Missouri River Fastest Known Solo Paddle:

32D, 6H, 7M

Start: Missouri River headwaters, Montana 9am, June 1, 2026.

Finish: Halfway across the Mississippi, at the confluence. 3:07pm, July 3rd, 2026: Note all future attempts will be timed when they reach the takeout on the mainland side of the lock canal on the Mississippi, HERE.

June 1-July 3, 2026

Self-Supported

Fastest Known Solo Paddle Overall

Fastest Known Solo Paddle Male

From July 3-July 19 Peter also held the Overall Fastest Known Paddle on this route 

Start: June 01, 2026, 9:00 AM

End: July 03, 2026, 3:07 PM

Boat: Delta 17 kayak

GPS Tracking: Garmin Inreach 2

Trip Report from Peter Larson:

I am still coming around to what I actually accomplished on this run.  The goal when I set out, what I planned for over a year, was to make the run in 42 days and thus set the new fastest solo run and do it self supported/unassisted. What transpired over the next few weeks never felt like some intense push or massive physical feat.  I just woke, paddled, and slept. In order for my plan to succeed I counted on covering 80 miles per day on moving water and 40 miles per day on the lakes.  The incredibly dry winter and resulting low water would put that to the test.  In the end, I only had a couple days where I reached the moving water goal.  The current just wasn’t there till Kansas City.  Where I made up time was the lakes, and there is a lot of time on lakes. 

I don’t think I ever fully grasped how much of the upper Missouri is just lakes.  Yes, everyone knows about the big lakes but I am talking about all the time between them as well.  Canyon Ferry, Hauser, Holter…there is a lot of lake time.  I noted in my planning that the lakes would be a grind while the river portions would be the adventure and past Yankton it would all be a blur.  I could not have been more wrong.  Yes, the beginning was definitely an adventure and exciting with the adrenaline of the start but that quickly turned into a grind on the small lakes, and then again between Peck and Sak.  With so little water and current, the moving sections only gave up a mile or 2 of current push so I strained to get my miles in.  But, when I reached the main lakes, suddenly I found myself covering 50 and 60 miles and blasting past my daily goals.  

I allotted 3-5 days for Peck in my plans, knocked it out in 2.  I planned on 5-7 days for Sak, crushed it in 3, and 7-10 days on Oahe turned into 4.5 days.  Very favorable winds for the most part turned into my ally.  Almost every afternoon I could plan on 20-30mph winds at my back and occasionally my side which I embraced and because of bringing a full neoprene skirt and rode the 3-5ft waves down the lake.  Twice I got a little over my head as the gusts reached into the 40s and the waves grew past 5 ft and I scrambled to work my way back closer to shore but when it wasn’t extreme, I could downwind and catch waves and enjoy an extra 1-2mph push over my flat water speed.  I never took a 0 day and only pulled off for weather for a total of 2.5 hours of my entire paddle.  An hour on Peck and an hour and a half on Sak.  I had a rough full day of paddling on Sharp where I fought rain and wind for 14 hours but still managed to grind out 36 miles, my lowest output of the trip.  That really was the secret to my success in the end.  Just get out there and paddle all day every day.  Only twice was it less than 10 hours while the average was closer to 13. 

I paddled nonstop from Nebraska City to Lexington Missouri, 239 river miles, in 39 hours towards the end when I knew the overall record was within my grasp.  I hiked all the portages, hauling my 50lb kayak and upwards of 125 pounds of gear/food/water, without any assistance and conquered the Great Falls portage of 17ish miles in 5.5 hours.  That day would end up being one of the greatest highlights of my entire adventure.  I spent the night 15 miles north of town and got moving by 6 AM.  I made my ramp in town by 9:15 and after sorting my gear and dressing for the hike, started my portage at 9:45.  A quick stop at the gas station for calories and a cold drink and I headed up the hill out of town.  I knew things were going well when I reached the turn for Morony Dam Rd after a little more than an hour.  I was in great spirits having sun for the first time in my journey that day and cell service so I could pass the time talking to my wife, son, and brother as I walked along.  It was just a beautiful day.  I reached the base of the dam 5.5 hours after starting the hike.  

