One of my favorite paddles in the St. Louis area is from Klondike to Weldon on the Missouri River. This is a gentle paddle of less than 10 miles puts you out on the Missouri river. When the river is lower about a mile into the paddle is a large sand bar that is perfect for camping or just to stop for lunch. We took two cars and dropped the first off at Weldon Springs, then made the 20 minute drive to Klondike and unloaded for our paddle.
Today, the crew was Danelle, her mom Carol, Steve Bueg, and myself. Carol is not a paddler and just wants to get out of the house and be with family. Steve is my buddy from college.
It didn’t take very long before we finished our first mile and got to the sand bar where we would have lunch. There, we unloaded the boat and set up chairs to eat lunch.
Steve and I finished first and decided to walk the island. We had a lovely chat about our lives and continued catching up. Danelle and her mom also had a great time. Eventually we put back into the boat and started a casual float/paddle back to Weldon. We left Steve and Carol at the ramp while Danelle and I drove back to Klondike to pick up the car and go back to Weldon to pack up.
Its our favorite way to bring new people on the Missouri river and see how gentle and beautiful it is. Food and a sandbar always help. We’ll be back to paddle this again and see who we bring along.
Hogan Haake