From Minneapolis to New Orleans by canoe...

December 29th, 2009. New Orleans!!!

2010-11-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

It was almost fitting that the last day of our expedition would be the longest, hardiest and probably the scariest day of my life.

The day began in the dark at just after 4:00 am. We packed up in the dark and ate a huge breakfast. We tried to finish off as much of the breakfast food as we could and dumped as much unused food as we could to save weight.

As soon as there was enough light we hit the water. We quickly found ourselves in a busy shipping area. There were many tows traveling up and down river and many more barges parked along both sides of the river. The many barges parked along the river (tens of thousands) would force us further into the main channel than we would have liked and also screened many of the small tows that were darting around shuffling barges into various places.

At one point in the morning a tow boat captain got on the intercom of his boat to yell at us for being on the river and demanded that we pull off and out of the main channel. "Where to?" we both wondered, as there was no where else to go with all the parked barges.

We made good progress throughout the day but the stress increased with each passing minute. At one point we became sandwiched between an ocean freighter going upstream and a barge that was unloading huge rocks via crane to shore up a wharf. The crane's bucket swooped right over our heads and we both prayed that no loose rocks would fall on us.

Just when we thought things were bad, they got worse. A tow heading downstream pulled up right next to us and then began to slowly turn right into our path. There was debate about whether or not to keep paddling or to try and back up but we decided to paddle as hard as we could and just get past the guy. It ended up working and we avoided getting run over!

By dinner time we were both tired and starving. We had hoped to get to someplace we could buy dinner by this time and were out of all of our snacks and easy to eat and prepare food options. Our two choices were cold baked beans or uncooked oatmeal. Jewell went for the oatmeal and I cracked open and devoured the cold beans right on the water. After recharging some calories we charged on.

A little bit before dark we pulled off on a levy near the NOLA airport. We approached a young couple sitting on a bench by the park and asked them if they were familiar with the river between here and the French Quarter. The man informed us that the port was behind us and that there were plenty of places to pull off if we needed to. He also said that there wasn't much traffic past this point of the river.

Turns out the guy was either a liar, or just had no clue what he was talking about. As we paddled on we quickly reached the main Port of New Orleans and the US Navy shipyards, an intimidatingly large facility.

By this point it was dark and the only light we had were our dying headlamps. Occasionally a tow would pass and it's spotlights would illuminate the area for us to see, but just as often we would be blinded by their beams.

The last hours of our trip were certainly the hardest. Hypoglycemia was making us both irritable and irrational. It seemed as though we would never reach our destination near Jackson Square.

Finally after almost 16 hours on the water our take out point came within sight. As we approached the landing we were greeting by a small crowd of sightseers, gawkers and onlookers who cheered loudly for us. Unfortunately we were so exhausted that I am afraid we appeared rude by not being more sociable with the crowd. Apparently my friend Rachel had informed a local street performer that she was waiting for "my friends who canoed from Minnesota."

The icing on the cake to a long and hard day was getting the canoe from the waterfront to my friend's house. While Jewell helped unload all our gear from the car I carried the canoe with help from Rachel down Esplanade Avenue almost a mile much to the house.

56 days after leaving Minneapolis, we were finally in New Orleans!

December 28th, 2009. "What are you, a couple of Boy Scouts...?"

2010-11-16T14:09:00.000-08:00

Today marked our last full day and night on the river. It was a long hard day of paddling and we saw the first signs of what was in store for us in the Port of New Orleans. Barge traffic and freighter traffic increased dramatically. The river is very much a working river here and small boat traffic was nonexistent. Camp sites are very limited and we were forced to make camp in what looked like a sand pit.

After setting up camp a man in a pickup pulled up to shovel some sand for sandbags. When we popped out from behind a sandpile to say hi he looked downright terrified. I can't say I blamed him. Jewell and I were both pretty dirty by this point and with our scraggly beards and weathered appearance must have looked like a couple of pirates or river rats.

When we told him we were canoeing to New Orleans from Minneapolis he said:

"What are you, a couple of Boy Scouts or something?"

We went to bed with the plan to wake up as early as possible so we could get on the water at the first light. We would need every minute of light to make the final 80 miles to New Orleans tomorrow. It's probably a good thing we didn't know what we were in for or we never would have slept that night...

