Small stream paddling on the Loutre River, Montgomery County, MO. Sept 5th, 2011

The beginning slide of my Youtube video shows my 14' sea kayak attached to a kayak cart.  I debated even bringing this along....I am thankful I did!  I ended up doing about 4.5 miles, but much of it was dragging the kayak along the rock/sandbar to get to small pockets of water to paddle.  This would NOT be an enjoyable trip for an inexperienced paddler, or someone who was out of shape, or had any kind of joint injuries. 
So why did I continue to portage and move along the river?  I call it "Commitment to the paddle".  What else was I going to do that day, anyway?  Sit on the couch and watch other people be physically active?  I had told myself I wanted to explore this river.  I guess I get it from my military experience or something.  Seems like when you set out on a trip, you need to go all in...or don't go at all!

One of the rewards was the satisfaction of the trip.  This was a river I have been eyeballing for several years, always thinking "man, I would like to see what is up the river."  The second reward was getting on a bunch of fish towards the end of the trip (most were small, but I caught more than 10!).  I feel like it was a good day to get up on this river due to the wind anyhow.  If I would have been on, Horseshoe Lake, Illinois, for example, I probably would have had to "surf" the kayak back to shore.  Rivers and streams are much nicer on windy days.

Kayaking and Portaging the Loutre River, Missouri

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Missouri
If you ever want to know the difference between a stream and a river, the Loutre will help you to define the difference between the two.  It is a stream for sure!

Paddle ON!

Mike