June 10, 2024: About 14 known paddlers are currently on the Missouri river.
Dan Faust has created a daily guidebook of the current river status and conditions which will be very helpful to future paddlers!
Read all about Dans Blog here:
https://missouririvercheatsheet.wordpress.com/2023/10/18/missouri-river-cheat-sheet/
Yesterday June 9th marked the tragic anniversary of paddler Jim Kurz who died while paddling in the Missouri Breaks National Monument. If you'd like to read Kurz's book about his 2005 canoe trip across the USA, please contact us here. It's only $10. which includes shipping.
Dan Faust has created a daily guidebook of the current river status and conditions which will be very helpful to future paddlers!
Read all about Dans Blog here:
https://missouririvercheatsheet.wordpress.com/2023/10/18/missouri-river-cheat-sheet/
Yesterday June 9th marked the tragic anniversary of paddler Jim Kurz who died while paddling in the Missouri Breaks National Monument. If you'd like to read Kurz's book about his 2005 canoe trip across the USA, please contact us here. It's only $10. which includes shipping.
April 16, 2024: A few members of the MoRP joined together on the Mississippi River recently near Cape Girardeau, Missouri to watch the total eclipse of the sun. Members from as far away as Montana, West Virginia, and Missouri paddled about 25 miles down the Mississippi. It was a great experience with lots of great stories around the campfire the night before.
Make sure you read the newest additions to our Q&A, as well as paddling resources including portage information to all the dam on the Missouri river.
Make sure you read the newest additions to our Q&A, as well as paddling resources including portage information to all the dam on the Missouri river.
March 21, 2024: Our March 18, 2024 Live Zoom Q&A went great, with nearly 30 people attending including a majority of those headed out this spring! Check out the 2 hour and 15 minute Q&A on Youtube at our link in our "Resources Page" .
Also added Portage and Dam maps, routes, and intel for 10 dams in Montana! They are located at the bottom of the same page.....click HERE.
Also added Portage and Dam maps, routes, and intel for 10 dams in Montana! They are located at the bottom of the same page.....click HERE.
March 11, 2024: Mark Fingerhut talks about his 2019 solo kayak trip down the Missouri river on the Buffalo Roamer Podcast this week. Here is the link. Scroll to episode #85 for Mark's adventure.
Buffalo Roamer Podcast
Buffalo Roamer Podcast
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March 10, 2024
A new essay by Dennis Stewart, who in 2004 paddled with his wife from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Read more about their journey in our Expedition Database under the 2004 section. Essay Here: Photos left: by Dennis and Jeri Stewart |
February 27, 2024: Great news! Paddling The Blue podcast featured Mark Spitzer, who talked about his historic 1st descent down the Missouri river from Source to Sea in 1998. Mark started at the utmost source at Brower's Spring, Montana and paddled for 7 months to the Gulf of Mexico. This was before the internet, before cell phones and social media. Great interview! PODCAST
January 2, 2024: Happy New year to all of you. Hope 2024 is a good year full of adventure. Our group has gotten a lot of request for information about paddling the Missouri river summer. There are about 10 paddlers so far that plan to descend from Montana to St. Louis or beyond to the Gulf of Mexico. If you are planning a journey, please let us know, as we like to record the journey for historical purposes and to help share and replay information.
November 13, 2023: More Thru-Paddlers Q&A's have been added to the Q&A page. Lots of great answers and insight into paddling the Missouri from this summer's 2023 paddlers. Click Q&A
Ellen Megellan Falterman's new website with archived blogs can be found by clicking the link below. In 2017, Ellen became the youngest woman to solo kayak the Missouri River from Montana to St. Louis. She is currently making plans and soon to depart for a multi year-solo- earth circumnavigation in an ocean rowing rig. BLOG
Ellen Megellan Falterman's new website with archived blogs can be found by clicking the link below. In 2017, Ellen became the youngest woman to solo kayak the Missouri River from Montana to St. Louis. She is currently making plans and soon to depart for a multi year-solo- earth circumnavigation in an ocean rowing rig. BLOG
November 9, 2023
Fantastic article in the Springfield, SD newspaper on MoRP member
Bill Burke on his Montana to St. Louis trip- 2023. This is one of the most detailed news story of a paddler ever written in a newspaper. The article covers Bill being the "oldest" person to paddle the Missouri river as well as the oldest to climb the highest peaks on all 7 (8), continents.
Part 1 Article
Part 2 Article
Fantastic article in the Springfield, SD newspaper on MoRP member
Bill Burke on his Montana to St. Louis trip- 2023. This is one of the most detailed news story of a paddler ever written in a newspaper. The article covers Bill being the "oldest" person to paddle the Missouri river as well as the oldest to climb the highest peaks on all 7 (8), continents.
Part 1 Article
Part 2 Article
October 20, 2023
Finally! The firsthand account of the 1st Source-to-Sea descent of the Missouri river system has been published. Waterlogue is Mark Spitzer's account of his 1989 journey from Brower's Spring to the Gulf of Mexico was published last week! Long before the Internet, GPS, and Cell phones, Spitzer and his dog Groucho made the 1st known historic 3800 mile descent of North America's longest river system. Delightfully engaging, oft times humorous, interweaving history and landscapes into an inspiring journey of the heart and soul of a man and his dog through America. This book has over 50 color photos and 20 maps.
You can order directly from Buffalo Commons Press at link: Waterlogue
Get it!
News: September 23, 2023
The Book: Out My Backyard, by the late Jim Kurz can be yours for a small donation to cover postage/envelope and the book. The extra will cover the cost of a memorial to Jim, possible tree planting, and or the maintenance of this website to help further educate paddlers about the Muddy Missouri River. Thanks for all your help! Please email the moderator of the MoRP for further information and or to order Jim's book: Email
The Book: Out My Backyard, by the late Jim Kurz can be yours for a small donation to cover postage/envelope and the book. The extra will cover the cost of a memorial to Jim, possible tree planting, and or the maintenance of this website to help further educate paddlers about the Muddy Missouri River. Thanks for all your help! Please email the moderator of the MoRP for further information and or to order Jim's book: Email
Jim Kurz tragically died on June 9, 2023 while paddling from Kipp Landing in the Missouri Breaks National Monument in Montana. He met paddler Bill Burke on June 7th, and Kurz told Burke that he was headed to the Gist Homestead for a week or so of exploring. Kurz last camp was located at the mouth of Bull Creek across from Cow Island. In 2005, Kurz paddled from his home in Wisconsin, across Minnesota to the Missouri river, where he continued upstream to Three Forks, Montana. Kurz wrote the book, Out My Backyard, about his 2005 journey. His son Nathan has generously donated this book to the MoRP to be distributed among those interested in reading it. Any profits from this book will go towards a possible memorial near where he was last camped, or a possibility of several memorial trees being planted at the location and or in Kurz hometown. Stay tuned for further details on this unfolding. If you would like to read Jim's book, email me for a copy. With the media mail postage free & enveloped, the total is $10. Postage has been about $4-6.00, so the remaining will be used for the memorial of some sorts. Email the moderator above by clicking the link. I will gladly get you more information. Thanks for your support on this tragic occuarance.
Below are some images of Jim's 2005 journey from Wisconsin to Montana. (Photos by Jim Kurz)
Below are some images of Jim's 2005 journey from Wisconsin to Montana. (Photos by Jim Kurz)
July 5, 2023: A big year for Missouri river paddlers. There are currently 11 known expeditions on the Missouri river, from Montana to St. Louis or beyond. Bill Burke- The Oldest man to have climbed Mt. Everest twice is making a descent in his Clipper Sea-1 and is currently near Washburn, ND. St. Louis Bill Burke is paddling with Everest the past week and headed to St. Louis. Missouri Bill Cottrell is on the lower sections near KC. He jumped ahead about a 1000 miles and skipped some of the largest reservoirs.
