Katy Trail 2012: Day 5

Day 5

Augusta to St. Charles 25 miles

Highlights: Defiance, St. Charles, Trailhead Brewing Co, St. Charles Riverfront, Homecoming

Though the night was a little cold the high-caloric beer kept us warm.  We awoke the next morning and had a leisurely breakfast.  There was a convenience store in Augusta towards the top of the hill where you could buy supplies, but we just ate leftover cobbler and I drank too much coffee.  We lingered perhaps a bit too long to allow our tents to dry in the sun, but time didn't matter too much.  The end of the line was a short 25 miles to the quaint town of St. Charles.

The first obstacle we encountered that day was water. Save for at the brewery there was no water to be found. The trailhead at Augusta had a latrine, but no running water. We looked at the maps and it seemed that this was the case for the remainder of the trail - the next furnished trailhead was past St. Charles. We were incensed indeed, and we weren't the only ones. At several of the trailheads, most notably Greens Bottom right outside of St. Charles, graffiti signs indicated the lack of water for the next 30+ miles and even offer some colorful language to fully impart the frustration of the situation.

We filled up at a hose, not sure of the quality of the water, but comforted by its presence. The day was gorgeous and being a Saturday the trail was busier than I had ever seen it. We rolled out just as the brewery was opening and the people were already line up at the bar. It was tempting to stay for one more round, but we had another location in mind for lunch, St. Charles' Trailhead Brewing Company.  For those of you keeping track that the third brewery of our visit.

With our water of questionable quality we stopped at the quaint little town of Defiance, MO.  Dana assured us its downtown was just off the trail and we could find sustenance at a local biker bar - that's biker bar, not cyclist.  But the leather-clad barkeep was exceedingly nice and in addition to filling our water she indulged my sense of nostalgia by showing off her antique Falstaff Tapper, one of the first commercially available personal draft systems in the US.

We left Defiance's downtown without stopping at their winery or their ice-cream stand.  Oh well.  The green canopy of the trail was as lush as ever, and the weekend warriors were out enjoying the day.  The trail was congested to say the least.  Everyone was very amicable and they all wanted to chat about where we were going or how long we had been traveling.  We were happy to recount our journey and it was obvious that Missourians took a great deal of pride in their trail.

Not to be ungrateful or discourteous, we answered their questions but kept up a swift pace.  We were in a hurry to be finished with our 5 day ordeal.  Even with - or perhaps because of - our equipment we outpaced other cyclists on the mostly downhill path into St. Charles.  This trip we certainly learned what mid-western courtesy was and all about had our ears talked off more than once - not that we minded.  On our way into town we made friends with Joey, another traveler and self-proclaimed "booster for Missouri."  No one took greater pride in his state.

We traded stories about our journeys.  Joey was coming from Columbia to be with his parents for Easter.  They lived just on the other side of the river outside St. Charles.  He packed very light and was only on the trail for two days.  Which meant that he made it from Columbia to the trail - some 8 or 9 miles - to McKittrick - another 70 - then renegade camped - a Katy Trail no-no - to wake up and bike to St. Charles - another 65 miles.  We were impressed with his speed and determination, and decided that one person could move faster and regulate stop times more easily than half a dozen.  We parted ways with Joey, but it was not the last time we would encounter this young man.

We started to regret not grabbing a bite in Defiance or even back in Augusta as the day dragged on.  Hungry, my wife and I pulled ahead and we made it to the brewery before most.  We didn't wait too long until the others started to trickle in, and who with, but Joey, Joey the liar.

Dana encountered Joey again on the trail and insisted that he join us at the brewery before journeying across the river to be with his folks.  Joey agreed then during the ride he conceded that his original story was not entirely truthful.  He did not camp on that cold cold night outside McKittrick, instead he stayed at Joey's Birdhouse - no relation - the same place our companions stayed the night before.  He just wanted to seem more hardcore.  It wasn't a big deal, just a little white lie but it caused us to question his other stories.  Had he really traveled 70+ miles on those days.  Not an impossible distance, but rigorous no doubt.

Despite the less than truthful nature of his story Joey was a nice guy.  He told us all about where he lived in Columbia and he made us wish that we had taken some time to stop there.  He talked about life in Missouri and how much he loved it and baseball.  Joey, like so many others in the mid-west, had the gift of gab.  We tried to pay for his stout but he insisted against it and left cash on the table before withdrawing.  We were left to enjoy our drinks, eat a big lunch, tour the town of St. Charles and then find our way home to St. Louis.

St. Charles was the town where Louis and Clark started their expedition out west to the Pacific Ocean.  The Katy Trail criss-crosses their supposed path and there are milestone all along marking their way as well as historic markers naming their campsites and discoveries. There are museums and statues all along St. Charles' riverfront dedicated to the two explorers and their dog.

Our way out of St. Charles seemed as monumental a task as these two had.  Joey the liar took the path across the Page Avenue Extension Bridge over the river.  A possible exit plan was to leave a car on the other side of this bridge waiting for us in the parking lot when we arrived.  This bridge leads to Creve Coeur County Park, a large park in a northwestern suburb of St. Louis.  From here bikekatytrail.com has some recommended paths leading to downtown St. Louis.  We poured through these options and read the comments trying to determine the safest, quickest path.  Basically it doesn't exist.  We could have made a dash for the airport and caught the metro to downtown, or we could have followed a long path through the park through the suburbs.  Either path was dangerous and both added 30+ miles to our journey.  Luckily our new friend Dana arranged a ride for us.  Her husband met us in St. Charles with his electrician's van and all 5 of our bikes fit in the back.  We made our way back to St. Louis via Nicole's brother, had dinner in their neighborhood, and slept like angels.