KATY Trail Bike Ride

2018 Katy Trail Journal

Day 1, June 11, 2018

Megan and I managed to get on the Katy Trail by 7:20 a.m., in Clinton Missouri.  The first few miles are relatively level, though as we traveled northeast on the trail, we encountered several hills.  Though the hills were probably no more than a one-percent grade, they were often over a half-mile long and some were at least a mile long.

We picked early June for our ride - probably not the best time of year to complete a bicycle ride in Missouri.  Hydration was key as temperatures approached 100 degrees.  The humidity had to be nearly as high as the temperature.

Our first stop was in Windsor, Missouri, about 16 miles in on the trail from Clinton.  A Casey’s convenience store is located across the trail from the trailhead.  In addition to the “station” at Windsor, a restroom is located at the trailhead.

Our next stop was at Calhoun, just a few miles down the trail.  Calhoun was nick-named Jug Town in the early 1900s, not for bootleg whiskey, but for the ceramic jugs that were manufactured here and shipped all over the country.

While there were a number of solo riders who appeared to be riding as a form of serious exercise, we encountered others whose fitness level was like ours and whose riding goals were similar to ours.  Among those we met was a man from New Zeeland who began his bike ride in Washington, D.C., and was riding to Colorado.  Joe, a local resident, rides 20 miles on the Katy Trail nearly every day.

You can see wildlife along the trail if you look closely, or in the case of squirrels, if you get out of their way and they don’t run into your bike while they are trying to cross the road.  We saw two box turtles, two small black snakes, rabbits, cardinals, blue jays, and little salamanders.  The salamanders tend to be found on bridges crossing small creeks and streams.

We ended our first day’s ride at Katy Park in Sedalia.  It is situated on the outskirts of town, and though it is not a designated trailhead, there are large shade trees and picnic tables at the park.  There were no restrooms near the area where we stopped, but since it is a public park there is bound to be a restroom nearby.

The rail trail does not go all the way through Sedalia, so a purist riding end-to-end would have to travel on city streets and country roads to continue riding on the trail on the northeast side of town.

Day 2, June 12, 2018

We began our ride on Tuesday northeast of Sedalia.  As the trail is not completed all the way through Sedalia we chose to begin at this point rather than riding through the streets of town.

Google Maps shows the first nine miles or so to be downhill all the way From Sedalia to Clifton City.  If it was downhill it sure didn’t feel like it; although those first nine miles felt much easier than the following 24 miles.

Nearly all the trail is under a canopy of trees, which helps with the heat as it feels like the temperature could be ten degrees cooler in the shade than out in the sun.  Like Monday, we saw turtles and rabbits and squirrels, cardinals and blue jays.  We even saw a lizard-like animal that had to be 10 - 12 inches long.

The trail definitely has an international flavor to it attracting people from all over.  You would think that since it is in Missouri that there would be more people from Missouri riding it.  That may be the case, but the people we talked to came from all parts of the world.

When we stopped for a long break in Clifton City, two young adults rode to the trailhead shortly after we arrived.  The two South Koreans said that they were students at Columbia.  While we were at the trailhead they shared hard-boiled eggs with us and we passed on some trail mix to them.  After joint selfies and a few other pictures, we took off for what would be another 12 grueling miles of uphill bike riding.  It was during this part of the ride that Sharon and Karen, twins from California) caught up with us.  We had met one of them earlier before we got to Clifton City when I had stopped to remove a tree from across the road.  We also met the father and son team of Lance and Cooper from Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Cooper is eleven-years old and was moving along at a decent clip.

There is plenty to see along the trail if you look around.  Though the trail is under a canopy of trees from Clinton to Boonville, there are breaks here and there that allow you to see the countryside.  There are beautiful fields of hay, corn, and beans that seem to stretch forever.  There are also remnants of the old rail line that help carry you back to a time in the past when this part of the country was experiencing growth and prosperity.

Northeast of Clifton City you run into a feature that is repeated a few times.  There are cuts through the rocks that must have taken days to cut through when the rail line was first being made.  Though I am sure that dynamite was used to blast through the hills, it must have taken weeks to blast it all out and move debris out of the way.  Likewise, the trail in several places is elevated several feet above the countryside, meaning that dirt and rocks had to be hauled in to create the rail line.  I can almost picture in my mind the horse-drawn scrapers that were used to clear the earth, the men with huge saws cutting down thousands of trees, and hundreds of men with picks and shovels either digging out the earth that was too high or filling earth in where it was too low to create one or two percent grades.  It had to be back-breaking work, not to mention hot and miserable in the summer and freezing cold in the winter all the while fighting off rain, snow, and hail.  It could not have been a fun experience.