Tom Boyko, from Stanton, ND is near his hometown and headed to St. Louis. He started off from Three Forks, with his son Jacob, whom departed at Williston, ND, due to other commitments. Former Iraq War Veteran Annie Balthazar is paddling her Kruger Sea Wind and is working her way down Lake Sakakawea, and may meet up with Everest Bill and St. Louis Bill. Another St. Louis paddler-- Steve Ohrt is paddling a Clipper Prospector and should reach N.D in a day or so. David Ketchum from Missoula, Mt, and David Langhorst, from Boise, are on their own expedition and are midway through Montana enjoying the journey. Canadian Thorin Loeks is resuming his Pacific to Atlantic journey, by starting where he left off from Great Falls, Montana on July, 6th. He's headed to Florida. Russian Nikita Tenche stopped his journey in Montana at Kipp Bridge in the Missouri Breaks National Monument. Too bad he didn't continue to St. Louis to become the first Russian to descend the river.
Sad Update on Paddler: Tragedy struck Missouri River Paddler, Author and adventurer, Jim Kurz on June, 8th when he died near Cow Island in the Missouri Breaks National Monument. Jim was paddling upstream in his aluminum canoe from Kipp Bridge to the Gist Homestead. Kurz camp was found at the mouth of Bull Creek, where in 1877 Chief Joseph and a 1000 Nez Perce crossed the river in their flight to Canada. Police think that Jim's canoe either washed back into the river or a strong wind blew his canoe into the river, and he tried to swim out to it. His camp was fully set up at Bull Creek. The last photograph on his camera has a date and time of 3:20pm, June 8th, so sometime later that afternoon or evening something happened. Everest Bill Burke ran into Jim on June 7th below Wood Hawk bottom. Burke is currently descending the river to St. Louis. They exchanged stories and laughs, and Jim tossed Bill his car keys and said to use his car at Kipp Landing, when he got there to go to town to resupply. A true river angel, helping out another paddler. This was note Jim Kurz first time on the Missouri. In 2005, he departed from his home in Wisconsin and paddled west through his home state, into Minnesota and Iowa into the Little Sioux River to where it meets the Missouri at Sioux City, Iowa. From there Jim, paddled upstream to Three Forks, Montana, and then later down the Yellowstone River to it's confluence with the Missouri near the ND border. Jim wrote a book about his journey, entitled, "Out My Backyard". Kurz also wrote: "Navigating North", and "We Were On the Missouri- 2005" .
Everest Bill Burke most likely took the last photograph of Jim Kurz during their meeting. Kurz is survived by a son and daughter. More will be written about this adventurous man at a later date. Condolences to his family and friends. He died doing what he loved and in a place that had a lot of meaning.
* Everest Bill Burke's Blog about meeting Jim Kurz and follow up. Blog Click here.
* Jim Kurz Obituary: He lead a very productive life. Click here
* Jim's Book, "Out My Backyard": If you would like a copy, see above for more detail. Jim's son Nathan donated a large sum of his fathers books to be distributed to those interested.
Tom Boyko, from Stanton, ND is near his hometown and headed to St. Louis. He started off from Three Forks, with his son Jacob, whom departed at Williston, ND, due to other commitments. Former Iraq War Veteran Annie Balthazar is paddling her Kruger Sea Wind and is working her way down Lake Sakakawea, and may meet up with Everest Bill and St. Louis Bill. Another St. Louis paddler-- Steve Ohrt is paddling a Clipper Prospector and should reach N.D in a day or so. David Ketchum from Missoula, Mt, and David Langhorst, from Boise, are on their own expedition and are midway through Montana enjoying the journey. Canadian Thorin Loeks is resuming his Pacific to Atlantic journey, by starting where he left off from Great Falls, Montana on July, 6th. He's headed to Florida. Russian Nikita Tenche stopped his journey in Montana at Kipp Bridge in the Missouri Breaks National Monument. Too bad he didn't continue to St. Louis to become the first Russian to descend the river.
Sad Update on Paddler: Tragedy struck Missouri River Paddler, Author and adventurer, Jim Kurz on June, 8th when he died near Cow Island in the Missouri Breaks National Monument. Jim was paddling upstream in his aluminum canoe from Kipp Bridge to the Gist Homestead. Kurz camp was found at the mouth of Bull Creek, where in 1877 Chief Joseph and a 1000 Nez Perce crossed the river in their flight to Canada. Police think that Jim's canoe either washed back into the river or a strong wind blew his canoe into the river, and he tried to swim out to it. His camp was fully set up at Bull Creek. The last photograph on his camera has a date and time of 3:20pm, June 8th, so sometime later that afternoon or evening something happened. Everest Bill Burke ran into Jim on June 7th below Wood Hawk bottom. Burke is currently descending the river to St. Louis. They exchanged stories and laughs, and Jim tossed Bill his car keys and said to use his car at Kipp Landing, when he got there to go to town to resupply. A true river angel, helping out another paddler. This was note Jim Kurz first time on the Missouri. In 2005, he departed from his home in Wisconsin and paddled west through his home state, into Minnesota and Iowa into the Little Sioux River to where it meets the Missouri at Sioux City, Iowa. From there Jim, paddled upstream to Three Forks, Montana, and then later down the Yellowstone River to it's confluence with the Missouri near the ND border. Jim wrote a book about his journey, entitled, "Out My Backyard". Kurz also wrote: "Navigating North", and "We Were On the Missouri- 2005" .
Everest Bill Burke most likely took the last photograph of Jim Kurz during their meeting. Kurz is survived by a son and daughter. More will be written about this adventurous man at a later date. Condolences to his family and friends. He died doing what he loved and in a place that had a lot of meaning.
* Everest Bill Burke's Blog about meeting Jim Kurz and follow up. Blog Click here.
* Jim Kurz Obituary: He lead a very productive life. Click here
* Jim's Book, "Out My Backyard": If you would like a copy, see above for more detail. Jim's son Nathan donated a large sum of his fathers books to be distributed to those interested.
May 10: The FIRST paddler of the season departed a week ago on the Gallatin River outside of Bozeman. This is an historic descent as he is the 1st Russian to descend the Missouri. He is paddling an inflatable kayak and headed to the Gulf of Mexico. Nikita Tenche has a blog and Youtube channel. Make sure you click on the English subtitle tab unless you speak Russian. Here is his blog which has many great photos. BLOG
April 18, 2023--- The start of the 2023 season is nearing. There are about 8 know paddlers departing from Montana and headed to St. Louis or the Gulf of Mexico. Montana has been getting a lot of snow which should provide full rivers this year. The Jefferson River drainage has about 125% snowpack. We are still getting snow. As of this morning, Great Falls got 10 inches of snow last night.
The MoRP is doing a final ZOOM with the paddlers of 2023 and some veteran paddlers today, at 5:30pm Mountain Time zone, for those interested. It will be posted on Youtube by May 1st.
The MoRP is doing a final ZOOM with the paddlers of 2023 and some veteran paddlers today, at 5:30pm Mountain Time zone, for those interested. It will be posted on Youtube by May 1st.
Update: August 23, 2022: The largest gathering of long distance paddlers that have completed a descent or ascent of the Missouri river participated in the MoRP Rendezvous from Ft. Randall dam to South Sioux City, Nebraska from July 30th to Aug 6th. Paddlers from 20-U.S States converged for a week of paddling, stories, and river time. Many of the paddlers have never met one another, so this was an historic and unique gathering of river alumni. What was unique about the event, was having 3 current expeditions that started in Montana converge during the week with the rest of the paddlers. Larry Boehmer, Steve Snell, and Dave Hillman started their individual expeditions several months ago and join the Rendezvous during the week.
Sioux City Journal Newspaper story on the MoRP Rendezvous which was dedicated to South Dakota resident, Bill Baumgart, who tragically drown while paddling down the Missouri river in 1988.
News Article Click Here
News Article Click Here
Update: May 10, 2022: Spring is in the air. Montana has been getting a lot of snow and rain since March, to compensate for the lack of snow they received throughout the winter. Many paddlers are headed out this spring. The first expedition that is know is that of Canadian, Thorin Loeks, who starts at the Pacific ocean. He is paddling up the Columbia and Snake rivers to Lewiston, Idaho, where he will bike over 200 miles to the Big Hole river at Wisdom, Montana. From there there will descend the Big Hole, Jefferson, Missouri , Mississippi and Gulf of Mexico---destination, Pensacola, Florida. The trip could take him to the end of this year.
