Ten Percent of Missouri's Katy Trail

     Yesterday afternoon and this morning, I biked only ten percent, 25 of the 225 miles-long Katy Trail. And yes, it's a great trail. Not only is the hard-packed gravel surface excellent, but the views are excellent, too. Since it gets hot in the afternoon, I began today's ride at sunrise.

     Combining the two rides, I rode from the cute little historic hamlet of Rocheport to another little hamlet of Hartsburg, a 25 mile section of the trail which loosely parallels the Missouri River.

     That slow-moving tugboat pushing a barge upstream was running at full throttle. I had noticed the current was pretty swift, too swift for my little kayak. Found out later from two fellow bicyclists and local citizens, that all the rain in the northern plains states in the past week has raised the river level a good foot. On the trail, I saw nearby cornfields in a couple feet of water.
     And on the other side of the shady tree-lined Katy Trail . . . . . .

. . . . . lots of rock outcroppings and bluffs . . .

from forty to perhaps 80 feet high.

    

The railroad built this bunker into the rocks to store dynamite. 

     Captains Lewis and Clark, in 1804 on their expedition up the Missouri River, struggled to land and camp near the riverbanks south of what would later be the hamlet of Rocheport. Their story is interesting because back then, the river had also risen a foot and was moving swiftly; the tree-lined banks were falling into the river.

    Unbeknownst to me until yesterday, there is a "Rail-Trail Hall of Fame" started by the Rails to Trails organization. The Katy Trail is number two on that list.

     My plan is to visit another section of the Katy Trail (click here for interesting story about how this old railroad bed was converted for recreational use) near Pilot Grove, Missouri which is my destination tonight.

     Unfortunately, I cracked the screen on my camera today. My bike with its kickstand down, fell over on the trail. My camera, in a padded pouch, was in the back pannier and obviously the pouch wasn't padded enough :(  I was planning to get a new camera this winter . . . .

     I'll experiment with the little itsy bitsy viewfinder and let you all know how it goes.