December 27th, 2009. Baton Rouge, LA.

2010-11-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

We made great time today in beautiful weather. It has finally started to feel warm outside, at least for two Minnesota escapees in late December.

We paddled into Baton Rouge today late in the afternoon. While I watched the boat Jewell headed into the city to find water and grab dinner. While I waited a watched a river otter swim by and check me out.

After an hour or so John returned with a full water bag and a delicious pizza. While we ate we chatted with a local woman and her daughter. She offered to bring us some homemade gumbo but we were in a hurry to get back on the water and had to refuse her kind offer.

Finding a campsite was a bit of a challenge but we were able to find a spot just large enough to camp on right across from the LSU stadium, tucked in behind some parked barges. As the twilight turned tonight we saw what we first thought were beavers swimming all around our little island refuge. Turns out they were most likely alligators. I guess in this case ignorance was bliss...

December 26th, 2009. Looking down the barrel of a .30-06 in Morganza, LA

2010-11-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

After a long day of hard paddling, we reached a bend in the river near the town of Morganza, LA. We pulled off river right near an abandoned grain elevator. We walked around a bit to see if the area was posted and after seeing no signage I started to set up the tent while Jewell worked on dinner.

Midway through setting up the tent I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked up to see a man in camoflauge pointing what appeared to be a telephoto lens camera at Jewell.

"Smile! You're getting your picture taken!" I said. Just as the words left my lips I realized that it wasn't a camera but a large deer rifle being pointed at John.

The man looked us both up and down through the scope of his rifle. I gave him the biggest, friendliest smile I could muster and yelled a greeting. After a moment he lowered the barrel and put his hands to his lips as a signal for us to be quiet and waved me off. He quickly turned and hustled back to the woods.

Jewell and I discussed this turn of events and decided that however odd it was, if he wanted to do us harm he probably would have already and he never asked us to leave so we decided to stay. Looking for another site this late in the day would have been difficult as it would be dark soon.

After eating dinner and heading to the tent to play cards we noticed a bright spot light coming through the woods in our direction. We decided to come out and greet whoever it was, assuming it was the hunter we'd run into.

The man introduced himself as Kevin, a resident of Morganza and apologized for startling us earlier. He had wanted to make sure we weren't poaching and as soon as he realized we were just passing through he headed back to his deer stand.

The man was a very interesting guy and told us all about growing up in the river. It was hard for me to understand him at times as he spoke with a thick cajun accent. He offered to take us into town for supplies but since we didn't need anything we politely declined.

During our conversation Kevin informed us that there were lots of bears in the area. We had not even considered the prospect of running into bears on this trip, especially this far South. Luckily, they never gave us any problems and we never saw signs of any.

After a nice long chat with Kevin, he headed back home and wished us safe travels to New Orleans. He also warned us not to go into the city without a gun. He claimed he never went into the city without a .45 in his pocket and a .22 in his boot. Seeing as how neither Jewell and I were packing heat I guess we would have to brave the dangers of New Orleans unarmed. Hopefully we would find a way to survive...

December 25th, 2009. Canoeing on Christmas Day

2010-11-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

Today sure was weird for a Christmas. Despite a late start and some persistent headwinds, we still managed to paddle forty miles. I think we have both started to realize that the end of the trip is rapidly approaching.

While we are both very excited to reach New Orleans for New Year's the end of the trip will be bittersweet. Although it will be great to be back home around family and friends, it's hard to give up the experiences and pace of life we have grown accustomed to.

Tonight's campsite is a cool one. We are on a small island that is prime habitat for waterfowl, especially wood ducks. As the sun set in front of us we were surrounded by the sights and sounds of migrating birds.

Jewell and I both enjoy duck hunting and it while it would have been fun to be hunting we were having enough fun just watching the birds come in. The chance to sit and watch flock after flock of birds flying through is one of the many simple but profound pleasures you get to experience out here.

December 24th, 2009. Christmas Eve tornadoes...

2010-11-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

Poor weather kept us off the river today. We had planned on a layover today so we slept in and periodically checked in on the weather, which didn't sound good at all. Late in the morning the radio issued a severe weather alert for Natchez, MS which was about 3 miles upriver. They stated that 70mph straight line winds and a possible tornado were headed for town and would hit in roughly ten minutes. The storm was declared "very dangerous" to people living in trailer homes. We both wondered what that meant for people in tents!