The final Missouri River Paddlers Live ZOOM was recorded last week, for those wanting to hear nearly 2-hours of Q&A's between veteran Missouri paddlers with those paddlers departing over the next month. Here is the link to this fantastic resource: ZOOM
The final Missouri River Paddlers Live ZOOM was recorded last week, for those wanting to hear nearly 2-hours of Q&A's between veteran Missouri paddlers with those paddlers departing over the next month. Here is the link to this fantastic resource: ZOOM
UPDATE; March 24th, 2022
A new--group Q&A took place with a bunch of new paddlers departing Montana this spring on ZOOM was recorded on March 21, 2022. It is all posted on our Q&A page at the bottom. Lots of paddlers headed out this spring.
Q&A page
A new--group Q&A took place with a bunch of new paddlers departing Montana this spring on ZOOM was recorded on March 21, 2022. It is all posted on our Q&A page at the bottom. Lots of paddlers headed out this spring.
Q&A page
UPDATE: March 16, 2022
MoRP Rendezvous 2022
The Missouri River Paddlers Rendezvous will take place July 30 to August 7th from Ft. Randall Dam to South Sioux City, Nebraska
Come join fellow paddlers for a week long event along one of the most beautiful sections of the Missouri River. Meet many of the long distance paddlers that have descended the entire river system. We will meet at the campground below Ft. Randall dam on July 30th for a kick-off meet & greet party. Each day we will paddle about 25 miles until our final evening at the ramp in S. Sioux City, NE. It will be a memorable occasion.
Some of the attendees will be Keith Lynch: 2015 Canoe & Kayak Magazine's "Spirit of Adventure Award" winner, Janet Moreland: 2014 C&K Magazine's "Spirit of Adventure Award" winner, Dave Miller: author of, "The Complete Paddler", Ellen Magellan Falterman- Youngest woman to solo kayak the Missouri, Scott Mestrezat- 1st and only SUP descent of the Missouri, and many more through paddlers that have completed the entire river.
For details, please email Norm Miller. (Photo by John Sullivan)
The Missouri River Paddlers Rendezvous will take place July 30 to August 7th from Ft. Randall Dam to South Sioux City, Nebraska
Come join fellow paddlers for a week long event along one of the most beautiful sections of the Missouri River. Meet many of the long distance paddlers that have descended the entire river system. We will meet at the campground below Ft. Randall dam on July 30th for a kick-off meet & greet party. Each day we will paddle about 25 miles until our final evening at the ramp in S. Sioux City, NE. It will be a memorable occasion.
Some of the attendees will be Keith Lynch: 2015 Canoe & Kayak Magazine's "Spirit of Adventure Award" winner, Janet Moreland: 2014 C&K Magazine's "Spirit of Adventure Award" winner, Dave Miller: author of, "The Complete Paddler", Ellen Magellan Falterman- Youngest woman to solo kayak the Missouri, Scott Mestrezat- 1st and only SUP descent of the Missouri, and many more through paddlers that have completed the entire river.
For details, please email Norm Miller. (Photo by John Sullivan)
Update: November 15, 2021:
Dave Miller's guide book is a must-have book when paddling the river. It is currently out of print, but you can find copies from members of the MoRP. Amazon sellers are price gouging and selling the book from $100-$900, which is a total rip off, so don't purchase from Amazon! If you are in need of a guide book, contact Norm Miller or via the Missouri River Paddlers group on Facebook. There are many members who are willing to give or loan the book for your trip. Dave is currently working on volume 2, but it may not be out for a year.
Neal Moore should be arriving in New York City the first week of December to complete his 8000-mile cross continent solo canoe expedition. Many MoRP members will be going to NYC to welcome Neal when he arrives. Neal started before Covid-19 in February, 2020 and has been paddling the past 22-months across the USA. You can get up to date info on Neal's historic expedition from his website: 22Rivers.com
Neal Moore's route across the USA below.
Dave Miller's guide book is a must-have book when paddling the river. It is currently out of print, but you can find copies from members of the MoRP. Amazon sellers are price gouging and selling the book from $100-$900, which is a total rip off, so don't purchase from Amazon! If you are in need of a guide book, contact Norm Miller or via the Missouri River Paddlers group on Facebook. There are many members who are willing to give or loan the book for your trip. Dave is currently working on volume 2, but it may not be out for a year.
Neal Moore should be arriving in New York City the first week of December to complete his 8000-mile cross continent solo canoe expedition. Many MoRP members will be going to NYC to welcome Neal when he arrives. Neal started before Covid-19 in February, 2020 and has been paddling the past 22-months across the USA. You can get up to date info on Neal's historic expedition from his website: 22Rivers.com
Neal Moore's route across the USA below.
Congrats to Amanda Hoenes and her dog Hank. After 112- days of paddling from Montana, they made it to St. Louis. She is the only woman MoRP member going to the Gulf of Mexico. She has a web blog with fantastic photos from her trip. Follow her as she continues to the Gulf of Mexico. Blog: hoenesal.wixsite.com/ariveradventure
Amanda Hoenes Newspapers story: Canoeing for a Cause.
The Missouri River Paddlers Rendezvous will take place July 30 to August 7, 2022 from Ft. Randall Dam to Sioux City, Iowa
There is expected to be well over 70 paddlers, most whom have paddled the entire river before. For more information, contact the MoRP.
In 2000, Mark Hamilton, became the first and only person to retrace the route of Lewis and Clark both westward and eastward by paddle and foot. Mark started in Philly, Pa, descended the Ohio, up the Mississippi to the Missouri, where he ascended it to Montana. From there he hiked overland to the Columbia river drainage then paddled downstream to the Pacific. Once there, he made the eastward return up the Columbia and Snake, hiking to the headwaters of the Missouri, portaging by cart overland to the Yellowstone river. Once on the Yellowstone he retraced Lewis and Clark's return to St. Louis. Mark is gradually uploading his videos of the journey to Youtube. Here is the link to his Youtube site for you to subscribe: Mark's Videos
Amanda Hoenes Newspapers story: Canoeing for a Cause.
The Missouri River Paddlers Rendezvous will take place July 30 to August 7, 2022 from Ft. Randall Dam to Sioux City, Iowa
There is expected to be well over 70 paddlers, most whom have paddled the entire river before. For more information, contact the MoRP.
In 2000, Mark Hamilton, became the first and only person to retrace the route of Lewis and Clark both westward and eastward by paddle and foot. Mark started in Philly, Pa, descended the Ohio, up the Mississippi to the Missouri, where he ascended it to Montana. From there he hiked overland to the Columbia river drainage then paddled downstream to the Pacific. Once there, he made the eastward return up the Columbia and Snake, hiking to the headwaters of the Missouri, portaging by cart overland to the Yellowstone river. Once on the Yellowstone he retraced Lewis and Clark's return to St. Louis. Mark is gradually uploading his videos of the journey to Youtube. Here is the link to his Youtube site for you to subscribe: Mark's Videos
August 10, 2021: It's been one of the busiest years for paddlers attempting to descend the entire river system, as well as a busy year for being forced to end their trips. We've had 17 paddlers depart from Montana and nearly 1/2 have ended their journey. From flips and lost gear, rattle snake bites and medivacs, swamped and hypothermia, stolen boats, ill prepared, and family emergencies have stopped many expeditions this summer. More will be posted later, but daily up to date reports have been posted on the group's Facebook Page: Missouri River Paddlers.
February 15, 2021: Sorry to inform you that member Mark Brozovich passed away earlier this week during a freak hiking accident in Japan where he was teaching. Mark was a true gentleman and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. In 2015 he departed down the Missouri river headed to St. Louis, but after a few mishaps, decided to call it good after reaching North Dakota. Mark never regretted not finishing his journey and was satisfied to have experienced the Missouri river through Montana. Mark will truly be missed. Below are two photos of Mark during his departure from Three Forks. RIP Mark.
October 23, 2020: Missouri River Paddler's creator, Norm Miller was the feature presenter at the Zoom- Muddy Speaker Series for the Missouri River Relief back in July. With the restrictions due to Covid-19, this presentation was presented LIVE on Youtube. Miller's presentation entitled "Up & Down the Big Muddy -A History of the Paddling on the Missouri River". Miller covered some very unique expeditions from 1883 to the early 2000's. You can watch his presentation on Youtube here.
October 19, 2020: It's been awhile since this has been updated, and there has been so many amazing paddling expedition on the Missouri river this year despite Covid-19. As I write this, there are five paddlers still on the river.
