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FeedSafari on the Missouri
Mighty Relaxing
Justin Leesmann
It’s never a good sign when the earth itself gives warning. So when the mud made quiet sucking sounds around my feet as I walked to the canoe, I was apprehensive. It felt as if the moving mass of the Missouri River was coiling around the boats, ready to launch us, heedless, into a force beyond control. I like to launch on my own volition, thank you very much. Plus, it was disconcerting the way my eyeballs had to slide side to side quickly to watch the speed of the water.
That just goes to show what I know. I’ve always thought that the Missouri River is not something to mess with, but Danita Allen Wood, editor of Missouri Life, invited me to test our mettle on the current of a nearly forty-mile river float. Granted, we started out with a rather different idea for our float: It was going to be one canoe, something quiet with more than a nod to nature—and our husbands planned to motor ahead to be our safety net. We went instead with Wapiti Adventures and enjoyed the fellowship of a delightful group.
This trip was definitely much more of everything. Before leaving, I took an informal poll, and no one I met wanted to float the Missouri. Some shuddered or looked perplexed. I became a mite worried. Turns out, we quickly became so comfortable with the river that we completely abandoned a couple of river rules set by Wapiti leader Bill Martin: We often got separated on the river from other team canoes, and we shucked our life jackets as soon as it got hot. Early, it became easy to see that because of Wapiti leadership, the low water levels free of debris, the fact that barges were easy to spot and avoid, many available sandbars for pit stops, plus beautiful fall weather, the Missouri River was our very own best kept secret: beautiful, easy, and underutilized.
If I had been the cook, there would have been much more worry. Wapiti Tour fare was on a whole different plane than my classic outdoor menu of hot dogs and chips. I’m talking quail, citrus-marinated lamb kabob, fresh-fig-and-honeycomb kind of fare that was sometimes served on sandbars in the middle of the river and always delicious. Incredible, savory dishes were produced sunrise and sunset à la sandbar by Chef Gabe Meyer and Sous Chef Tom Sasseen.
My canoe and kayak experience has been on smaller waterways in Missouri: the Current River, the White and Jack’s Fork. With water being touted as the most important future resource across the globe, the Missouri, one of the world’s major arteries, is on a totally different scale than our small, twisty Missouri streams. It has undergone much change in past years, its channel penned so that the tempestuous, swift and unpredictable river that the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery crew encountered and wrote about from 1804-1806 has narrowed to a third of its original width. Two hundred years ago, the Missouri had more violent tangles of debris and double the water area. The bridled river today averages 48,000 cubic feet of water per second (cfs) in September at Boonville during our trip September 10 through 14, or about 21.5 million gallons of water every minute, says John Skelton, environmental compliance coordinator of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Missouri River Office in Napoleon. In flood stage in 2007, the Missouri River averaged 200,000 to 220,000 cfs at Boonville. Immediately, I think, 48,000, psshaw.
As the date for our float trip got closer, I began watching the weather and checking water stage levels; we wanted sandbars available for breaks, camping and for reassurance. As the levels declined over the days prior to the float, I began looking for visual evidence of the ten feet or below our group wanted for safe floating. In fact, it was 8.91 feet at the start of our trip and 8.33 feet by the finish on September 14.
Our personal gear list included sunscreen, water bottle, rain jacket, dry as well as wet shoes, a light fleece, socks, hat and extra pants or shorts. We all brought camp chairs, sleeping bags and tents, though some were available from Wapiti as needed. Kansas City Paddler provided the canoes. Owner Lynn Lyon had intended to float, too, but a family health emergency prevented him from joining us.
Day One ...
Read the full story in the February-March 2010 issue of Missouri Life magazine. And mark your calendar for the 2010 Safari on the Missouri, August 27-29.
