Mon - January 1, 2007

Kansas River Gritty Fitty - Race 50 miles on June 30, 2007 from Lawrence to Kaw Point



Kansas RIver Kansas RIver
Registration for a new 50 mile race on the Kansas River is open at Rivermiles.com, a home of the Missouri River 340 Race::
The Kaw, as she is known by the locals, is a work in progress... even by river standards. Bare sandbars you could camp on a few years ago, are now forests of cottonwoods. Cornfields that used to line cut banks are now part of the river, and deep channels that you used to count on for easy passage have swapped places with gravel riffles that grab your boat and make you doubt your memory.

But all that makes it such a great little river. While the Missouri River has been artificially preserved by wing dikes and riprap, the Kaw maintains most of her independence and likes to redecorate from time to time. So, you never get bored enjoying the Kansas River. There are no reruns.

The first annual Kansas River "Gritty Fitty" is a canoe and kayak race meant to showcase this under used recreational beauty. Starting in Lawrence at the 8th street access and winding across the eastern valley to Kaw Point where the river blends with the big Missouri, this race is 50 miles of non-stop tests for your boat, your shoulders and your navigation skills.

Expect to see all sorts of boats lined up Saturday morning, June 30th, 2007... battle scarred aluminum canoes next to sleek, carbon fiber needles that look more like aircraft than rivercraft. But the Kaw is the great equalizer. Someone in a more modest boat, who knows the latest version of the river, could put up a pretty good fight against a $3000 boat that has trouble finding the channel.

There is one checkpoint combined with a mandatory portage at the Johnson County Water Weir. The race finish is at Kaw Point, the confluence of Kansas and Missouri Rivers, where, just three weeks later, the 2007 Missouri River 340 race will start. You can explore the race course in my GPS/photo race log from Missouri River 340: just move on the map upstream of the Kansas River starting from the Kaw Point.

Photographs and satellite images reveal a lot of sandbars on the river. It looks just like a bigger version of the South Platte. I wonder if my experiences from paddling on wet sand will be useful. I am planning to paddle the race with my new Thunderbolt-X kayak or with my old Spencer X-treme safari canoe. Who is going to join me in the longest and toughest river race in the entire Kansas?


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Posted at 03:12 PM    


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