Montana was blanketed with a record 14 inches of snow at Great Falls the past few days, surprising us all with the white.
Neal Moore is still paddling along now after almost 9-months of paddling. He is finally on the Mississippi river and headed south to NOLA and warmer temps. Those of you have not been following Neal, he's paddling 22-rivers across the USA from the Pacific to New York City over a two year period. Neal has been making a lot of appearances in the media. Below are a few from the past month. You can also follow Neal at his website: 22rivers.com
KFVS TV NEW INTERVIEW of Neal
Missourian Newspaper article. You never get to read 2 1/2 pages devoted to a paddler! Well done.
Another fantastic expedition was that of Ellen Magellan Falterman, as she rowed from Kansas City to the Gulf, then along the Intercoastal waterway to Texas, and then UP the Trinity river to her home. Ellen was the youngest woman to ever solo kayak the Missouri river a few years ago. She's young and I'm sure we will be reading a lot about her the next 40-years. Proceed On Ellen! Below are a few newspaper stories of her recent trip which she just completed.
Click 2-links below.
Galviston Newspaper of her Journey.
News story upon completion of her trip.
Other news, Sean Trombley, Jon Wiley, Lucas Potter, and Jason Lape are all in the area around Kansas City. They all started in Montana, weeks apart and have now nearly joined forces. Stay tuned for more info as they reach St. Louis.
Rose Shirley and wonder dog Oreo are nearing Omaha. They will end for the season there and start again next spring. Rose is looking for a ride to Colorado for the winter and a place to store all the gear and kayak. Please let us know if you can help.
Other paddlers that have already completed this summer's adventure are Blake Miller, Shon Mackie, Cameron Gelber, and Joana Reiko Seito. I'll be posting updates, photos and adding them to the Q&A during the winter.
Montana was blanketed with a record 14 inches of snow at Great Falls the past few days, surprising us all with the white.
Neal Moore is still paddling along now after almost 9-months of paddling. He is finally on the Mississippi river and headed south to NOLA and warmer temps. Those of you have not been following Neal, he's paddling 22-rivers across the USA from the Pacific to New York City over a two year period. Neal has been making a lot of appearances in the media. Below are a few from the past month. You can also follow Neal at his website: 22rivers.com
KFVS TV NEW INTERVIEW of Neal
Missourian Newspaper article. You never get to read 2 1/2 pages devoted to a paddler! Well done.
Another fantastic expedition was that of Ellen Magellan Falterman, as she rowed from Kansas City to the Gulf, then along the Intercoastal waterway to Texas, and then UP the Trinity river to her home. Ellen was the youngest woman to ever solo kayak the Missouri river a few years ago. She's young and I'm sure we will be reading a lot about her the next 40-years. Proceed On Ellen! Below are a few newspaper stories of her recent trip which she just completed.
Click 2-links below.
Galviston Newspaper of her Journey.
News story upon completion of her trip.
Other news, Sean Trombley, Jon Wiley, Lucas Potter, and Jason Lape are all in the area around Kansas City. They all started in Montana, weeks apart and have now nearly joined forces. Stay tuned for more info as they reach St. Louis.
Rose Shirley and wonder dog Oreo are nearing Omaha. They will end for the season there and start again next spring. Rose is looking for a ride to Colorado for the winter and a place to store all the gear and kayak. Please let us know if you can help.
Other paddlers that have already completed this summer's adventure are Blake Miller, Shon Mackie, Cameron Gelber, and Joana Reiko Seito. I'll be posting updates, photos and adding them to the Q&A during the winter.
June 23, 2020: Neal Moore has been making great time on the Missouri river. He reached North Dakota two days ago and should arrive today at Tobacco Gardens Resort where host Peggy Hellandsaas will take care of him while he rest before proceeding on. Neal started in February in Astoria, Oregon and is canoeing to New York City. From Tobacco Gardens it will be virgin territory for Neal. Proceed on!
Below is a two part interview Neal gave while in Helena, Montana. Neal talks about his route and gear. A must watch!
Part 1: Neal Moore Interview by Norm Miller: Click Here
Part 2: Neal More continued: Click Here
Paddler Rose Shirley and wonder-dog Oreo made it to Ft. Peck Dam yesterday. They are on a 5-year journey by river and foot across the USA. Stay tuned for more information on their journey.
Missoula, Montana rowing sculler, Blake Miller built his own rowing boat and is making great progress and was at Garrison Dam, North Dakota early this week. He is making as many miles as he can by August. He could make it to St. Louis.
The first source to sea decent in the past few years started last weekend. Londonite, Scarlett McManus arrived at the utmost source of the Missouri river at Brower's Spring last weekend and has been following the course of the upper watershed for the last hundred miles. She should arrive at Clark Canyon dam this weekend, where MoRP founder, Norm Miller will bring the kayak and some of her paddling gear to her for her descent down the Beaverhead, Jefferson, Missouri and Mississippi rivers to the gulf. She is using the same kayak used by Mark Kalch when he made the 1st kayak source to sea descent in 2012.
Below is a two part interview Neal gave while in Helena, Montana. Neal talks about his route and gear. A must watch!
Part 1: Neal Moore Interview by Norm Miller: Click Here
Part 2: Neal More continued: Click Here
Paddler Rose Shirley and wonder-dog Oreo made it to Ft. Peck Dam yesterday. They are on a 5-year journey by river and foot across the USA. Stay tuned for more information on their journey.
Missoula, Montana rowing sculler, Blake Miller built his own rowing boat and is making great progress and was at Garrison Dam, North Dakota early this week. He is making as many miles as he can by August. He could make it to St. Louis.
The first source to sea decent in the past few years started last weekend. Londonite, Scarlett McManus arrived at the utmost source of the Missouri river at Brower's Spring last weekend and has been following the course of the upper watershed for the last hundred miles. She should arrive at Clark Canyon dam this weekend, where MoRP founder, Norm Miller will bring the kayak and some of her paddling gear to her for her descent down the Beaverhead, Jefferson, Missouri and Mississippi rivers to the gulf. She is using the same kayak used by Mark Kalch when he made the 1st kayak source to sea descent in 2012.
May 26th, 2020: Paddling season is underway along the Missouri river.
A lot of things have happened the past few months, mainly the whole Covid-19 which put a damper on a lot of events including the postponement of the Missouri River Paddlers Rendezvous--which is now moved to July 2021.
Two major expeditions are underway from MoRP members. The first being Rose Shirley and her dog Oreo, who started again after ending early last November. Rose and her dog are currently in Ft. Benton, waiting on a package before proceeding down through the Breaks. As most of you know she has not time schedule and no set plans.
A lot of things have happened the past few months, mainly the whole Covid-19 which put a damper on a lot of events including the postponement of the Missouri River Paddlers Rendezvous--which is now moved to July 2021.
Two major expeditions are underway from MoRP members. The first being Rose Shirley and her dog Oreo, who started again after ending early last November. Rose and her dog are currently in Ft. Benton, waiting on a package before proceeding down through the Breaks. As most of you know she has not time schedule and no set plans.
Oreo the wonder dog and Rose Shirley paddling the Old Town Loon.
Expedition padder, Neal Moore reached the Missouri river last week, having portaged over 100-miles from Missoula, Montana to Helena. Neal started at the mouth of the Columbia on February 9th and ascended the Columbia, Snake and Clarks Fork rivers before his portage. Neal spent Memorial weekend in the Gates of the Mountains with MoRP founder, Norm Miller and members, Jim Emanual and Will Garvin. Neal will soon arrive in Great Falls and begin the 18-mile portage to Belt Creek. You can follow Neal's journey across America at his website: www.22rivers.com
Links below:
Montana Standard article on Neal's expedition.
Independent Record article. Journalist Portages canoe through Helena on 7,500 mile expedition across USA.
Links below:
Montana Standard article on Neal's expedition.
Independent Record article. Journalist Portages canoe through Helena on 7,500 mile expedition across USA.
December 3, 2019: Huge News! Travels With Groucho- 1989 Descent Changes Records of Kalch, Wellington, Moreland, Waldo, Laurie, and Gamache, with a twist including the record of Dave Cornthwaite!