Day 3, June 13, 2018

Our ride began today in Boonville and ended in North Jefferson City, about 50 miles away.  Because of a few logistical concerns, we parked Megan’s car at the Boonville trailhead and left it there through the day.  After our ride, we returned to Boonville to get her car and bring it back to Columbia where we used the Comfort Suites as our home base for the duration of our journey.

Other than enduring some rather long stretches along the trail, especially toward the end of the day, the most difficult part of the ride was at the beginning when we left Boonville and had to climb several feet up to the bridge crossing the Missouri River.  Thereafter, the trail was relatively flat or slightly uphill to Franklin and New Franklin.

There were a few roadside restaurants along the way - very few.  One of the most notable was at Cooper’s Landing.  Other services were very sparse, though a few trailheads had running water and flush toilets.

The scenery along the first portion of the 48.3-mile ride was in fairly stark contrast to the previous 70 miles we had ridden in that it was mainly flat or slightly downhill, though there were a few slight uphill grades.  Often, the Missouri River side of the trail was open to view farmers’ fields of corn and beans.  We had frequent views of the swift-moving, wide Missouri River, which is the longest river system in the United States.

It did not take us long to find wildlife along the trail.  Aside from the rabbits, squirrels, and birds, the first sign of wildlife was a copperhead snake.  It was about 18 inches long, and of course it was on Megan’s side of the trail.  I knew instantly what kind of snake it was when I saw it.  We briefly stopped so I could get a picture of it, from a fair distance for sure.

Much later in the day we came across a couple of deer and a fawn.  We stopped several yards away from them when we first saw them, and they stayed on the trail for a minute or two before they darted into the woods.

We had heard about the tunnel outside of Rocheport and were looking forward to seeing it.  We were not disappointed, especially when one considers the fact that it was built in the mid-1800s.  Black soot can still be seen on the roof of the tunnel from when the coal and wood fired steam locomotives passed through the tunnel.  A few miles down the trail to the east of Rocheport we saw the place that work crews had made to store explosives for the railroad construction.

Tall bluffs line the trail, which probably formed the northernmost banks of the Missouri River thousands of years ago.  There are caves in the bluffs that were used by pre-Columbian dwellers.  Though we did not see them, there are supposed to be hieroglyphics on some of the walls.

A natural arch can also be located along the trail.  It is the one feature on the trail that is identified by a sign; otherwise you would miss it as you ride along the trail

The Lewis and Clark expedition passed through this area along the Missouri River.  There are occasional signs that identify where they had stopped along the way.  There are at least two historic bridges closer to the Jefferson City end of the trail as you head east.

The day turned hotter than expected and though the northwest wind helped keep it cooler at the beginning of the ride, it was not especially helpful as we had to ride into it at the beginning of the day.  The temperature rose into the 90s during the day.  The heat literally drains everything from you as you travel along and at one point we simply stopped, rolled out plastic trash bags we had brought with us and stretched out in the shade of a black walnut tree and rested for 15 minutes.

Day Four, June 14, 2018

North Jefferson City to McKittrick

7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Aside from the grueling heat, this day would be the easiest ride of the day.  It is mostly flat with very gentle uphill and downhill grades.  As we follow the flow of the river as we went from west to east (or north to south) it is mainly downhill.  As you go east on this section of a trail, it goes just enough south that the predominant west-southwest winds work against you.

There were only a handful of features to see along this stretch of rail trail.  Those are primarily farm lands, the Missouri River, and the small towns that you pass through on the journey.

The one thing that we enjoyed was seeing the small church buildings that seemed to be in each of the towns.  Some appeared to rundown, while others, obviously older, were well-maintained and quite beautiful.  From outside appearances, they appeared to be just large enough to have a sanctuary and maybe a couple of small rooms.

As we pulled into one town at 9:00 a.m. we heard church bells.  It was a pleasant welcoming sound and as we moved closer into town we saw where the sound was coming from - a beautiful, small church.

I’m sure that the area is teeming with wildlife, but aside from the blue jays, cardinals, and crows, we saw a single black snake, a ground hog, and a hawk.  Some of the people we met reported seeing deer in an area where we had just passed through and another individual reported seeing four copperhead snakes.

One of the information signs along the way reported that there are approximately 400,000 bicyclists a year who ride on the KATY Trail.  I would have thought that with that many people passing through that there would be more businesses along readily available along the trail.  Most of these town are small river towns, and of course with river traffic of the 1800s and early 1900s gone, it is understandable that these towns cannot support the nice service stations/convenience stores that we see along highways and in larger communities.  But, many of the towns appear to be dying a slow death and the only services available are small bars and grills, and these are sometimes a few blocks away from the trail.  At times, the trees and bushes are so thick that you cannot tell where the town actually is.

