August 15, 2019
Paddling all the Missouri
By Jerry W. Kram
A group of voyageurs came ashore this week at the 4 Bears Marina to rest up before braving the big water of Lake Sakakawea.
Between bites of an ice cream sandwich purchased at the marina, writer and outdoorsman Thomas Elpel, of Pony, Mont., explained that the group was working together on a voyage from the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana to its conclusion where it meets the Mississippi River at St. Louis.
“We started at Three Forks, Mont., and are traveling the whole length of the Missouri River,” Elpel said. “We left on June first and we hope to be in St. Louis sometime in November.”
It took the expedition two months to travel the 700 river miles to get out of Montana. About a third of the entire length of the river is inside Montana. They hope to cross Lake Sakakawea in a week.
Between bites of an ice cream sandwich purchased at the marina, writer and outdoorsman Thomas Elpel, of Pony, Mont., explained that the group was working together on a voyage from the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana to its conclusion where it meets the Mississippi River at St. Louis.
“We started at Three Forks, Mont., and are traveling the whole length of the Missouri River,” Elpel said. “We left on June first and we hope to be in St. Louis sometime in November.”
It took the expedition two months to travel the 700 river miles to get out of Montana. About a third of the entire length of the river is inside Montana. They hope to cross Lake Sakakawea in a week.
