6APRIL2010 - Today I travelled from the Black Sandy Campground to the Coulter Campground, a distance of ten miles. Arriving quite late at Black Sandy, I was portaging the one mile dirt road to Hauser dam when friend Ron Luckenbill pulled alongside. What a guy! He had come down to see me off amid his busy schedule that included - today anyway - hosting an international delegation from Kyrgystan. Not just a watcher, he helped me load the canoe and helped maneuver it down the road to the base of the dam. Pushing off into the flowing Missouri I had the feeling that finally the trip was underway. Travelling the three miles to the Holter Lake backwater I saw about six fishermen on some of our world's finest trout water. At Holter Lake I faced a strong head wind. Screaming off Sieben Flats it was creating whitecaps without end, bank to bank and as far as one could see. I beached three times in the 1st mile or less while waiting for a change - any change. Finally, partly because I surmised the wind had decreased (some) and partly because I did not want to camp along the lake, I persevered and paddled through Upper Holter Lake and into the Gates of the Mountains canyon. The paddling process is to face backward with the stern (now effectively the bow) only three or four feet in front of me. This requires staying on my knees, paddling on one side and then the other as I make my way directly into the wind. Directly into the wind meant heading straight toward the Gates of the Mountains boat dock. It was an attractive target and one that I considered taking all the way, but I turned around and paddled as well as possible downwind and as far eastward as could be managed. Upon getting close to shore, I turned around and once again paddled into the wind. With this zigzag pattern repeating at least three times, I finally made it into the canyon. Several miles into the canyon I beached at the Coulter Campground and thanked God for bringing me to not just a decent place, to a wonderful place. I was exhausted and slept extremely well.