25APRIL2012 near Yankton, SD - A violent wind awoke me at 0330.  My tarp was blown up on one corner ... rain was enough to make me wonder ... it proved to be just a smattering, but while blowing down who knew?  I gathered my sleeping bags and went to the shower house and stretched out under the eave; the rain stopped and wind diminished.  All that rousted  me from slumber but it was still dark.  Eventually first light showed and I was up and at it, tossing gear into the canoe and paddling over to the marina.  Before the sunburst the canoe was rolling toward the lower side of the dam.  It is a very short distance and easy path from the marina down to Yankton Lake, I had done that in about 15minutes.  Yankton Lake, though has no discharge point, so I rolled on along the base of the dam (one mile) then east along the spillway (another mile).  At the Chief White Crane campground I pulled the craft fairly deep into the woods and left it.  The campground being a dead end, getting a ride back was problematic, but the second vehicle (after 3/4 mile) took me back to the Lewis and Clark Resort where I checked in - at 1000 as predicted.  _____ at the marina helped me carry my gear and by noon all was swell. 
I noted poison ivy in the woods.  Seeing that is a reminder of how pleasant my life in Montana and Hawaii has been with no poison ivy problems for these past 40 years.  It also tells me that for the rest of this trip I will not paddle into the dark, it being extremely important that I get ashore and set up camp in a campsite devoid of poison ivy. 
The Lewis and Clark Resort (lewisandclarkresort@yahoo.com) is operated by Judy and Jeff Wahl, two wonderful people who, in addition to managing this resort, are serious sailors.  The marina is the finest I have seen in 1500 miles; no better place for sailors to be than here.  The resort itself is superb ... I strongly recommend that paddlers enjoy some luxury here before beginning the free-flowing remainder of the Missouri River. 
Today I paddled then portaged the canoe from river mile 812 to river mile 810, a distance of 2 miles.