white caps in a long time. I tied every
thing in real good incase I got swamped. So every thing was
written later in Rulo in the resturant.
I was always paddling hard to keep in the current, where it
is safe. I had to paddle across the river every time the
current changed sides.(The current is always on the outside
of the curve)
After 2 miles I wondered if I would make it to Rulo. Or if I
should pull over and wait for better weather. I remembered
the warning "If you see white caps, get off the lake". After
4 miles of not drowning, I gained som confidence. But afterall
everything is tied to the boat and is in a trash bag or
in a wet bag tied to the canoe and they will float.
So if the canoe gets caught under the water by a tree stuck
in the mud, it will simply wait for the tree to decay and break,
which will allow it to continue on it's journey. I can not
wait so long however.
The waves never did come over the side of the canoe, but
they were close at times. They were too high to get pictures.
After about 5 miles I was thinking, "Well you wanted an
adventure, And here you are."
I was not paying close enough attention and slammed into the
front of a parallel wing dam. Fortunately there was a telephone
pole on each end for the canoe to hit. I gathered my wits
and shoved off. I was moving just a foot away from the rock
I was afraid of hitting rock, so I picked a rock to push off
on. The paddle popped out of my hands. I was unable to grab
it. Now what, I thought. I grabbed a rock and stopped the
canoe. I waited until the paddle caught up with me and
grabbed it. I might not have gotten it back before it got
to Rulo. And I would have bounced off a lot of rocks
without it.
I noticed all the parallel wing dams had white caps. I guess
the strong winds all come from the same direction because
of the topology of the land.
I watched the mile signs pass and made it to Rulo. The people
in the resturant were nice and let me recharge my cell phone
and laptop. I transferred pictures. I was about to make a call
when my mom called out of the blue and said she had decided
to try and catch me, and see how things were going. I told
her it was a little windy. She said she was unable to drive
in the wind. I reconfirmed a Friday retrieval.
I call the office and fixed another problem.
The meal was good as always. And I could see the white caps
on the river real good.
I met Lois the owner. I like her and gave her the web address
so she could check out the info on her resturant. when I brought the paddle out of the water for the next stroke,
the wind would blow the water dripping off the paddle and onto me.
Back at Rulo. Lois told me WolfRiver Bob had left a broshure
telling about a upcoming Lewis & Clark event and Fleemarket.
But his phone number was not on the sheet. So I will stop at
the grain elevator in White Cloud and see if they have it.

Monday I tried to paddle to make up time. And my shoulder
elbow and wrist joints were a little sore. The pain woke me
up a couple times in the night and again Tuesday morning.
But not this morning. Yesterday I paddled half as much as
Monday and rested as much as possible. For all the paddling
I have done today, I may be sore tomorrow. I have been weary
since I woke up yesterday morning. The desk job has made it
easy for me to be out of shape.
The wind almost blew the paddle out of my hands when I was
changing it from one side of the canoe to the other. It has
has quited down some this afternoon. The weather forecast at
Rulo resturant called for the winds to diminish. Colder tonight
with frost in the low lands. Tomorrow's high close to 60.
Today's high about 60-65 degrees.
I took some pictures of Rulo before I left. Unfortunately I
did not take pictures of the little dock where I landed and
tied up. Rulo
There are houses around the bend from Rulo. Two have boat
ramps for small boats. pic 5 Private Ramp
The Nemaha river is pic 6. Nemaha River
The water is not so choppy now, but I still have to paddle
across the river when the current changes to the other side.
The Nebraska bluffs in the background look nice. I have
seen a lot of swallows. Also a few hawks, but no eagles.
At Sign 492.6 I can see the White Cloud grain elevator.
I hope they are open til 6pm.
The paddle must be tied down or held constantly.
I am crossing the river after the 492.2 sign, if the boat
rocks too much, then I can shift my weight against the side
coming up and the boat will quit rocking.
Thurnau Access is half way between Nebraska City and St Joe.
54 miles from Nebraska City. I did 10 miles Sunday, 17 miles
on Monday, and 26 miles on Tuesday. Monday the gps said
2-3 miles per hour. Tuesday I did 3-3.5 miles per hour.
This morning with the wind pushing me and part of the
tarp popping up like a sail. I think I was probably in
the top ten alltime record for the journey in the minimal
paddling class.
10 years ago when Allen and I went 76 miles in 3 days on a
Memorial Day Weekend, the river was moving much faster. I
could have easily done 30 miles aday at that speed. We cooked
out then. This time I am not. 10 miles is about right if you
are going to cook out.
I have eaten breakfast both days. But I had a late lunch
Monday with no supper. Adn some cookies before I passed
out last night. I'm sure today's salid, fries and Carp are
a good plan, even on a low fat diet. At least I can live
with the fat this week.
