Math.Guy on 2 Wheels: July 1: Daniel Boone Country

‘Rustic’ website at Bluffton

I’ve turned the calendar page for my vacation to July. Weather identical to the end of June hot and muggy. A good day for traveling today, I achieved 45 miles, which is going to equate to a good mileage day while I am in this part of the trip.

Leaving Washington, it was another 5 miles to get back to the Katy Trail. Probably the sightseeing highlight today was a quick stop at the Daniel Boone monument. They have a farmstead constructed as it would have been in the the early1800’s with some Indian tepees on the back forty. I guess they cater to weddings; nobody around today. The monument is the burial site of Daniel Boone. When he moved to Missouri, near the end of his life, this prompted many more settlers to follow. Its interesting that there is no record of Lewis & Clark meeting Boone, although he should have been here when the expedition passed by.

Something that is interesting for me is comparing the calendar dates for me with the calendar dates in 1804 when Lewis & Clark traveled the same route. For example it was May 23, 1804 when L&C left St. Charles, and on May 29 they arrived where I am now. By comparison, I left St. Charles on June 30, so the expedition has about a 38 day head start on me. So the question is, will I catch the expedition? What date will that be, and where will that be? I will keep you posted, in case anyone would like to make some predictions?

The photo above was my campsite at Bluffton. I’m pushing the envelope on type of weather thatI should consider camping. Tonight the temp was 84 at 8:00PM when I arrived, with high humidity. The campground was a bit dilapidated, and I was the only camper there. I chased a deer - OK, startled a deer at my campsite. I chose to use the rain fly tonight because there was a 20% chance of rain. I prefer to not use the rain flyin the hot weather. Also the rain fly doubles the effort needed for set up and tear down.

PS: Camping was ok, but a little warm. Worst aspect was the next morning when everything, is moist from the humidity an dewfall. Rode with damp clothes entire next day.

Miles: 45

Elevations: Low 467, near Treloar; High 599 at Marthasville

Max Speed. 34.5mph