Over President's day weekend, I went up to see my friend who lives in downtown Columbia, Missouri. Everything had been really stressful over the past couple of months, and I needed a little break from everything. I had not seen her new place yet, so I figured I would go up there. The first day, I just stayed around downtown doing some work in the morning, and taking pictures of downtown and MU in the afternoon. The next day, I wanted to go out. I did not feel like burning up more gas, and since I had my friends bike, I decided to bike the MKT trail to McBaine, MO, and then bike the Katy Trail to Boonville, Missouri.
I began the first part of my journey around 9:15am. The section was an 8 mile MKT trail spur that went from downtown Columbia to McBaine, Missouri. Two-thirds of this section goes though residential neighborhoods along a creek, crossing numerous old railroad bridges. The most interesting one was this one over Perche Creek.
After making stops at all of the bridges, I finally made it to the Katy Trail. I went in the other direction towards Jefferson City first to stop at the Eagle Bluffs Overlook. On the way, I passed by a natural bridge. Right after that is the steep 1/4 mile trail to the overlook. The view was alright. It made a nice spot for me to devour all my snacks, and there was a nice view of the muddy Perche Creek and the fields behind it. The Missouri River used to be right next to the bluff, but over time the river changed course.
I felt like turning around because the 10 miles I've done so far was exhausting, but I decided to keep on going another eleven miles towards Rocheport. On the way to Rocheport, I passed by Missouri's largest Oak Tree. I was disappointed to see that it had some graffiti on it, but it was still cool. Part of this section of the Katy Trail ran along the Missouri River, which was my favorite part of the trail. There were towering bluffs on one side, and the river on the other. Beneath one of the bluffs was an old rock shelter.
The overlook at Les Bourgeois provided a great view of the I-70 bridge over the Missouri River. I got this picture the night before, but there is a trail that links the Katy Trail to Les Bourgeois.
When I finally got to Rocheport, I was starving. I was worried that there would be nowhere to eat, but I found Meriwether Cafe and Bike Shop. The prices were a little higher than normal, but the service and homemade food were excellent, which was worth paying for. The restaurant is right on the Katy Trail, but there is a road right next to it. If you are ever in Rocheport, I would highly recommend stopping there and getting something to eat.
One of the workers encouraged me to keep on going the 12 miles Boonville, so I did. The section went away from the Missouri River and through a couple of Conservation Areas. There was an old bridge on the trail, but the main jewel was this massive grain elevator about halfway between Rocheport and New Franklin in an unincorporated town called Persons.
New Franklin had a nice downtown. The town of Franklin was a mile down the trail, and had a couple of neat buildings in downtown. The last stretch of the Katy Trail between Franklin and Boonville was the most monotonous of the journey. It went though a big field, and the wind was blowing against me. Even though it was a couple of miles to Boonville, I never though I was going to get there. Since the Boonville lift Bridge is inaccessible, I had to take Highway 5 across the Missouri River into Boonville. I finally made it into Boonville! I walked around downtown for a little bit, and stopped at Casey's to get some fuel for me. It was already after 4pm, and the sun was going to set in a little over an hour. I was not able to spend as much time there as I would have liked to, but I did get this nice picture of this old church in downtown.
I texted my friend saying I was in New Franklin, MO and they responded with, "Thats a 35 min DRIVE!" Yep, it was indeed going to be a very long 30 miles back to Columbia. I enjoyed the section between New Franklin and Rocheport in the light, but the sun set after that. I did get a nice sunset picture on the Missouri River.
The last half of the Katy Trail between Rocheport and McBaine was in darkness, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I almost did the MKT trail between McBaine and Columbia without stopping, but I stopped to recover a couple of times. The MKT trail was really muddy, which made it even harder to bike through. I finally made it back around 8:30pm back in downtown Columbia. My friend's bike was completely covered in mud, but I cleaned it up before I gave it back to them. We went to Cracker Barrel after I got back, but I did not eat much because I was probably dehydrated. It was in the 50s that day, so I did not drink much. I got up to the bathroom because I felt nauseous, and I almost fell over on the way. I drank some more water, and gained my appetite the next day. I was sore for quite a few days, but I am glad I completed the 70 mile journey. Even though I told myself I would never do something like that again, I probably will.