Surprising news was discovered last week that changes the records of 6 paddlers from the Missouri River Paddlers group. Not a big deal really, but more of a surprise to me as I’ve spent thousands of hours researching descents down the Missouri as far back at the 1880’s. Research has been made easier as millions of newspaper archives have become digitized. The internet has also made it helpful to track down people, records, stories and news articles. Thanks to a brief message sent to me last week by Jeff Brown, asking if I’ve heard of a guy named, “Mark Spitzer”? I had found a brief news article in a North Dakota newspaper dating back to 1989. It said that he had started at, “the divide” and was going to the Gulf of Mexico, solo by canoe along with his dog Groucho. At first I thought , ‘the divide’, to mean Montana in general and figured it was just another paddler having started at Three Forks. After a diligent search though some digitized newspapers, I found that Mark had started at Brower’s Spring and the Hellroaring Creek drainage! HOLY SHIT!, that’s 13-years BEFORE Mark Kalch’s descent that was credited as, “The First Decent”. How could this record or story have not popped up somewhere before in my extensive searches?
Tracking down Spitzer: I had to track down this “Spitzer” guy and find out. Well, I spent a few hours looking in Google, Ancestry dot com, Newspapers dot com and Facebook. My means of tracking people through Facebook was easy, just enter their name in the search box and someone with that name or last name usually pops up, where I then send them some sort of message…”Are you such an such a person?” I’ve tracked down a lot of people that way. Well, Spitzer didn’t pop up on Facebook. What next? The news story I read said he was living in North Dakota. My search brought me to several, ‘Spitzers’, which I contacted. No Luck.
After scrolling through a google search on page-9, I saw a brief mention of a speaker series at a university in Minnesota in 2017 that said, “Mark Spitzer will discuss his seven-month and 1-day trip down the Missouri river in 1989 entitled, Waterlogued”. Well I figured this WAS the Mark I was looking for, but the university event was over 2-years ago. I contacted the venue and asked the director if they still had Spitzer’s contact info. They sent me Spitzer’s email address which I in turn sent a message to. A few hours later I got a reply saying it was the same person and he said to call anytime. I picked up the phone and spent the next 2 hours on the phone with him talking about his journey. Mark had started at Brower’s and Hellroaring Creek on June 13th, 1989 and spent 7-months and 1-day descending the river to the Gulf of Mexico which he arrived at in January of 1990 along with his dog Grocho. I could not believe it!
Talking with Mark: Mark had kept detailed records of his trip on 15, 90-minute audio cassettes he recorded while enroute. He wrote weekly stories for the Dickenson, ND newspaper (which has not digitized their archives fyi). Mark had been working in the oil fields in North Dakota and decided to hang it all up and descend the Missouri. This was before the internet, before google, before cell phones, and before a lot of things. Mark was a trained geologist and began researching where the Missouri river started by following the blue line on the map upstream until it ran out at the continentall divide. At the time, Brower's Spring was not labeled as such. The discoverer, Jacob Brower in 1869 didn’t really name the source after himself. In fact I’m not sure it was ever officially named. During the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial people began referring to the spring as such. Anyway…..long story short-- Mark purchased a Wenonah 16.5 ft solo canoe and headed to Montana. His rule for the entire trip was, “every foot of the route would be walked or paddled”.
Spitzer Descends Hellroaring Creek: Those in the Missouri River Paddlers group are probably familiar with this route having read accounts by Kalch, Wellington, Moreland, Waldo, Zimmerman, Caiazza, Palmer, Gamache, Pugh, Kuenzli, Laurie, and Rhorbach during their descents. Spitzer was no different really. He started on the Sawtelle Peak road and descended into the Hellroading drainage. Everything was under deep snow. Not using skis or snowshoes, he finally found gurgling water where he filled a small vial to be carried to the sea and emptied where it belonged. Spitzer and his faithful dog camped near Nemesis mountain the first night and reached the valley floor the following day. The Upper Red Rock Lakes were off limits in June to paddling because of rare birds nesting, so Spitzer hiked to the lower lake where he put his canoe in the water for the first time. It was difficult going, at one point swamping near Lima and losing some of his gear. He would walk much of the lower Red Rock river since it was so low of water. Since he did not have a portage cart for the many dams along the route, Spitzer would find a ride for his canoe and most of his gear to the lower portage, he would then walk back to where he left off only to turn around and walk back to the canoe. He ended up walking around all the dams including the ones at Great Falls twice. Listening to Spitzer for two hours was so similar to other descents, stories of horrible winds and weather, stories of wonderful people that feed him and offered help. Spitzer at first started out to “set a record and becoming famous”, but after a week became disgusted about fame and notoriety.
Mark is in the process of finding a publisher of his book entitled, “Waterlogue”. He retired from Geophysical work and now teaches theater in OshKosh, Wisconsin by gosh! I told him about our 2020 Rendezvous starting at Ft. Randall in July and he is really interested in coming. He still has the canoe he used on his adventure. His dog Groucho, lived 15 ½ years and died the year that Kalch and Wellington started at Browers in 2012.
So how does this change records? If you look at our website (www.missouririverpaddlers), and the section devoted to Brower’s Spring, there are 12-names from our group who started at Brower’s Spring. Aussie Mark Kalch was thought to have been the 1st person to descend North America’s Longest river system. He is now the 2nd known (1st still by kayak). Rod Wellington was thought to be the 1st North American person, but Spitzer’s 1989 account changes that. (Wellington still remains the 1st Canadian-Source to Sea). Janet Moreland was thought to be the 1st American to descend the Missouri, that too has changed. (Moreland still remains the 1st woman). Dale Waldo was believed to have made the 1st descent from Brower’s to St. Louis using a canoe, but that no longer applies. Kris Laurie was thought to be the 1st person Source to Sea by canoe, but Spitzer and his Wenonah canoe erased that, making Kris Laurie’s a 2nd descent. All the names currently on the Brower’s list get moved down one place...we now have Dirk Rhorbach having made the 13th descent back in 2018, instead of #12. With 12-years between Spitzers and Kalch’s descents, one has to wonder if there might have been someone who descended Source to Sea.
Famed Swimmer: Oh wait, this crazy story is not over yet, it gets better. Spitzer did say he had heard in 1989 that two guys kayaked Hellroaring creek which would make for a first descent of the creek. (Most everyone hikes along this creek for the first 10-miles because it’s only 1-3 feet wide and full of debris from fallen trees). It was thought that Paul Gamache’s 2014 descent was a 1st. (Need to track those two kayakers down.) To top it all off, I found the most amazing story from 1883 that even changes Dave Cornthwaites 2012 Swimming records from Chamberlain,SD to St. Louis. Dave was thought to be the 1st to swim 1000-miles down the Missouri. I found a Billing Gazette article from 1989 that compares Mark Spitzer’s 1989 story with a guy named Paul Boyton, who in 1881 swam from Glendive, Montana on the Yellowstone river and down the Missouri to St. Louis...a distance of over 2500-miles. A book on Boyton’s life is found in the South Dakota Historical Society and is the ONLY known copy to exist! Boyton descended wearing a rubber suit and had tied a rope around his waist that was attached to a small boat which he towed. Boyton departed on Sept 15, 1881 after a ceremony which he received an American flag from the daughter of Ft. Berthold commander Gen. Wesley Merrit. This was pre-dam era, and Boyton arrived 64-days later in St. Louis. Boyton carried a bugle of all things that he would blow to scare off “Indians and dangerous animals”, that he encountered. At Ft. Randall (the fort not the dam), he met Chief Sitting Bull, whom he described as “dignified though modest”. Sitting Bull was asked by members of his family why Boyton could stay afloat. Boyton recalled that the chief said it was because, “he was hollow, like a rotten stump.”
Boyton was known as the Fearless Frogman and is credited as having spurred worldwide interest in water sports as a hobby, particularly open-water swimming. Boyton had crossed the English channel, swam down part of the Danube & Rhine Rivers, down the Ohio and Mississippi from Pennsylvania to the Gulf in 80-days. He started a water-circus for Barnum and Bailey Circus and a sea lion park on Coney Island. Boyton's rubber suit was featured by Jules Verne in Tribulations of a Chinaman in China as a life saver for the hero and his three companions. Boyton is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Mark sent me a link to a short video from a New Orleans TV station when he arrived in 1990, and that link is below. I contacted Mark Kalch after finding out about Spitzer and that his record would be stripped and his reply was, “Wow! That is awesome! That is so cool. Heck aint no one cared back when it was a first descent claim so I ain’t no bothered. Well for sure not now that I don’t paddle to let everyone know. Well yeah I will keep that “kayak” first at least. Well until you find another guy! :) :)” So as Mark said, 'till I find someone else'.
