Introduction

I started this Missouri River adventure with my dad when I was 14. I fell in love with it and have now kayaked from KC to St. Louis 9 times along with lots of small trips on the Kaw River and creeks here in Kansas. The last time I made the trip to St. Louis was in 2000.

My wife passed away 12/15 from cancer then I got cancer a year later. Luckily I am cancer free now, but I am just now getting my feet back under me. So I have decided to make a trip from Atchison Kansas to Kimmswick Missouri. It will be 500 miles.

To start preparing for the trip I got the only kayak I could find that could make the trip from my friend Steve Alfery. The boat is probably 50 years old and has been in a shed for the past 9 years. I removed the old skin from the boat and repaired the wood from the frame. Then another friend of mine, Dave Kellum, from Lecompton Kansas put the new skin on. I couldn’t have done it without him. I also had a name put on the side of the boat by B&B sign co, a son, Chris and his 92 year old dad Bill. The name I picked was “OLD MISERY.” It looks great on the boat!

I leave in 10 days and I have everything ready to go. My boat weighs 360 lbs, supplies and myself included. The Missouri River is almost at a flood stage. BIG DEAL! The camping spots may not be the best with everything under water, but It’s an adventure. My friend Cat Daddy gave me a quart zip lock of shad to take for bait. He also said if I need anything else to let him know, what a friend!

With the river high, the greatest danger would be to not take the adventure. Who cares! I will be sending my granddaughter, Trisha, updates so she can put them on this website for you to keep up on my trip. I’ll let you know the basics, but not all the good stuff. You’ve got to be on the rim of close friends and family to hear it ALL.

Talk to you when on OLD MISERY

-Ted

Day 1- 44 miles

My granddaughter Trisha dropped me off on September 21st at the boat ramp in Atchison Kansas. The Atchison globe came down to the river and interviewed me just before I took off. Today when I got near Leavenworth I paddled about 20 feet up a little creek and pulled my boat out of the water and walked into town to a pizza pub. I drank a beer then got my food to go and headed back to my boat. When I was on a sidewalk getting close to where my boat was 2 young boys passed me on small bicycles. I looked at one and he was carrying a fishing pole, I looked a little closer and realized it was my fishing pole. I said, "What the hell do you think you're doing with my fishing pole?!" The boys started getting mouthy and I ended up having to call the police. I didn't press charges, I just made sure I got my pole back and the police called the kids parents to come pick them up. I couldn't believe they had done that. But I'm glad I came back when I did. Caught em red handed. Other than that today was a good day with great weather!

Day 2- 47 miles

Today I kayaked from Parkville Missouri to Sibley Missouri. The sun came out and there was a light headwind. I stopped at Bar K near the river market in Kansas City and got bloody marys with Derek and Sheila Lane. They brought their daughter Ella and their dog Charlie as well. It was fun bullshitting with them for a while. After we visited they walked back to my boat with me and I headed off down the river.

I met another guy named Tom just outside of Kansas City. He owns the only kayak rental place in Kansas City. It was nice to talk to someone else about kayaks for a bit. Once I got to my camp spot I made myself some PB&J sandwiches for dinner.

Day 3- 42 miles

Today I kayaked from Sibley to one of my favorite towns on the river, Waverly Missouri. Along the way, I got to talk to some nice people. I stopped in Wellington for lunch and then I met some people from Carrollton that have a cabin right on the river, they even took some pictures of me for the website. Now I'm going to drink some beer and catch up with my friends in Waverly.

Day 4- 30 miles

Today I spent the morning in Waverly. My good friend Flathead lived in Waverly years ago, but he passed away about 13 years ago. This morning I had a nice visit with his daughter Amy.

I didn't leave Waverly until about 11 am, so today was a shorter day of paddling. I made it to Miami Missouri and camped on a mud bar on the river.

Also, thanks for all the birthday wishes!!

Day 5- 32 miles

Today I kayaked from Miami to Glasgow. While I was paddling I accidentally broke the antenna off my radio, so now it just has a little stub. Still works fine though. My phone also died yesterday, so I'm hoping to get it charged up soon. My friend Mark Bales drove about 75 miles to come see me here in Glasgow. He brought 2 bottles of homemade wine with him and I definitely drink a little too much of that stuff.

