New Madrid, MO to Vicksburg, MS (through Memphis, TN) 450 Miles (1,839 Total) Boredom is when your mind tumbles into a dark, bottomless hole, swirling downward into a black abyss where time stops and the only thing remotely resembling the passing of seconds is the thought of you thinking about how bored you actually are. […]
Mississippi River Days 56-67 Read More »
Hannibal, MO to New Madrid, MO (through St. Louis) 374 Miles (1,389 Total) Traveling through the Port of St. Louis was, by far, the riskiest section of river that we’ve paddled through. The Port is 20 miles of non-stop bumper to bumper barge traffic. Load after load of six by two barges go up and
Mississippi River Days 46 to 55 Read More »
Andalusia, IL to Hannibal, MO 144 Miles (1,015 Total) It’s been a strange week but we are making progress downriver. My grandmother passed away and I went home to be with family for a few days. My canoeing compadres took a few extra days off and then got back on the water with our friend
Mississippi River Days 37-45 Read More »
LaCrosse, WI to Andalusia, IL 226 Miles (871 Total) The river is a great many things to a lot of different people. It’s a way to get large loads of coal up to poweplants, a place to spend an afternoon fishing near a shallow bank, a body of water to sail on during a windy
Mississippi River Days 28-36 Read More »
September 24, 2017 After time spent solo backpacking in the Catskills and Adirondacks, I have been contemplating wild spaces. What makes them desirable? What makes them feared? In regards to the first question… The simplicity and beauty of nature calls me time and time again. There are complex systems at work: the food chain, tectonic
On Wilderness and Darkness Read More »
Brainerd to Minneapolis/St Paul, MN 174 Miles (524 Total) There is one unifying evil between cycle touring and canoe tripping. One thing that is so heinous and miserable that some have even described it as the devil’s breath. It’s called the wind and pretty much it’s the worst thing in the entire world (well, when
Mississippi River Days 16-21 Read More »
Grand Rapids to Brainerd, MN 188 Miles (350 Miles Total) The river after Grand Rapids gets wider and the banks steeper. The water is browner and the current is faster too, and there is even a rusty pipe sticking down into the river producing thick white bubbles and foam. A week ago we could see
Mississippi River Days 9-15 Read More »
Bemidji to Grand Rapids, MN 100 miles (162 Total) The river passes through two more large lakes after Bemidji. The first, Cass Lake, is much larger than Bemidji, and the third lake, Winnibigoshish, is the third largest lake in the entire state of Minnesota. Paddling across lakes is a tiring process. There’s absolutely zero current
Mississippi River Days 5-8 Read More »
Headwaters to Bemidji, MN 62 Miles (62 Total) The Mississippi River at the headwaters is nothing more than a trickling, shallow stream. Water from Lake Itasca floats gently over a few rocks at its northern outlet, and after breaching the damn, the water droplets begin a 90 day journey south to the Gulf of Mexico
Mississippi River Days 1-4 Read More »