After a minute of thinking the situation over we decided that waiting in the tent to get pummeled by a tornado wasn't how we both wanted to die so we donned our rain gear and headed out to find the most protected spot we could. A large downed log might offer some protection from flying debris and this is where we waited. I put on my life jacket, figuring that it might offer some extra protection or even keep me from drowning if God forbid I ended up in the river.

Dark nasty looking clouds surrounded us and were blowing in quickly. It also began to rain heavily as we sat on the log awaiting our fate. Within a few minutes we were pretty soaked in the deluge of rain. We expected at any minute to see a wall cloud blow in but it never happened. The rain stopped after a few minutes and the winds never reached more than a strong gust.

Again fortune was in our favor. We had dodged blizzards, floods and now a tornado. Was it divine intervention or just plain good luck? Either way, we appreciated it!

After the weather blew over we hung our gear to dry out and made an unpleasant discovery. Ants had found their way into our food box and were crawling all over our food supply in the thousands. Our packaged food was just fine but we ended up losing half a jar of grape jelly.

As we went to bed that night we both thought of our respective families getting together for Christmas and how much we missed their company.

December 23rd, 2009. Natchez, MS.

2010-10-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun afternoon. We reached the historic city of Natchez, MS and made the obligatory stop. We pulled off near the Casino at the waterfront, which apparently had once been a very rough and tumble sort of place but was very touristy now. We walked into the main part of town passing historic plantation sites and many historical markers.

We were searching for a grocery store and a stop to pick up libations to celebrate Christmas. We decided that tomorrow (Christmas Eve) would be a layover day as bad weather had been predicted and storm watches were going to be in affect. We walked all over town, passing at least a dozen antique shops but no grocery store. Finally some Natchez locals directed us to a local mart, and informed us that the nearest full on grocery store was miles down the road.

After stocking up on a couple essentials and a six pack we headed back towards the canoe. On the way we made one stop at the Malt Shop, a delicious road side stand that sold great poorboys and milk shakes. This ended up being what we considered to be our Christmas dinner.

We left town early in the evening and paddled hard to get out of town enough to find a campsite. We set up a snug camp and hoped our proximity to some nearby ATV trails wouldn't cause any problems.

After camp was set up we built a bonfire and celebrated Christmas early with Miller High Lifes and some candy, probably not the best combination. I ended up feeling a little green by the end of the night and called it early.

December 22nd, 2009. Not much to mention.

2010-10-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

My journal entry for the day:

"Paddled hard. Made miles. Ate Ramen and beans. Nothing interesting."

December 21st, 2009. Vicksburg, MS.

2010-10-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

We paddled into Vicksburg today. We had decided that there was no way we were going to paddle past Vicksburg without taking a chance to walk around a bit and it turned out to be a very good decision to do so. We pulled off near the old riverboat landing and next to the Casino. We found a little ma and pa hamburger place on the main strip that had some delicious fried food.

While we were eating we were approached by two women, one of whom was from Vicksburg and the other New York City. The Vicksburg resident turned out to be local artist H.C. Porter. She was playing host to her friend Eve Beglarian, a composer who had just completed a trip down the Mississippi herself for inspiration for a piece she was working on. They offered to put us up on the floor of Porter's art studio and use of her shower. We jumped at the chance to get cleaned off and enjoy the company of some fellow paddlers.

Porter was also kind enough to let us jump online on her laptop for a full blog update. View it here.

December 19th, 2009. Hiking expedition to Greenville, MS.

2010-10-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day hiking on this trip. We had decided to make a quick stop in Greenville, MS if it looked like we could make it a quick stop. We passed a harbor looking area but it didn't look like there were good canoe landings so we stopped at a campground further downriver that appeared to be closed. We tied the canoe in a spot that looked relatively secluded and started walking towards town. We didn't realize at the time it was a 4-5 mile walk.

The realization came quickly as we hiked a mile out of the wooded area near the river and hit the farmland behind the town's power plant. At this point we felt committed so we trudged on. At one point we passed a farm house with roughly ten dogs of assorted sizes and apparent temperaments. They came running off the porch, barking furiously. I briefly wondered what it would be like to be ripped apart by a pack of dogs but they stopped about 5 feet from us and continued to bark. After a minute the owner called them inside and we weren't bothered again.

