Missouri River Float Trip. Yankton SD to KC MO

So last spring a friend and myself decided to float from Yankton South Dakota back to Kansas City in my boat. Tracker 1754 with a 40 HP johnson was the tool of choice. Since the flooding the last few years all the fuel stations are gone on the river and that made a problem for my old motor. The answer? Buy one of those Coleman 2.6 HP four strokes for Cabelas. It worked well and used about .3 gallon of fuel per hour. We ran about 10 hours a day as it was a slow trip. We had 21 gallons of fuel on to start as I recall. My dad drove us up to Yankton and we put in right below the dam. That dam is the last dam and below it is unrestricted flow to St Louis. I have attached a few small pictures that I hope work out. One of the boat as it started the trip, an Eagle (one of many we saw), Me sleeping in my hammock, a beaver that had no clue as to what we were that kept just swimming around the boat and a view of the river below Yankton. The river is alot like fields of sand with water running through them. We got stuck three times in the middle of the river. Its not channelized up there and navigation is tough. The trip was great. Six days and five night and we plan on floating KC to ST Louis this fall to say we have been on all 811 miles of it. Good times.

sounds like a good time i always said i wanted to do that but i dont think i could get a partner to go along with it

That's COOL!!! Looks like a lot of fun!!!
Every fall, we see folks in canoes going down the Mississippi River. They start in Minnesota and canoe to New Orleans. A couple of guys spent the night at our deer camp one time. We fed them beef stew and BBQ ribs. They said that was the first meat they'd had in weeks. Lol. They were going past New Orleans and hoped to take the intercostal water way around to the Florida Keys. They were writing a book about their trip and took our names down to include us in it.

Sounds like a cool adventure!

Sounds like an awesome adventure.

I have a friend that lives on mo mo out side of Yankton,last year the flood took away the river in front of his house and now its miles and miles of acres of sand.

Sounds and looks like it wa a fun trip.Thumbs Up I dont think I could sleep in a boat anymore though.

OH MAN that is plum awsome,,, I am so not going to do that, sound like a great time was had by all....

Thanks, thanks a ton, another entry to the bucket list. I've got to get busy.

Pardon the questions:

1. Were there towns close enough to the river to restock on supplies. I see the ice chest, but ice won't last that many days.
2. Did you ever need the 40 hp? Did you have to refuel along the way, if so I guess #1 is answered.
3. What nav aids did you use, maps, gps, etc.
4. What did you take that you didn't need, what didn't you take that you needed.
5. Sleeping, in the boat, or shore?

And the one question that everyone wants to know. HOW WAS THE FISHING?

That looks great. Love all the structure in the water. Looks like good fishing. Where does the channelization end going west up the river?

thanks for the post and cool pics! I bet that was an awsome trip. when you go from kc to st. lou, make a post or pm me. I live in washington very close to the river and there is a nice access here. I can help ya restock, feed ya and even house you if you need it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by south point

thanks for the post and cool pics! I bet that was an awsome trip. when you go from kc to st. lou, make a post or pm me. I live in washington very close to the river and there is a nice access here. I can help ya restock, feed ya and even house you if you need it.

---

Much thanks south point, I will keep you in mind. A helping hand on the river is always a good thing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kcbrown

Thanks, thanks a ton, another entry to the bucket list. I've got to get busy.

Pardon the questions:

1. Were there towns close enough to the river to restock on supplies. I see the ice chest, but ice won't last that many days.
2. Did you ever need the 40 hp? Did you have to refuel along the way, if so I guess #1 is answered.
3. What nav aids did you use, maps, gps, etc.
4. What did you take that you didn't need, what didn't you take that you needed.
5. Sleeping, in the boat, or shore?

And the one question that everyone wants to know. HOW WAS THE FISHING?

---

The fishing was good, we caught a few. However after running 8-10 hours in a boat (even though it was going pretty slow) left us tried at night.

Yes some towns are close. Sioux City, Omaha and St joe Mo were our stops for stuff if needed and we did just to see some folks we knew along the way. The nice thing about those towns is they have cab service. If you need something its a short cab ride from the boat ramp and its lots better then walking a mile or so as far as I see it.
good coolers are a must. I use Coleman Extreme. One cooler was full of full water bottles, one full of food and one beer for my co-pilot. The boy takes his beer drinking serious but did not drive.

Yes we used the 40 to dock and stuff like that and also to run from one storm one evening. If you have the time the complete trip could be done without fill-up with the right motor. Our little kicker used .3 gallon per hour @ 10 hours per day and we had one 12 gallon tank and two sixes on the boat.

As far as Nav aids I had my Garmin on my boat, a river map from the Corps, and my cell phone. Signal was pretty fair for the majority of the trip.

We took a bunch of stuff we did not need. I am a guy that does not ever want to be caught without. SO.....you name it we had it all, chainsaw, tent, weather radio,pelican cases, dry bags, gas grill....I could go on for hours I think. However the weather was good and we did not need a bunch of what we took. However if the weather was different it would have been a different story.

I slept in the boat in a hammock and Jeff slept in a tent. It worked out for us both ways.

I have some notes I made up and if you get serious send me a PM and I will send them to you. Its a great trip and I cant wait for the second half....

Thank you for posting the story and pics. Fantastic!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nvrgvup444

Thank you for posting the story and pics. Fantastic!

---

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawsome thanks for the post. If I were younger would love to try it.