<\/p>\n
Fort Lewis College students Anthony Reinert, Nick Kanelos and Aaron McDowell have found their research trip of paddling down the Missouri River to be a challenge that is testing their patience, strength and trust in each other.<\/p>\n
Reinert, the team navigator, summarized the first five weeks of the research trip in a few simple words: \u201cPaddle, eat, sleep, repeat, ad infinitum.\u201d<\/p>\n
They have three weeks to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I take a journey of this nature, it is always a learning experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The trio kicked off the 2,400-mile adventure in Three Forks, Montana, on June 3 to survey the biological health of the river during an eight-week paddle trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now at the base of Oahe Dam in South Dakota,\u201d Kanelos, the team documentarian, said. \u201cWe have exactly three weeks to meet our schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team paddles for 12 to 14 hours daily and travels an average of 40 miles per day, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what comes our way, we seem to pull it off as a team and even laugh at situations that would otherwise frighten us back home,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems with every paddle stroke, with every muscle aching, that we learn something about ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reinert said in moments of hardship \u2013 such as encountering high winds, big waves or running out of water \u2013 the true mettle of the team is tested.<\/p>\n
Throughout the journey, the team has been collecting research for McDowell\u2019s senior seminar project at FLC that focuses on the effects of agricultural runoff on the water system.<\/p>\n
The project is about understanding the effects of land use on the Missouri River, but the research the group is doing can provide information about other rivers, including the Animas, said Heidi Steltzer, professor of biology at FLC. The Animas River is similar to the upper regions of the Missouri River near Three Forks, where the team started its adventure, she said.<\/p>\n
When they reach St. Louis, Missouri, the three students will have completed more than 2 million paddle strokes in their 23-foot canoe named Caroline, Kanelos said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has been a fantastic ship for us and has granted us safe passage in very trying conditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hours after launching from Three Forks, the team endured sunshine, rain, thunder, lightning and hail.<\/p>\n
Kanelos said the team had to learn very quickly how to tie down anything loose in the canoe, throw on storm gear and pull into a nearby semiprotected shore.<\/p>\n
Along the way, the team has slept on many sandbars, fishing launches and official campgrounds, as well as residents\u2019 homes along the route, outbuildings and unfinished shop buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen comforts and conveniences are stripped away, that layer of insulation is removed, and who we are deep inside comes out, for better or worse.\u201d Reinert said. \u201cIn many ways, the struggle of the adventure brings out the very true self of a person.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDowell, the team\u2019s researcher, has been taking samples of plankton in different parts of the river to understand environmental changes and effects of land use on the water. He also is looking at pH levels, water turbidity, oxygenation and amounts of dissolved nitrates and phosphates in different sections of the river, Kanelos said.<\/p>\n
McDowell\u2019s expectation is he will be able to see significant impacts from agricultural runoff, Steltzer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most interesting things we\u2019ve seen is how drastically the river changes from its headwaters to Pierre, South Dakota,\u201d McDowell said.<\/p>\n
The higher-elevation riparian areas are dominated by cottonwood forests, while the plains consist mainly of rolling grassy hills, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a very subtle beauty that changes slowly, and it is hard to describe without taking the human-powered pace that we are traveling at,\u201d Kanelos said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sheer scale of the river is fantastic. Often, we can\u2019t see across (it),\u201d McDowell said. \u201cEach part of this system is so different from the one prior; it is sometimes difficult to believe it is the same river. I am looking forward to further analyzing the samples and data back in Durango.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team plans to reach its destination point in St. Louis by Aug. 1.<\/p>\n