Floating 'Mighty Mo' gives it a new look

The phone call was simple: “Would you like to float down the Missouri River with our club – in canoes?” asked Bill Alexander, president of the Ozark Wilderness Waterways Canoe Club (OWWC).”
I always wanted to try exactly that, and this was my first chance. I quickly affirmed my desire.
Several Sundays later we met at the Parkville, Mo., boat launch in a cold rain. This was not how I pictured my first canoe trip down this famous river. I wanted bluebird skies and perfect conditions. The prospect of canoeing in a chilly rain did not seem like a fun day.
“We only cancel our trips when it is lightning,” an excited lady said. “We will go today.”
My wife, Cathy, slipped on a rain parka and my favorite “boonie” style turkey hunting hat, compliments of the U.S. Army. I slipped into a similar parka with a ball cap hoping the rain would soon end. But rain or no rain, I started feeling the excitement that the veteran rivers runners showed.
Finally Alexander said, “Load up,” and we slipped into canoes and kayaks that laid along the shoreline.
Once set, we pushed off into an exciting adventure. Partners in each canoe paddled to reach the main current. Each craft easily cut through murky water. Soon we reached the main current. Each canoe and kayak gently slipped through the river with the ease of a magic carpet ride. Even the rain seemed pleasant. 
We were paddling down the center of the same water that Lewis and Clark paddled down 200 years before. We pushed through the big swells that one always notices from the shore. People claim that these dangerous looking swells will pull a small boat under the surface. Experienced canoeists on the river claim that is an old wives tale.
Most of the work was committed to staying straight in the ever-changing current. But we found several shoots that gently drifted us down river past old grain mills and power plants. The 16-foot aluminum canoes cut through the water like a knife through warm butter. I marveled at how relaxing this trip was. But one should stay on their guard while floating this treachous stretch.
This was emphasized when we turned in for a shore lunch at the Kaw landing. Our canoe hit an eddy formed by the Kaw and Missouri River currents while turning into shore. The canoe went into a violent rocking motion and almost turned over.
We quickly regained our balance. This type of eddy is considered the reason that most are frightened of boils or whirlpools. But common sense confirms that danger is present on this stretch.
“Yes, you have to respect the Missouri River,” Alexander says. “I would never recommend that the beginning canoe paddler try the Missouri River without an experienced partner. The river moves at about 6 miles an hour. The average Ozark stream only runs 2 miles an hour. The current is deceptive.”
Buoys are another problem when the water is high. They catch a lot of brush and then submerge. Hit the cable and they pop up hard enough to knock you into the river or even sink your canoe. Submerged brush is a problem when you leave the channel. You might hit almost anything that has floated down and hung up.
“Barge traffic might be the most dangerous hazard on the Missouri River,” Alexander said. “You have to give the ship traffic the right of way. We generally go to the inside of a river bend. The shallow areas expose river bottom, dropping your canoe into junk or dykes causing considerable damage. We turn into the wake to meet the powerful waves.”
Later the rain ended and we gently floated through the powerful current like leaves in a creek. Ducks and shore birds flew up from behind dykes, obviously annoyed by this intrusion on their private paradise. A train engine plowed over us as we passed under a railroad bridge. The engineer waved down to us, probably wishing that he was in one of our canoes. The absence of wind created a nice float. 
We made it to the River Front Park boat launch before anyone wanted this trip to end. I stepped on shore and admired how the club pitched in to help each other with canoes and equipment. Then I turned to take another look at the Missouri River. Somehow it looked different now than ever before.
For more information about the OWWC, check their web site at: http://www.hometown.aol.com/owwccanoeclub.