YOUTUBE Video from New Orleans of Spitzers’ arrival:
Surprising news was discovered last week that changes the records of 6 paddlers from the Missouri River Paddlers group. Not a big deal really, but more of a surprise to me as I’ve spent thousands of hours researching descents down the Missouri as far back at the 1880’s. Research has been made easier as millions of newspaper archives have become digitized. The internet has also made it helpful to track down people, records, stories and news articles. Thanks to a brief message sent to me last week by Jeff Brown, asking if I’ve heard of a guy named, “Mark Spitzer”? I had found a brief news article in a North Dakota newspaper dating back to 1989. It said that he had started at, “the divide” and was going to the Gulf of Mexico, solo by canoe along with his dog Groucho. At first I thought , ‘the divide’, to mean Montana in general and figured it was just another paddler having started at Three Forks. After a diligent search though some digitized newspapers, I found that Mark had started at Brower’s Spring and the Hellroaring Creek drainage! HOLY SHIT!, that’s 13-years BEFORE Mark Kalch’s descent that was credited as, “The First Decent”. How could this record or story have not popped up somewhere before in my extensive searches?
Tracking down Spitzer: I had to track down this “Spitzer” guy and find out. Well, I spent a few hours looking in Google, Ancestry dot com, Newspapers dot com and Facebook. My means of tracking people through Facebook was easy, just enter their name in the search box and someone with that name or last name usually pops up, where I then send them some sort of message…”Are you such an such a person?” I’ve tracked down a lot of people that way. Well, Spitzer didn’t pop up on Facebook. What next? The news story I read said he was living in North Dakota. My search brought me to several, ‘Spitzers’, which I contacted. No Luck.
After scrolling through a google search on page-9, I saw a brief mention of a speaker series at a university in Minnesota in 2017 that said, “Mark Spitzer will discuss his seven-month and 1-day trip down the Missouri river in 1989 entitled, Waterlogued”. Well I figured this WAS the Mark I was looking for, but the university event was over 2-years ago. I contacted the venue and asked the director if they still had Spitzer’s contact info. They sent me Spitzer’s email address which I in turn sent a message to. A few hours later I got a reply saying it was the same person and he said to call anytime. I picked up the phone and spent the next 2 hours on the phone with him talking about his journey. Mark had started at Brower’s and Hellroaring Creek on June 13th, 1989 and spent 7-months and 1-day descending the river to the Gulf of Mexico which he arrived at in January of 1990 along with his dog Grocho. I could not believe it!
Talking with Mark: Mark had kept detailed records of his trip on 15, 90-minute audio cassettes he recorded while enroute. He wrote weekly stories for the Dickenson, ND newspaper (which has not digitized their archives fyi). Mark had been working in the oil fields in North Dakota and decided to hang it all up and descend the Missouri. This was before the internet, before google, before cell phones, and before a lot of things. Mark was a trained geologist and began researching where the Missouri river started by following the blue line on the map upstream until it ran out at the continentall divide. At the time, Brower's Spring was not labeled as such. The discoverer, Jacob Brower in 1869 didn’t really name the source after himself. In fact I’m not sure it was ever officially named. During the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial people began referring to the spring as such. Anyway…..long story short-- Mark purchased a Wenonah 16.5 ft solo canoe and headed to Montana. His rule for the entire trip was, “every foot of the route would be walked or paddled”.
Spitzer Descends Hellroaring Creek: Those in the Missouri River Paddlers group are probably familiar with this route having read accounts by Kalch, Wellington, Moreland, Waldo, Zimmerman, Caiazza, Palmer, Gamache, Pugh, Kuenzli, Laurie, and Rhorbach during their descents. Spitzer was no different really. He started on the Sawtelle Peak road and descended into the Hellroading drainage. Everything was under deep snow. Not using skis or snowshoes, he finally found gurgling water where he filled a small vial to be carried to the sea and emptied where it belonged. Spitzer and his faithful dog camped near Nemesis mountain the first night and reached the valley floor the following day. The Upper Red Rock Lakes were off limits in June to paddling because of rare birds nesting, so Spitzer hiked to the lower lake where he put his canoe in the water for the first time. It was difficult going, at one point swamping near Lima and losing some of his gear. He would walk much of the lower Red Rock river since it was so low of water. Since he did not have a portage cart for the many dams along the route, Spitzer would find a ride for his canoe and most of his gear to the lower portage, he would then walk back to where he left off only to turn around and walk back to the canoe. He ended up walking around all the dams including the ones at Great Falls twice. Listening to Spitzer for two hours was so similar to other descents, stories of horrible winds and weather, stories of wonderful people that feed him and offered help. Spitzer at first started out to “set a record and becoming famous”, but after a week became disgusted about fame and notoriety.
Mark is in the process of finding a publisher of his book entitled, “Waterlogue”. He retired from Geophysical work and now teaches theater in OshKosh, Wisconsin by gosh! I told him about our 2020 Rendezvous starting at Ft. Randall in July and he is really interested in coming. He still has the canoe he used on his adventure. His dog Groucho, lived 15 ½ years and died the year that Kalch and Wellington started at Browers in 2012.
So how does this change records? If you look at our website (www.missouririverpaddlers), and the section devoted to Brower’s Spring, there are 12-names from our group who started at Brower’s Spring. Aussie Mark Kalch was thought to have been the 1st person to descend North America’s Longest river system. He is now the 2nd known (1st still by kayak). Rod Wellington was thought to be the 1st North American person, but Spitzer’s 1989 account changes that. (Wellington still remains the 1st Canadian-Source to Sea). Janet Moreland was thought to be the 1st American to descend the Missouri, that too has changed. (Moreland still remains the 1st woman). Dale Waldo was believed to have made the 1st descent from Brower’s to St. Louis using a canoe, but that no longer applies. Kris Laurie was thought to be the 1st person Source to Sea by canoe, but Spitzer and his Wenonah canoe erased that, making Kris Laurie’s a 2nd descent. All the names currently on the Brower’s list get moved down one place...we now have Dirk Rhorbach having made the 13th descent back in 2018, instead of #12. With 12-years between Spitzers and Kalch’s descents, one has to wonder if there might have been someone who descended Source to Sea.
Famed Swimmer: Oh wait, this crazy story is not over yet, it gets better. Spitzer did say he had heard in 1989 that two guys kayaked Hellroaring creek which would make for a first descent of the creek. (Most everyone hikes along this creek for the first 10-miles because it’s only 1-3 feet wide and full of debris from fallen trees). It was thought that Paul Gamache’s 2014 descent was a 1st. (Need to track those two kayakers down.) To top it all off, I found the most amazing story from 1883 that even changes Dave Cornthwaites 2012 Swimming records from Chamberlain,SD to St. Louis. Dave was thought to be the 1st to swim 1000-miles down the Missouri. I found a Billing Gazette article from 1989 that compares Mark Spitzer’s 1989 story with a guy named Paul Boyton, who in 1881 swam from Glendive, Montana on the Yellowstone river and down the Missouri to St. Louis...a distance of over 2500-miles. A book on Boyton’s life is found in the South Dakota Historical Society and is the ONLY known copy to exist! Boyton descended wearing a rubber suit and had tied a rope around his waist that was attached to a small boat which he towed. Boyton departed on Sept 15, 1881 after a ceremony which he received an American flag from the daughter of Ft. Berthold commander Gen. Wesley Merrit. This was pre-dam era, and Boyton arrived 64-days later in St. Louis. Boyton carried a bugle of all things that he would blow to scare off “Indians and dangerous animals”, that he encountered. At Ft. Randall (the fort not the dam), he met Chief Sitting Bull, whom he described as “dignified though modest”. Sitting Bull was asked by members of his family why Boyton could stay afloat. Boyton recalled that the chief said it was because, “he was hollow, like a rotten stump.”