When I got to White Cloud, I was happy to see a dock.
I had to paddle backwards to slow down. I grabbed the dock.
The other days there would not have been any current this
close to the shore. There are big waves breaking on my stern.
They have just gotten really bad.
Just as I grabbed the dock, a gust of wind blew my hat off.
I could have let go and grabbed it, but I would have gone
for a ways before I would have found a place to get out
again. And no other place would be this easy. I decided just
to let the hat go because I was tired. White Cloud 1
White Cloud 2 White Cloud 3
WolfRiver Bob had a building for rent so I got his phone
number. I walked to the end of the buildings to find
availible resources. Post Office, pure water, and a VFW
There was a guy there who was interested in Lewis and
Clark. They plan to be ready for the celebration in 2004.
They also host two flea markets every year. White Cloud 4
There is a cold wind as I leave White Cloud. I wish I had
my hat. I have some sunburn on my face already.
By Rulo almost every tree had leaves.
At mile 485.8 there is a house on the Kansas side with a
private boat ramp. Really nice rock work. It is across
from the Bob Brown area. You can't see the rock stone
work on the slope down to the ramp, but it is real
nice Private Ramp
The Bob Brown area Pics 14 & 15.
Bob Brown
Kansas Cedar Creek is 25 to 30 foot wide at the mouth.
However the Bob Brown area is the across the river and
is a better place to supply boats in this area. The
Bob Brown area has 3.5 miles of road beside the river.
The picture of the building is at the most downstream
point on the road.

I camped out across from the Bob Brown area, with just
31 miles to go to the French Bottom Access ramp.
The last two nights I felt dead tired, but I don't feel
that tired tonight. Probably because I know that I am
almost done. I may be sore tomorrow since I have paddled
as much today as I did on Monday.
I have slept later or there has been something else like
pictures at Brownville or rain, that has kept me from
starting before 10am everyday.
It does not seem fair that 2 cold fronts come through in
3 days. At least not on my vacation.
There is a wild dog out there. Sunday night there was a
pack of them, but they did not bother me. Last night
there was an animal that made sounds like a dog fighting
but never barked or howled.
The journey start on Chart 34. After only making 17 miles
on Monday, I thought I would never make it out of the
30's. Today I'm ending on chart 47, 25 miles today.

Thursday morning 4/25/02 Chart 47.
I passed the building at the end of the Bud Brown area and
took a picture. Bob Brown
Before I left, I looked for mushrooms. I found nothing.
Wind picked up this morning. Another gail today? At the
483 mile marker, it is quiet again.
My nose is really sunburned. I wish I had a hat. I wore
the rain suit jacket with a hood to keep the sun off my
nose. Of course with the wind blowing the canoe around
the hood only helped so much.
I woke today with a little bit of a sore throat. The rain
suit jacket will help stop the wind, which has now quit.
The sunburn on my arms from Tuesday does not hurt. I have
applied sunblock again today.
My muscles and joints don't hurt today and I am not very
tired.
I forgot to transfer the pictures from the camera before
I left, so I had to pull over behind a parallel wing dam
and transfer them to my laptop.
If I make 20 miles today, then I can stay at Tom Brown
by the mouth of the Nodaway River. Which is half a mile
from the Nodaway Island Access ramp. If I can make 25
miles today, then I can stay at Worthwine, at the
camping area.
Brownville and Rulo had no batteries. However I did not
walk the quarter to half mile from the resturant in Rulo,
to the stores of the town. I was a little tired then and
ready to resume the voyge.
The 480.9 mile sign. Now I am watching the signs count
down to 452, the Sunset Grill.
The north wind is back.
The gps seems happy with used batteries from the camera.
Yesterday at Rulo I got the 'change the batteries' msg.
However it went ahead and transfered the pictures and
took 15 more pictures by the end of the day. I just wish
I had transfered those 15 pics lastnight. Today I have
been traveling 3-4 miles per hour.
Payne Landing pics. The road comes from the bluffs on
roads built on high levees. 1 to 2 miles away.
Payne 1 Payne 2
A tug boat with several barges pasted me at mile marker
475.2 pics. I pulled out of the way behind a wing dam.
Riding the waves out was not a big deal. I waited for the
tug boat to go upstream about 1/2 a mile, then paddled
out to the current. The water was still agitated.
The ridges to the trophs was almost 9 inches. I paddled
back out of the channel for a little ways, until the
river settled down a enough. Tug boat 1

I put the paddle across the canoe to put my knees on,
so my feet can set on the outsides of the canoe. This
is a good alturnative to the lotus position, really
saves on the hip joints.
