The Missouri River shoreline, seen from the Moreau River. The stone behind the heron is a wing dam jutting into the river, constructed to control shore erosion.
Still Waters
Paddle downstream
to the Big Muddy
Don’t stop this time
Enter the river with joy
Be one with its current
Let it take us, winding, on
to the heart stream of this nation
Follow that to the gulf,
and out to the beyond
So my kayak speaks to me
But I turn back upstream,
a hundred yards
on the Missouri,
fight the current
to reach calm waters,
knowing I would be stranded,
had I gone any further
I do love the current,
feeling its life,
experiencing the life
surrounding it
But I love as much
the still water,
the life embracing it
And there is a life
I would not leave behind,
given the choice
This could be thoughts on life in general – the comfort we find in the familiar (and the treasured). It’s a product of thoughts I had while kayaking yesterday. And, it actually is about kayaking (for me).
I have no interest in whitewater kayaking. Something about the potential for uncontrolled submersion with the added risk of collision with large obstacles underwater turns me off to the idea. I have been underwater with obstructions and low visibility – wreck diving and diving in limited visibility in the Niagara River (hundreds of times), but always considered those to be under controlled conditions. I also have kayaked on the Niagara River, paddling two miles upstream against a stiff current, and then paddling back with the current.
In fact, I knew a man in his early seventies who had, for years, been making an annual paddle around Grand Island – at least twenty miles, with at least eight of those against the current (due to the island’s shape). I suppose part of my comfort in paddling on the Niagara was my familiarity with it over nearly sixty years.
But the main difference between the Niagara and Missouri Rivers is that one (the Niagara) maintains a fairly steady level, while the other (the Missouri) has a water level that is always in flux – either through heavy rains and the resultant feed from tributaries or the release of very large quantities of water by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to relieve over-flooding of reservoirs upstream. Debris, including trees and parts of structures, is always coming downstream, often snagging on the bottom and affecting the current and anything floating on it (especially something as small as a kayak). The channel would be fine, but how would I get back?
Since I kayak alone, I cannot park a second vehicle downstream to use for return to the launch, which otherwise would make for a long walk home. The farthest I’ve gone into the Missouri River is less than a half-mile – upstream first, of course, so I have the current pushing me back on the return.
I do enjoy the quiet streams. They offer plenty of photo opportunities. Now, to get a waterproof camera!
This view of the wing dam shows that the high river level on this date has partially submerged it – creating a hazard to unwitting boaters.