After stopping at Texaco, the first place we could buy bread and eggs, we repeated the hike back to the boat and paddled on.

We were both a little frustrated at the fact that what was supposed to be a quick stop had resulted in a waste of 4 hours and a lot of walking but at the same time it felt good to give the legs a good workout and rest our arms. We still ended up paddling about 15 miles so the day wasn't a complete wash.

Dinner was one of our standby meals, Ramen Noodles covered in Busch's Baked Beans. It sounds weird but we both came to love it for it's ease of preparation and for the huge amount of carbs and protein it gave us. It was also a cheap meal. We generally cooked 5 packets of Ramen and one family sized can of means for this meal which gave us each almost 1,500 calories just in dinner. We generally cooked the noodles in one packet of seasoning and drained the water to cut back on the sodium.

After dinner we listened to the Christmas edition of A Prairie Home Companion under a sky full of stars. I have never been a huge fan of that show but it reminded me of being back home in Minnesota and I enjoyed it quite a bit that night.

December 18th, 2009. Sailboat sighting

2010-10-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

The weather turned for the better today. Living out in twenty to thirty degree temps for the past weeks made it seem almost hot out when the thermometer hit fifty five today. We paddled much of the day in short sleeves and occasionally shirtless in the afternoon. We passed a boat full of catfishermen who were all wearing full body snowmobile suits and full face ski masks. The fisherman looked at us like we had just paddled our way out of an insane asylum when they saw us wearing no shirts. We just laughed and waved as we went by.

In the afternoon we noticed a small sailboat heading down the main channel. We were pretty far river right out of the channel so we weren't close enough to yell a greeting. By this point of the trip we were just not seeing any other recreational traffic on the river and would have loved to talk to a fellow river traveler. We ended up passing and getting passed by this boat a number of times over the coming days, but never exchanged words.

December 17, 2009. Another state bagged: Mississippi.

2010-10-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

While loading the canoe today, we got checked out by a curious river otter who was coming to inspect the intruders in his back yard.

Most of the day was dreary and cold. By now most of the leaves had fallen and autumn was approaching it's end. We felt like winter and snow was right behind us, which was good motivation to paddle hard.

In the late afternoon we pulled off to look for a campsite. We found a great spot but I noticed something in the woods about 50 yards away that caused us to reconsider: an ATV camouflaged with sticks and netting. It looked like deer hunters were in the area so we quickly got back in the boat and paddled on.

After 5 miles we hadn't seen any promising sites until we arrived at a very low sandbar with a long beach. It was lower that I would have liked and did not offer much protection in the event that the river rose that night but it was our best option. We also found a spot that was about two feet higher a hundred yards or so up the beach. It was never fun to carry all the gear that far after a long day of paddling, but we wanted to make sure the boat and all the gear were close by and ready to go.

Luckily for us the weather held and the river actually dropped a few inches by morning.

December 16th, 2009. Our first 50 mile day and monster fish

2010-10-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

Today was a long difficult day but we were rewarded with our first 50 mile paddle. We were treated to some great weather today, a complete turnaround from yesterday, and we are in great spirits.

The morning brought some excitement when a navigational bouy surfaced abruptly and violently about thirty feet of our starboard bow. The buoys occasionally got pulled underwater from the force of the current and can pop up unexpectedly. We were sure to pay extra attention to the buoys after that close call.

In the late afternoon we approached an island sand bar that we hoped to camp on. There were many sandbars near the island and we were forced to get out and pull the boat over a couple of them. While pulling at one point we saw movement in the water and a large wake, probably a huge catfish. We saw the dorsal fin and top of the fish and it was a monster to say the least. We both wished we had fishing gear that night!

We had actually initially discussed fishing on the way down but decided against it for a number of reasons. Time was a main factor, as slowing down to fish would have added days if not weeks to the trip. Also, licenses would have been expensive as we traveled through many different states.

Before bed we sat by the fire under clear, star filled skies and tried to stay warm in the crisp night.