Boyton was known as the Fearless Frogman and is credited as having spurred worldwide interest in water sports as a hobby, particularly open-water swimming. Boyton had crossed the English channel, swam down part of the Danube & Rhine Rivers, down the Ohio and Mississippi from Pennsylvania to the Gulf in 80-days. He started a water-circus for Barnum and Bailey Circus and a sea lion park on Coney Island. Boyton's rubber suit was featured by Jules Verne in Tribulations of a Chinaman in China as a life saver for the hero and his three companions. Boyton is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Mark sent me a link to a short video from a New Orleans TV station when he arrived in 1990, and that link is below. I contacted Mark Kalch after finding out about Spitzer and that his record would be stripped and his reply was, “Wow! That is awesome! That is so cool. Heck aint no one cared back when it was a first descent claim so I ain’t no bothered. Well for sure not now that I don’t paddle to let everyone know. Well yeah I will keep that “kayak” first at least. Well until you find another guy! :) :)” So as Mark said, 'till I find someone else'.
YOUTUBE Video from New Orleans of Spitzers’ arrival:
November 3rd, 2019:
The Corp's of Rediscovery Expedition arrived in St. Louis.
Tom Elpel, Scott Robinson, Chris Dawkins and dog Jubilee finished their history descent of the Missouri river in the dugout canoe named, Belladonna on Sunday, November 3rd. They departed on June 1st at Three Forks, Montana.
KMOV Channel 4 News Story
The Corp's of Rediscovery Expedition arrived in St. Louis.
Tom Elpel, Scott Robinson, Chris Dawkins and dog Jubilee finished their history descent of the Missouri river in the dugout canoe named, Belladonna on Sunday, November 3rd. They departed on June 1st at Three Forks, Montana.
KMOV Channel 4 News Story
October 19, 2019: 2:00 p.m.
Paddler John Gentry arrived at St. Louis. John started out on June 1st with the Corp's of Rediscovery Expedition at Three Forks, Montana. John opted to depart the last 1000-miles or so to complete the expedition on his own. (Photo by Scott Mandrell)
Paddler John Gentry arrived at St. Louis. John started out on June 1st with the Corp's of Rediscovery Expedition at Three Forks, Montana. John opted to depart the last 1000-miles or so to complete the expedition on his own. (Photo by Scott Mandrell)
October 17, 2019:
Mark Juras arrived at the Gulf of Mexico for an historic 1st descent of the Missouri-Miss from Three Forks, Montana in a solo rowing scull. Congrats Mark on your historic adventure!
Great Fall Tribune News story
Mark Juras arrived at the Gulf of Mexico for an historic 1st descent of the Missouri-Miss from Three Forks, Montana in a solo rowing scull. Congrats Mark on your historic adventure!
Great Fall Tribune News story
October 8th, 2019: The Ashley Return Expedition arrived in St. Charles have retraced the famed 1825 expedition of William Ashley from the Rendezvous in Wyoming. The group traveled by horse, dugout canoe, bull boat and the keel boat Muskrat.
Boonville Daily News Article:
Update: August 19, 2019:
Congrats to MoRP'er Mark Fingerhut, who completed his descent of the Missouri river on Saturday, August 17th, around 3p.m. Mark paddled the 2600-mile route in 100-days in a 20 foot cedar strip kayak, from the Madison River near West Yellowstone, Montana. He eventually joined up with the Missouri at Three Forks, Montana where he took that to St. Louis.
Here is Mark's latest blog on his finish: Blog
(Photo by Joe Fingerhut)
Congrats to MoRP'er Mark Fingerhut, who completed his descent of the Missouri river on Saturday, August 17th, around 3p.m. Mark paddled the 2600-mile route in 100-days in a 20 foot cedar strip kayak, from the Madison River near West Yellowstone, Montana. He eventually joined up with the Missouri at Three Forks, Montana where he took that to St. Louis.
Here is Mark's latest blog on his finish: Blog
(Photo by Joe Fingerhut)
The Ashley' Return Expedition has reached the Missouri river after descending the Yellowstone. They will work their way down the Missouri river to St. Louis. You can follow them via their Facebook page at: FB Page
(Photo by Mike Casler)
Tom Elpel and the Corps. of Rediscovery Expedition is well underway on Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota. Their latest blog entry is: Blog
Mark your calendars for July 12-19, 2020, as plans are set for the 2nd
Missouri River Paddlers Rendezvous. This is a must-not-miss event! The MoRP's last rendezvous was in 2015 and had over 70 paddlers from 13-states and five countries! The opening event will take place a day after the Fort to Field Race starting below the dam at Ft. Randall. Don't miss your chance to meet and paddling with an amazing group of people!
July 22nd, 2019: Update:
Mark Fingerhut is making great progress in his 20' cedar strip kayak. He is approaching Ft. Randall day and may arrive there today. If you want to follow him LIVE, here is his inReach locator: Mark is Here
(Photo by Scott Hite)
As of July 20, 2019 - The Ashley Return Expedition is near Klondike Peak.
Klondike Peak is the 26th tallest peak in Wyoming and within the Bridger Wilderness of Bridger-Teton National Forest and west of the Continental Divide. They are retracing the 1825 Ashley route back to St. Louis. They currently are on horseback and will soon arrive at the Bighorn for a descent by dugout canoe. They expect to reach St. Louis by fall.
Mark Fingerhut is making great progress in his 20' cedar strip kayak. He is approaching Ft. Randall day and may arrive there today. If you want to follow him LIVE, here is his inReach locator: Mark is Here
(Photo by Scott Hite)
As of July 20, 2019 - The Ashley Return Expedition is near Klondike Peak.
Klondike Peak is the 26th tallest peak in Wyoming and within the Bridger Wilderness of Bridger-Teton National Forest and west of the Continental Divide. They are retracing the 1825 Ashley route back to St. Louis. They currently are on horseback and will soon arrive at the Bighorn for a descent by dugout canoe. They expect to reach St. Louis by fall.
The Corps of Rediscovery Expedition reached Ft. Peck dam last week. They have been taking some amazing photos which you can few on two Facebook sites. I recommend following this historic expedition. They are paddling a dugout canoe back to St. Louis. Click the photos below to enlarge. (Photos by Prepped and Frosty on Facebook)
Prepped and Frosty: Facebook Click Here:
Corps of Rediscovery Blog #11: Click Here:
Prepped and Frosty: Facebook Click Here:
Corps of Rediscovery Blog #11: Click Here:
July 10, 2019: Update: The historic 1825 Ashley Return re-enactment expedition is underway!
The historians are retracing the famed return route of the Ashley fur trade party back to St. Louis from Montana. They are currently traveling by horse to the Bighorn river. From there, they will descend by dugout canoe and keel boat back to St. Louis down the Missouri river.
Here is an article on Jack Mitch, one of the key players:
Click Here:
The historians are retracing the famed return route of the Ashley fur trade party back to St. Louis from Montana. They are currently traveling by horse to the Bighorn river. From there, they will descend by dugout canoe and keel boat back to St. Louis down the Missouri river.
Here is an article on Jack Mitch, one of the key players:
Click Here:
- On Sunday, July 7th, MoRP member David Forbes completed a 34-day circumnavigation of Ft. Peck reservoir by canoe. Peck is one of the largest and challenging reservoirs on the entire Missouri river. This is most likely the first such circumnavigation. David will soon be posting photos and camping Way-Points of his journey---check back later.
- Mark Fingerhut and his kayak the MoStar is making great progress down the Missouri. Mark is about 70-miles upstream from Pierre, SD and is currently windbound as of this post. Those wanting to follow along at his progress can do on via his inReach location device at: Click Here
June 21, 2019 Update- MoRP paddler Mark Fingerhut and the MoStar arrived last weekend just in time to experience the Ft. Union Rendezvous at the confluence of the Missouri with the Yellowstone River. Jefferson Brown greeted Mark in full period voyageur garb and offered Mark his own. Read Mark's fantastic blog of his experience at the Rendezvous. Mark is currently wind bound on Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota.
The Rendezvous Click here:
(Photo by Mark Fingerhut)
The Rendezvous Click here:
(Photo by Mark Fingerhut)
- MoRP member David Forbes is circumnavigation the 1500-mile shoreline of one of the largest reservoirs on the Missouri river---Ft. Peck! Forbes started about 10-days ago, but lost his shoes, so he went back to the marina, hitched a ride to the nearby town and purchased shoes! Dave's back on Peck. He does has a SPOT locator if you want to see his current location.