One town along the way where it was possible to see a bar and grill, Portland, served as a morale booster.  It was hot and humid and we were tired and melting.  There was only one cure for our state of being, and that was ice cream.  We trudged up the small hill to the Bar and Grill and found the freezer chest, reached inside and pulled out two ice cream bars.  Eight dollars later and we were enjoying ice-hard ice cream delights.  Yes, that was $8.00.  A sign on the door to the small business said that credit cards would not be accepted unless the customer could provide the PIN number.  In other words, they were not interested in credit card business, though we saw a couple of patrons using credit cards.

The good news is that the cost of the ice cream bars was offset by our surprise further down the road in Rhineland.  Again, it was hot and miserable, and there was need for a restroom.  The trail in Rhineland diverts from its original path here, crosses the highway, and runs through a small fairgrounds and ballfields.  Sitting under a large pavilion was a vending machine.  It took us a while to realize that it was actually working.  Anticipating a two- or three-dollar charge, I thought it was worth a chance.  I was surprised to see that the price for a 20-ounce beverage was only $1.00.  Let’s just say that it was the coldest, most refreshing dollar I’ve ever spent.

We encountered a few small groups of bicyclists from both directions on the trail.  A group of six from Tulsa and twins Sharon and Karen and their friend Jan seemed to play leapfrog with us along the way.  They were strong enough riders that they eventually left us.

As before, we saw signs posted showing where Lewis and Clark had camped along the river.  The other feature of interest was a lone boulder off to the side of the trail.  This Mystery Standing Rock as it is called, shows flood levels over the last century.  Keep in mind that this rock is a mile-and-a-half away from the river.

One of the things we read along the way was about the decision to build the railroad.  The route from St. Charles to Boonville is mostly flat and a railroad builders dream.  It is also in the flood plain of the Missouri River.  The risk was assumed and the railroad was built but built as far away from the river as possible, primarily against the bluffs that lined the trail the entire distance.  Apparently, the costs of maintaining the rail line outweighed its benefits and the passenger line was abandoned in 1958.  I assume that the freight use was abandoned at or near the same time.  The rail trail was created in 1993, 25 years before we began our journey on the KATY Trail.

The KATY Trail is actually the MKT line, which is formed from the first letters of states that it runs through - Missouri, Kansas, and Texas.  It was shortened to KT and took on the name Katy.

We ended our day at McKittrick where there is a trailhead and where we will begin the last leg of our trip to Defiance on Friday.

 Day 5, June 15,2018

We began our ride in McKittrick, Missouri, and ended in Defiance.  It was an hour’s drive to the starting trailhead from Columbia.  We managed to leave at 7:40 a.m.

Temperatures again reached into the mid- and upper 90s.  It was hot and humid most of the way, though the early morning part of our ride was in the upper 60s.

A severe storm, including at least one tornado passed through the area shortly after we left McKittrick yesterday.  As a result, we saw a few downed tree limbs.

Of the five days on the trail, this was probably the easiest day.  It was mostly flat or downhill.  The trail followed the Missouri a good part of the way as well.

There were very few outstanding features along the trail with the exception of the Daniel Boone Judgment Tree and river navigation signs.  And, as on other occasions, the closer we got to larger population areas, the more people we saw.

A highlight of the ride this day was a stop at a bicycle shop/ice cream store in Augusta.  We didn’t stop for bike repairs.  The ice cream was delicious and a welcome relief from the heat.  It was what I called a morale booster.

We saw the last of Jan, Sharon, and Karen in Augusta.  We had been tracking along with them for three of the five days on the trail.  Jan and Karen traded off driving their car while Sharon rode the entire distance of the rail trail.  Jan had told us of a rail trail in Wisconsin and other trails that could be of interest.  She also told us about the ice cream shot in Augusta.  Pop-a-Wheelies was a small little shop that was pretty big on hospitality.

Though this section of the trail was probably the easiest for us, it was also among the most challenging.  The heat and humidity were unbearable.  There were long stretches with no trees.  Those stretches appeared before us in the heat of the day.  It was during one of these open stretches that we saw two trees in the distance, both of which cast a little bit of shade onto the trail.  As we got closer to the trees, we could see that there was a house by the trees.  Our hearts sank as we didn’t want to be stopping on someone’s lawn.  We had just about given up hope when we saw that the second tree was actually putting out a little more shade on the trail than what was on the trail from the first tree.  Then, our spirits were lifted when we saw that a park bench had been placed just off the trail and under that second tree.  We took our break.

So many of the villages along the way would probably never justify being placed on a map.  In fact, they probably aren’t.  But, most of them had a name and their names were predominately displayed on white-on-green signs.  Such was the case with Nona, the single house with a shade tree and a park bench.  Nona, at one time had been a depot for the MKT (Missouri - Kansas - Texas Railroad).  The coal bin and water station are still standing at Nona.