Photo Bomb (me in the background)
I just want to give a shout out to the organizers of the MR340 and their director Scott; they made the right decision rescheduling the MR340; the boat ramps at Miami and Herman were sketchy at best - debris jams would have played havoc with 400 boats; conditions on the river for those that never paddled the Missouri River would have been misrepresented; this is a beautiful river to paddle - but in the wake of heavy rain and flooding it was an eye sore; thank goodness the event was rescheduled so you can see the beauty of this magnificent river. Special Note: the log jam on the bridge at Glasgow was the largest I have ever seen - 50 foot wide and 20 foot high - boils and whirlpools that could suck up a Winnebago if you were not paying attention.
The newly designed sticker
Our pre-event ramble in Kansas classic - everyone hanging around talking story - it was a great to see old friends and make new ones; A shout out to the hotel guard who let me in at 3:30am (forgot my room card) I was out for a morning walk ( I get up early) and was standing at the door like a lost puppy. Thanks Joe for the room share!!
A huge thank you to Tom Grow and Jenny Matuszewski Grow for their hospitality and shuttle arrangements - you two are an inspiration - the best!!
My personal adventure was extremely enjoyable on what is being called the Krugerhead 340 - weather was perfect, no bugs, full moon - as peaceful as you can get, nobody on the river but us for the most part.
Missed cookie stop with fresh peaches
In Herman I got confused and went grocery shopping at the market; I had a craving for hard salami and cheese sandwich - It's actually Washington that has the deli I wanted to stop at but sleep deprived I scoured Herman - dirty sweaty and over tired - a tad scruffy I was sure to scare women and children if I asked for directions; anyway I bought a bunch of crap at the store which was totally useless - the hard salami had a couple hours of shelf life in the heat - it started to turn green so I knew at that point it was done - the imitation cheese spread with no expiration date made sense at the store but not in the boat - useless. - warm Parkay - my God man, is that stuff really edible?
My stop at Cooper's landing was memorable; Thai food made to order and an old coot that would ask me a bunch of questions (argumentative tone) about the river like I was local or something - I wish I could have offered him some green salami, that would have shut him up.
I hit the wall a couple of times, ate heavy pulled over and took a REM nap; totally rejuvenates the body a soul - a 45 minute nap makes all the difference. My sleep cycle for the event was 1.5 hours the first night past Miami; nap of 45 minutes just after Cooper's Landing and a 3 hour sleep just before Jefferson City.
The last day offered a bit of a challenge; fog in the am which made for some brail paddling bumping and grinding down the river - ah I'm going to say it - I was actually cold in July on Missouri river - a moderate breeze and fog forced me to break out a space blanket. - then the heat came later - talk about two extremes in a 8 hour span.
The Finish
I was motivated by pesky phone calls from Mark and Team Kruger already at the finish; talk of cold beer and real food fueled my resolve - greeted by many at the finish was a great reward - thanks to Jack M who helped me out of the boat - legs were a bit wobbly after sitting so long - thanks to Mark and Lauren who brought Nachos!! I loved them!! And to Mark P. Sandy and Mike Smith - you at my brats you bastards!! haha Finished in 59 hours!!
Congrats to all that participated!!
till next time...paddle on...
The Capt'n
