A RIVER'S FLOW

Lessons learned from three days and two nights on the Missouri River.

By Eric Berger

F

or all my life, I'd looked at the Mississippi and Missouri rivers sort of like how I looked at military bases. I knew they existed and understood they played an important role, but I couldn't tell you exactly what that role was. Nor had I ever entered one of them. Their immense size seemed impenetrable, not for human consumption, even though St. Louis' drinking water comes from local rivers rather than, say, a giant Evian bottle. Paddling them must require a special license, right? Turns out, it doesn't. I've become more familiar with the rivers in recent years because of two canoe trips: the first a jaunt in 2017 from Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area along the Missouri River, east to its confluence with the Mississippi, and then south to an island for an overnight stay. The second trip, last fall, was a lengthier foray: a three-day, two-night, 70-mile journey on the Missouri from Herrmann to St. Charles. These trips have given me a better grasp and appreciation of the role these rivers play in our lives - and a thirst for more experiences in a canoe. Both trips were offered by Big Muddy Adventures (BMA), a local tour company that hosts guided paddles. And both were led by its founder, "Big Muddy" Mike Clark. Clark, 60, got his start on the river two decades ago trying to educate people like myself, who didn't understand how the big rivers silently trickled through their lives. He grew up taking annual summer vacations from his home in Chicago to the northern reaches of Minnesota and Wisconsin, where his family would canoe and camp. He always had a dream of paddling the entire Mississippi River, so in 2001, that's what he did. Along the way, Clark, a teacher at the time, set up a virtual schoolhouse - then a much more foreign concept - called "The Big Muddy Adventure" and shared curriculum using a satellite phone at $2 per minute. A year later, he did the same thing along the Missouri River. One science activity Clark designed for second through fourth graders was called "Craftily Catching Crayfish", in which he and his companions set traps when they camped each night and then in the morning reported how many crayfish they'd caught. Students would research the ecosystem of Clark's surroundings and recommend what bait they should use. (Kids in Wisconsin suggested cheese.) He would then report on the success or lack thereof. Clark also did water-quality testing along the way. In one instance, a group of sixth graders determined that the reason the pH value changed dramatically from one day to the next was because the paddlers had camped directly below a golf course. "We weren't trying to get kids to understand chemistry or anything like that. We were

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terrain July/August 2020

paddling

LEFT FROM TOP:

The author (left) at Hermann Wurst House; BMA guides Joe Holstein (left) and Mike Clark; paddling the Missouri River.