This day has so far turned out to be the least windy
so far.
I passed a ramp and a trailor at mile 472.3 472.3 1
472.3 2 472.3 3 472.3 4
There were houses and trailors scattered along the bank
to the 472.0 marker 472.0 1 472.0 2 472.0 3
I transfered pics from the camera before mile marker
470.1 I took a picture of the bluff behind me. Bluff 1
There is a new ramp across from the 470.1 sign.
470.1 1 470.1 2
At 469.2 Bluff
At 468.2 pics 4-6. 2 old ramps and 1 new ramp.
468.2 1 468.2 2 468.2 3
Memo: Check to see if the distense between the bluffs is
proportional to the grade of the drop in elevation.
I never thought I would write so much.
At mile sign 466.5 may be a new ramp. 466.5 1
Nodaway is around 2 bends, I can see the bluffs in the
background. I know the river gets very near them by the
time it gets to the Nodaway ramp.
The dams at Gavins Point and Fort Randell had to be for
recreation. There is almost no rain, hense no flood water
for them to control.
Tom Brown Access Area, Tom Brown 1
Tom Brown 2 Nodaway River
I recognized Tom Brown Access right away.
Nodaway Marina 1
Nodaway Marina is closed. There is a new dock at the
Nodaway Island Access ramp. Nodaway Island 1
I met Mike Shalz, a car dealer in Wathena. He runs a boat
ramp.(collects dues and keeps the concrete clean). He
says that there are 5 private ramps in the area,
and his is the 4th.
Pic 15 is the ramp at the green house by the Nodaway boat
ramp. Green house 1
I passed the 461 mile sign. Of the houses coming up,
it looks like a ramp on the last house. But the first
house had a ramp. 461 houses 1
The houses down stream of mile 461 461 houses 2
461 houses 3 461 houses 4 461 houses 5
Almost every one had a ramp and I missed 4 pictures. My
camera did not hold enough pictures.
Around the bend (2 miles) and I will be at Worthwine Access.
(1 mile now) Worthwine has camping.
The area at mile 460 looked like the start of Worthwine Area
but then I saw stairs, so I knew this was not the place.
Worthwine is on the inside of the curve, so there won't
be much rock.
There has not been blue sky since at least 2pm. The whole
sky had become a cloud. A NT haze was so thick now that
you could almost look at the sun. I knew it would rain
tonight. All my gear would be covered with mud.
I still had some sunlight left. I could not find the
Worthwine camp ground. I decided to call my dad and have
him pick me up tonight afterall. I only had 5 more miles
to go to the Sunset Grill. Now to the best of my memory
The French Bottom boat ramp is just down the street from
the Sunset Grill, but it's over a mile.
So I was paddling real hard. Cutting corners outside the
the channel, where there is danger. After making the call
I spotted the camp ground about a mile later.
When I passed the Sunset Grill I could not see the lights
of the casino. And I know how brightly they are lite up.
When I got to the casino, I headed right for the ramp.
I yelled "Turn you headlights on!" He did, but did not
hear me. He backed up and backed down the ramp.
When the headlights were shinning my way, I did not see
an obsticles. However 70 foot from the ramp I did notice
the ripple of a wing dam on the up river side of the
ramp, to protect the ramp and boats. I figured that
was no way to get around it. And I have just paddled for
and hour and 15 minutes, so I am just a little tired.
The water would just push me onto the rocks sideways
and roll me. So I decided to back paddle on the right
so I would hit the wing dam head on and hope I could
bulldoze through a low spot.
But when I back paddled, the canoe paused, and afterall
the current is on the other side. I decided to try
paddling around anyway, which worked.
I paddled to the ramp and got out. My dad helped me
load everything into his pickup.
As I was writing about landing at the ramp on the way
home, I could not help looking up once in awhile
to make sure I was not about to hit the river bank.
The Sunset Grill was already closed. It was Thursday
night. I was not too sad since it was now dark and
the river could not be seen anyway.
On the way back to KC, I called my mom to let her know
that I was doing fine. I called my friends, Allen and
John. John was the alternate pick up person. He had
left a msg on my cell phone that he had a can of
misquito spray and a bag of McDonalds hambergers.
I had not called my friends because of the $1 a
minute. And the cell phone battery never had much
charge.
Since I did not know the precise location of Hoot Owl
Access or Worthwine Access. I wish I had the list of
GPS coordinates with me.
After unloading the pickup at my house. I went to my
parents house to see my brother. A truck driver who
was passing through town.
On the way home, I wish I was camping out that night
I will miss the river.
I have plans for a couple 20 mile Saturday floats,
but that is all for this spring.