December 15th, 2009 Wind, Cold and Purple Trees

2010-10-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

"Windy, cold miserable day today..." is how my journal started for today. The morning was full of tough paddling and by lunchtime we both felt like calling it a day. At lunchtime we discussed stopping but we were determined to make it to New Orleans before New Year's and we knew we had to make some miles. It turned out to be a good decision because the weather eased up in the afternoon and we were able to paddle an additional twenty miles.

In the afternoon we had a unique experience while looking for a campsite. We pulled off our canoe at a site that looked promising and found ourselves quickly on an ATV trail that looked like it hadn't been driven on in awhile. We decided to walk it for a bit to scope out the area and see if there was anyone around who would object to us being there. After walking for a few minutes we noticed something odd... all of the trees around us had large purple blazes on them.

Earlier in the trip we had discussed as story heard from a friend that alleged that if some states if you painted the trees purple on your property line it meant something to the effect of "tresspassers will be shot". Jewell and I both certainly did not want to get shot so we hustled back to the canoe as discretely and quickly as possible and paddled on. Whether or not that story has any substance I still don't know, but we didn't feel like sticking around to find out.

After we found a suitable spot Jewell cooked up a delicious dinner of spaghetti with deer sausage and olive sauce. It was a great dinner to help keep us warm that night when temps dipped into the low twenties.

December 14, 2009. Back on the water.

2010-10-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

It was hard to leave the comforts of warm beds and good company but today we had to. After a delicious homecooked breakfast and a few quick stops in town for supplies we were headed back to Memphis to put our canoe in where we had taken out on Mud Island. We had to turn down the offer of driving further downstream to save time as tempting as it was. We were dead set on seeing every mile of river between Minneapolis and New Orleans.

By the time we were loaded and had started paddling it was after lunchtime. The wind had picked up considerably and our boat was fully loaded with supplies and water, probably the heaviest we had been since we started. We had decided to run a little heavier in the hope that we could make it to New Orleans without having to stop except to refill on water.

We made camp on an island off of the main river channel. After setting up camp we took some time to explore the site, something we usually didn't have a lot of time for. We both marveled at the wide assortment of garbage that accumulates in the river's flood plain. Bottles of all shapes and sizes littered the area, from booze bottles to ant-freeze containers. We even found a mannequin arm under a pile of logs. Please remember to not litter, especially near drains and rivers/streams as much of that waste ends up floating in the river.

December 13, 2009.Layover in Millington, TN

2010-10-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Today we laid over at my uncle's in Millington. He has been an awesome host, cooking delicious food like deer steaks and gravy and bringing us into town to buy supplies. It has been really good to see some family and a familiar face after almost six weeks after starting the trip.

We are sure happy to be out of the weather. It has been cool and rainy and again we were able to time the bad weather to coincide with our layover. West Tennessee is beautiful country and the people we've met have been very warm, friendly and hospitable. Being from the North I am a bit taken back by all the Confederate flags I see around. At times I wonder if we will be treated poorly down here since we are both from Union states (Minnesota and Michigan), but so far everyone has been very nice.

December 12th, 2009 Memphis and Uncle Tom's!

2010-10-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

This morning was awesome! We got to eat our breakfast of bacon, eggs and English muffins while watching two duck hunters who had set themselves up less than 75 yards from our campsite. We tried to get on the water as soon as we could so we wouldn't disturb too much of their hunting and we were definitely in a hurry anyway to reach Memphis and get a rest off the water.

As usual, our attempts to make good time were crushes by a brutal headwind. It seemed as through every time we really wanted or needed to make it somewhere quickly we had to deal with wind. Such is life on the river.

When we finally did reach Memphis, we pulled off on the North end of Mud Island and unloaded our gear. We spent some time chatting with a very nice couple from the area who gave us some contacts of friends of theirs who paddled down river in case we needed anything. They also gave us some fresh fruit which was much appreciated.

Uncle Tom finally arrived after a bit of confusion over where we were supposed to meet. After throwing the gear in his ride we drove up to his place in Millington, TN. We were lucky to have such a gracious host and were wined and dined like kings. We had a great time enjoying some good company and watching some football while resting and recuperating.

