Leaving the Katy Trail

I'm now camped in a field at the end of a dead end road in Urich, Missouri. That's one difference between the trail and the road. The trail has excellent trailheads, whereas you take what you can on the road.

I just ate half a bagel and a nutri-grain bar, with water. On the trail Eric liked to eat out. Good junk food!

Now that I've left Eric and the trail behind I've thought about the last several days. There are kind people, like Jeff Wren who on the day of the great detour, after portaging our bikes over Missouri bluffs--Jeff Wren who stopped his county tractor to give us directions and later after his work followed those directions and found us and offered us a hitch to Rocheport.

On the trail I learned some Missouri geography--the Ozark border and the Osage prairie, for instance, and that the highest point on the Katy trail is 955 feet.

Some people, when they learn what you are doing, think you're crazy and in fact wish you ill because they think the adventure is silly or beyond their cope of understanding. They can't wrap their minds around it and thus trivialize you and the thing you're doing.

Others are supportive and encouraging. I met a man this morning who has toured the high peaks of Colorado, all in one week. His eyes lit up when he heard me describe the trek to Tor house.