A Welcome Return to the Katy Trail

Back in the fall of 2013, Barry bicycled the entire length of the Katy Trail in Missouri, from Clinton (west) to Machens (east) in four days while I drove with Paisley.  Each day I'd drive to our next motel, get Paisley settled, and in some cases was close enough to be able to hop on the trail and ride my bicycle out to meet Barry.  If you're interested, you can read all about this adventure in a series of older blog posts.

This time, we stayed in a spot near the Katy that I'd noticed along the way and really wanted to see:  Hermann, Missouri.  This town, often called "Little Germany", looked so quaint and charming as I'd driven through, I wanted to get a closer look.  However, all the lodging there was bed & breakfasts, which would make traveling with Paisley difficult as very few B&Bs allow dogs.  So, the trip didn't happen in 2013 or 2014 while we were living in the greater KC area.  But now that we're traveling in Pearl, we were able to return.

There's a nice city park with RV sites and hookups right in Hermann, a great spot from which to see the city (more on this in the next post).  And as you can see from this map, the Katy Trail is just a few miles north of Hermann, so we could ride a portion of it during our stay.

​We chose to ride our Bike Fridays this time.  Barry had ridden his mountain bike before but said that it was overkill, since the Katy is well-maintained, firmly packed crushed limestone. The 1.35" wide tires on our Fridays would do just fine.  It proved to be a good choice, as these bikes are a bit faster and lighter than our mountain bikes, and certainly much better for the road to and from the trail.

Before setting out, we pedaled to a charming bakery in downtown Hermann that Barry had sniffed out the day before.  He has a nose for donuts, I tell you!   There, we stocked up on goodies for our ride.

We got to cross the mighty Missouri River on the way to the Katy Trail access point.  There's a protected ped-bike portion of the bridge, making it a very safe ride.

Crossing the Missouri River

We had an enjoyable ride on the trail from the access point just west of McKittrick to Mokane and back.  I'd originally planned on going only to Portland, but there was no water there, so we forged on. 

What, no water?

If you look closely, you can see that Barry is wearing his Katy Trail jersey from his earlier ride!

This is Standing Rock.  It looks like an isolated boulder but is actually a part of a bluff that has resisted erosion.  This portion of the Katy Trail runs right through the Grand Bluffs Conservation Area along the Missouri River.  This is an exceptionally pretty part of the trail, and the shade was much appreciated on this hot day.

Standing Rock

Grand Bluffs along the Katy Trail

​This section of the trail is quite rural with almost no services.  No restaurants, no bakeries, no ice cream shops, just a couple of rest rooms and occasional water spigots.  On a hot day, a water spigot is gold!

Refilling the water bottle in Mokane

Riding by the Missouri River

Shady spots were most welcome

On the way back, we took our last rest stop in Rhineland, where there was a pretty garden. And we found a soda machine!  We each indulged in one, giving us the energy we needed to pedal the final few miles back to Hermann.

​We ended up with over 55 miles on the day, at least 15 more than I'd planned on!  

I won't lie, the last ten miles or so, I was suffering a bit.  But looking back now, I only remember how much fun it was and feel fortunate that we got to enjoy another great day on one of America's premiere rail-trails.  

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