The amount of water being released from Morony was way more than I was expecting and nothing downstream matched the satellite images I had studied.  I was going to have to read and run and what a rush it was.  The rapids I would encounter were on the high end of class III and for me it would have been class IV consequences had I messed up with the sheer volume of water and the weight of my boat, not to mention the width of the river.  I rode massive waves and punched several holes equal to great whitewater I have explored back east.  The entire kayak was submerged more than once with waves crashing over my head. I pushed through with a mix of adrenaline, excitement, and a bit of pucker factor.  The excitement lasted for 20 minutes or so before the river calmed and I made it all the way to Fort Benton.  

Truly an amazing day only to be followed the next day with a beautiful 96 mile day through the Missouri Breaks all the way down to Judith Landing.  It was this 2 day window that gave me confidence I could set the new solo record but it wouldn’t be till the end of Francis Case that the great accomplishment of the overall record first came into play.  The math was there, get to Yankton by June 26th and then average 90 miles a day for the next 9 days.  Impossible…no, but a grind I had not subjected myself to on this trip.  Really, I had been taking it easy as far as effort for the first 3 weeks.  Sure the days were long but I hadn’t pushed myself hard, something I would wonder about at the end of the journey.  What if I had been going hard from the start…what could have been?  But now, with the lakes almost all behind me, I would have no more obstacles in my way and nothing to lose.  

I made the task easier by getting to Yankton on the 25th, buying myself an additional day and making it all the way to Ponca state park and the beginning of the truly channelized Missouri river.  I cut out cooking in my diet, throwing away 1k calories, but buying me paddling time.  The days became longer, the paddling that much stronger, the miles a little longer.  Then I made my push on the 28th/29th with the aid of the full moon paddling 39 hours and driving into Missouri and the heat.  I was blessed with temps in the 60s and 70s the entirety of my trip until I hit Missouri.  I was blessed with wind at my back everyday but 2…till I hit Missouri.  Missouri was almost my undoing.  It was hot, as in the upper 90s hot, and a 20+ mph wind in my face out of the south for the first time.  My electronics were over heated, I over heated, I was over tired and under caloried. 

My lowest day of the journey would be that day paddling past KC.  I was in my home territory, the final stretch and everything was going wrong.  I broke down for 10 minutes around Ft Osage, just exhausted and dehydrated and overheated.  I gathered myself and got to Napoleon and the ramp there.  I got out of the boat, refilled my water, regathered myself, took a few long deep breaths while pumping in some calories, and just reset.  A clear head reminded me that I was more than a day ahead of schedule and the gps was showing that the river was giving me 4 mph, more than I had gotten at any time in the journey.  I knew this portion of the river and I knew where my stops would be and everything was going to work out.  I made a plan of stops which were not too rough, some 80 mile days with this current would be short work, and everything was clear.  Lexington that night, then Glasgow where my wife would surprise me, then Jeff City, followed by New Haven and a surprise BBQ party with my local boating crew, and the finish line.  Just like that, the journey was over.  And it really feels like that.  The entire journey is just kind of a blur.  Days melted together, miles blended with miles.  

It really takes some effort to try and pinpoint specific days or locations and when they occurred.  I took notes on my phone fortunately and will use those to write up a more detailed accounting of my journey but for now, this is it.  It's done.  10 days faster than I planned, faster than anyone had ever done it, and even now having been surpassed after 2 weeks by the Missouri Record team, the fastest solo and self supported run.  There is more I could delve into, the significance that slowly settled in in the days following my trip, the people I met, the solitude of being solo for 32 days, the what ifs I am left wondering, the ideas for the future…but those are for another story.