Day 6- 40 miles

I said goodbye to my friend Mark and left Glasgow at about 11am today. I kayaked all afternoon and finally made it to Boonville around 5pm. I walked up to the main street diner and plugged my phone in there then asked the waitress if I could use their phone. I then called a cab to come pick me up and take me to Walmart. I just left my phone charging at the restaurant so it would be at full power when I came back. The cab to Walmart and back was $10 round trip. At Walmart I bought myself a new camera since the one I had was a piece of crap. Then when I got back to the diner I got a cheeseburger, some fries and a slice of cherry pie to go and headed back to my boat with all my stuff. It was 5:45 by the time I got back, so I decided to go just outside of town to find a place to camp. About 3 miles downstream I found a nice mud bar. The mud is so hardpacked that you don't get muddy by stepping on it. There were deer and beaver tracks all over the place. Every time I camp on a mud or sandbar I hear all kinds of animals at night.

Day 9- 33 miles

Today was a miserable day of paddling. The wind was blowing about 25 mph right in my face. The water was white capping everywhere. I couldn't even stop paddling to take a bite of food or anything because if my boat wasn't pointing forward it might tip over. I stopped for a little bit in Portland to take a break and buy a T-shirt. Then I got back on the river and headed to Hermann Missouri. Man, there are a ton of people in this town. It's one big party. I just got some groceries and went into a bar for a while before I set up camp. My tent is right on the edge of town, so I might go grab some breakfast in the morning before I head out. Hopefully, the wind isn't so bad tomorrow.

Day 10- 40 miles

Today the weather was much better. As I was paddling down the river I spotted a couple going down the river on paddle boards. Now that's something I haven't seen before on a trip like this. I talked to them for a while then went on a past them on the river. Right after that when I was paddling an airplane landed RIGHT beside me on the water. I have pictures of it on my camera that'll I'll get posted when I get back home. Soon after the plane landed it took off again and landed a little farther down the river from me. It was crazy to watch it from up so close.

My goal today was to camp in Washington, but when I got to the area I was going to camp there were a bunch of people there. I went over and talked to them and turns out it was a big group of homeless people. I asked them how to get to the grocery store and the guy was like "give me your money and I'll walk up and get your stuff for you." I was like hell know I am not giving some homeless guy my money so I ended up just buying an iced tea across the street and getting out of there. I found a nice boat ramp to camp at that is right beside the Katy Trail. It's at miles marker 57. That means I'm only 57 miles from the Mississippi River. Tomorrow I'm going to spend some time in St. Charles and then probably camp downstream from there.

Also, I just got my copy of the latest Atchison Globe newspaper. They posted my photo from the day I first took off at the boat ramp there in town.

Day 11- 40 miles

Today was a good day, I called a guy from Saint Louis and he told me tomorrow the river will be high enough I can paddle into the Mississippi River over the rock damn without any trouble, hopefully, that goes smoothly. All the other times I've done a trip like this, I had to use the canal and go around the dam. In other news, I met up with a bunch of friends, Greg, his girlfriend and his dad Bill, and a friend of mine from when I was in high school, Gail. and went to the Lewis and Clark bar in St. Charles today. About 8 miles down the river from St. Charles I spotted the Boeing airplane company building, that things looks like a mansion overlooking the river. I'd love to go in there someday. I found a private campground at mile marker 17 and decided to stay there for the night. Tommorrow I'll go through downtown St. Louis on the Mississippi River and then either go all the way to Kimswick or find a place to camp a little upstream from there.

Day 12- 45 miles

Today I made it to the Mississippi River! I got to the point where to two rivers at about 10am. I stopped and talked with some people before going over the rock dam. I've been thinking about going over this dam the whole trip, wondering if the water would be high enough. It was a little turbulent around there but I made it with no problem. I also stopped in downtown St. Louis at a tourist trap boat and bought a bottle of water and a bag of peanuts. It costs me $6. Then I kept heading down the Mississippi through town. Man, it was a hot day, about 92 degrees with the sun just beating down. There have lots of barges on this river, so I've had to stay right by the bank so I wouldn't get in their way. I found a nice camping spot just north of 255 highway on the Illinois side. I'm about 10 miles from Kimmswick, the end of my trip.

Day 13- 10 miles

I've made it Kimmswick!! My plan now is to clean up a little and hitch a ride to the rental car place in the town over. Then I'll load my kayak on top of the little car and drive to the KC airport where my granddaughter will meet me with my truck. I'll still be adding some final thoughts to this website and more photos from my trip. So keep checking back if you want to see!