- Just got word about a new descent this summer by rowing sculler Mark Juras from Great Fall. He started at Three Forks, and is headed to the Gulf of Mexico.
June 14, 2019: Tom Elpel and The Corps of Rediscovery 2019 Expedition is making progress down the Missouri. They were featured in the news article in the Helena Independent this week.
Article Link:
Mark Fingerhut is nearing the border of North Dakota this week. He is paddling from Montana to St. Louis!
His latest blog can be read here:
May 29th, 2019: Missouri River Corps. of Rediscovery blog begins: Follow six paddlers as they descend the Missouri river from Whitehall, Montana to St. Louis in a dugout canoe built by the 4th great grandson of Capt. William Clark and others.
"Six months paddling a dugout canoe" : Click here
Update on Mark Fingerhut and the MoStar: Mark appeared in the KRTV-Channel 3, Great Falls News report:
News story:
May 27th, 2019:
Missouri River Corps of Rediscovery Expedition.
6-Paddlers will descend the Missouri in a 20 ft. Dugout canoe named Bella.
From Three Forks, Montana to St. Louis, Missouri
Six months / 2,300 miles: June - November
Itinerary and travel dates:
Missouri River Corps of Rediscovery Expedition.
6-Paddlers will descend the Missouri in a 20 ft. Dugout canoe named Bella.
From Three Forks, Montana to St. Louis, Missouri
Six months / 2,300 miles: June - November
Itinerary and travel dates:
May 17, 2019
Dirk Rohrbach's podcast:
"Departure at the Source in the Rocky Mountains".
This podcast is in German, however there are interviews with MoRP founder Norm Miller and canoe builder Churchill Clark in English. Dirk was the 13th person ever to descend from the ultimate source of the Missouri and descend to the Gulf.
Dirk's Photo Albums of each state-during his Source to Sea, click here:
Photo by Dirk Rohrbach
Dirk Rohrbach's podcast:
"Departure at the Source in the Rocky Mountains".
This podcast is in German, however there are interviews with MoRP founder Norm Miller and canoe builder Churchill Clark in English. Dirk was the 13th person ever to descend from the ultimate source of the Missouri and descend to the Gulf.
Dirk's Photo Albums of each state-during his Source to Sea, click here:
Photo by Dirk Rohrbach
May 14, 2019
Article about Tom Elpel, the founder of the Jefferson River Canoe Trail Org. Tom and several others will descend the Missouri river from Montana to St. Louis is a dugout canoe built last year. This came out in the Montana Standard on May 14th. Great photos too.
Article:
Article about Tom Elpel, the founder of the Jefferson River Canoe Trail Org. Tom and several others will descend the Missouri river from Montana to St. Louis is a dugout canoe built last year. This came out in the Montana Standard on May 14th. Great photos too.
Article:
May 14, 2019
St. Louis resident, Mark Fingerhut departed May 14th at 1pm for his
2600 mile descent of the Madison, and Missouri rivers. Mark is paddling a 20', Timber Longboard kayak--A beautiful boat! Mark will be occasionally posting to his blog, Paddle St. Louis. You can also follow Mark via his live Garmin location points. The link to his inReach Garmin is: Mark's InReach.
St. Louis resident, Mark Fingerhut departed May 14th at 1pm for his
2600 mile descent of the Madison, and Missouri rivers. Mark is paddling a 20', Timber Longboard kayak--A beautiful boat! Mark will be occasionally posting to his blog, Paddle St. Louis. You can also follow Mark via his live Garmin location points. The link to his inReach Garmin is: Mark's InReach.
April 18, 2019
In our Paddlers Database, I've added Mark Hamilton's 1996-2000 Expedition and links. Mark stated in Pittsburgh, and retraced the route to the Pacific by Lewis and Clark, and returned back to St. Louis. Amazing achievement!
I had someone contact me after doing a search on paddler John Wade, trying to track him down. Wade made an amazing 225-day journey from New York City to the Pacific in 1992. All under his own power including ascending the Missouri & Yellowstone rivers by kayak and portaging 247 miles using a cart to haul his kayak. The individual who contacted me had a copy of Wade's handwritten journals from his trip. They sent me this copy last week which I've been reading. Amazing and well written journals. I'm still trying to find Wade. The last anyone has heard from him, he was living in N. Idaho.
The Floods still continue throughout the Missouri river drainage. All long distance paddlers have been nervously keeping an eye on the river levels for their departure.
This author will be dividing the "Paddlers Database", into a separate sections for all trips 1961 and previous. Some comments are, that the current page takes a long time to download. I've been slowly working on compressing many of the images for a faster download, but thought I'd also break up the trip reports from the more modern era to the more historic time periods.
In our Paddlers Database, I've added Mark Hamilton's 1996-2000 Expedition and links. Mark stated in Pittsburgh, and retraced the route to the Pacific by Lewis and Clark, and returned back to St. Louis. Amazing achievement!
I had someone contact me after doing a search on paddler John Wade, trying to track him down. Wade made an amazing 225-day journey from New York City to the Pacific in 1992. All under his own power including ascending the Missouri & Yellowstone rivers by kayak and portaging 247 miles using a cart to haul his kayak. The individual who contacted me had a copy of Wade's handwritten journals from his trip. They sent me this copy last week which I've been reading. Amazing and well written journals. I'm still trying to find Wade. The last anyone has heard from him, he was living in N. Idaho.
The Floods still continue throughout the Missouri river drainage. All long distance paddlers have been nervously keeping an eye on the river levels for their departure.
This author will be dividing the "Paddlers Database", into a separate sections for all trips 1961 and previous. Some comments are, that the current page takes a long time to download. I've been slowly working on compressing many of the images for a faster download, but thought I'd also break up the trip reports from the more modern era to the more historic time periods.
March 21, 2019:
Massive flooding on the lower Missouri river this past week could be a repeat of 2011 and 1994, which were record years. A dam broke on the Niobrara river southwest of Yankton, which sent a lot of water into the Missouri river. With record snow falls in Montana and other areas, it will be something to keep an eye on during the coming months. There is a possibility that the lower Missouri river could be closed to all boating traffic later this spring. Paddlers take note.
Massive flooding on the lower Missouri river this past week could be a repeat of 2011 and 1994, which were record years. A dam broke on the Niobrara river southwest of Yankton, which sent a lot of water into the Missouri river. With record snow falls in Montana and other areas, it will be something to keep an eye on during the coming months. There is a possibility that the lower Missouri river could be closed to all boating traffic later this spring. Paddlers take note.
February 28, 2019: Recent research has been discovered of a Geoff Conklin starting at Brower's Spring in 1974 attempting to kayak to the Gulf of Mexico. Founder Norm Miller tracked him down in Connecticut and interviewed him. Stay tuned as more information is discovered. The current record still stands in the order of descents from Brower's Spring. Geoff Conklin ended his trip in Ft. Yates, North Dakota.
January 27th, 2019:
Plans have been underway for the MoRP Rendezvous in 2020. All you need to know now is that it will be starting at Ft. Randall Dam and will end in Sioux City, Iowa. Hope you can make the 2nd MoRP this time. During our 2015 Rendezvous, we had 70-paddlers from 13 states and 5 countries for the gathering. Be there in 2020! We have not finalized any dates but it will start the day after the Fort to Field paddle event in July of 2020. Stay tuned for more details.
Plans have been underway for the MoRP Rendezvous in 2020. All you need to know now is that it will be starting at Ft. Randall Dam and will end in Sioux City, Iowa. Hope you can make the 2nd MoRP this time. During our 2015 Rendezvous, we had 70-paddlers from 13 states and 5 countries for the gathering. Be there in 2020! We have not finalized any dates but it will start the day after the Fort to Field paddle event in July of 2020. Stay tuned for more details.
January 15th, 2019
Group to reenact the famed Ashley Expedition. A few members of the MoRP will trace the 1825 route back to St. Louis this summer via horse, canoe, and keep boat. Click here for news story:
Photo of the keel boat by William Bailey.
The group has their own Facebook Site at: Ashley's Return
Group to reenact the famed Ashley Expedition. A few members of the MoRP will trace the 1825 route back to St. Louis this summer via horse, canoe, and keep boat. Click here for news story:
Photo of the keel boat by William Bailey.
The group has their own Facebook Site at: Ashley's Return