December 11th, 2009. Osceola, Arkansas and paddling over a battlefield

2010-10-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Today was an interesting day. We had been running very short on water since our last fill-up and were beginning to get nervous when we hadn't seen any signs of civilization by the afternoon. About mid afternoon we rounded a bend and saw a couple elevators and what looked like a water tower in the distance. We pulled off to talk to the operators from the elevator that informed us that the nearest town, Osceola, AK was a ten mile walk. They offered to let us fill up enough water to get us to Memphis for which we were very grateful.

During the stop we walked to the park next door and discovered that the water we had just paddled over was once a battleground between the Union and Confederate Navies at the Battle of Plum Point Bend. The Confederates were victories in this battle and sunk two union ironclads.

Camp tonight was another nice sandbar spot on an island. Tomorrow we should be in Memphis!

December 10th, 2009. Tennesee!

2010-10-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today we continued on towards our next planned stop in Memphis to visit my uncle. This part of the river is quick beautiful, and has continued the trend of feeling remote. You don't see any of the houses on the riverbanks that are so common on the upper half of the river.

We have become much more adept at maneuvering through and around the numerous wingdams which we continue to come across. The varying currents made it a challenge and some of the hydraulics around them approach class II status depending on the current.

Before dinner we stopped on a sandbar and hike up a small bluff to camp on a site grassy spot out of the sand. The country here looks like an amazing place to go deer hunting, and we certainly hear plenty of shotgun fire from the surrounding hills, the only evidence that there is anyone in the area.

December 9th, 2009. Layover

2010-10-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

Not much to report on today. We spent the day listening skipping between four or five different country radio stations trying to escape the same twelve pop country songs that seem to dominate the airwaves from Missouri on south. We are excited to be making it to Arkansas soon!

December 8th, 2009. Rain, lightning and more rain.

2010-10-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

Today was full of, you guessed it, rain. Early in the morning it began to rain and Jewell and I quickly de-layered as much as we could to keep our layers dry. No matter if you are wearing the best Arc Teryx gear or a plastic disposable poncho, you are going to get wet paddling in a soaking rain and it's best to shed some layers and keep them dry.

In the afternoon the rain was so heavy that we were forced to stop and bail every thirty minutes. Eventually lightning forced us off the river and onto the bank where we waited for conditions to improve. All in all it was the kind of day you don't want to remember.

December 7th, 2009. New Madrid, MO

2010-10-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today was an interesting day. We had been hoping to find a town where we could grab a good lunch and recharge our cell phone batteries. Around late morning we came to New Madrid, Missouri, a town famous for a devastating serious of earthquakes that happened there in 1811-1812.

We beached our canoe and hiked over the levy into the main part of town in search of a restaurant. After walking a look around the main part of town and seeing nothing we walked into the pharmacy to ask directions. The helpful man at the desk directed us to the nearest gas station which also served as the deli/liquor store/tobacco shop/casino/fried food buffet. We each bought an all you can eat lunch buffet ticket and gorged on fried chicken, potatoes, cornbread and other Southern fare.

It was a little weird eating a fried chicken buffet in the middle of a gas station but the place was packed, including even one chain smoking sheriff and a handful of also chain smoking deputies.

After loading up on a few necessities we headed back towards the river, making one quick stop at the library to check in via internet.

Further downriver we camped on a beautiful sandbar site where we were treated to an exciting, albeit gruesome experience. A pack of coyotes had cornered a wild pig somewhere nearby and we listened to the pack yapping and howling as they hunted the boar down and eventually kill it. The pig's cries as it was cornered and killed served as a good reminder of the fact that life's fragility.

***
An interesting sidenote about New Madrid. Jake Stachovak, while paddling the 5,000 mile "Great Circle Route" stopped here just eleven days after we did and was robbed completely of most of his belongings. Fortunately most of it was retrieved. Read all about it here: http://www.portagetoportage.com/1/post/2009/12/day-13.html

December 6th, 2009. Coldest day yet, and attack of the blue heron

2010-10-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today began very cool and crisp, definitely the coldest morning so far. The upstream wind made for slow going, regardless of the current. I was surprised by the amount of tow traffic going up and downstream today. Further upstream we were told that grain and beet shipments are being rushed South before freeze up and this is the reason for the increase in traffic.

Jewell and I both noted the increased feeling of isolation on this part of the river. There are no towns or cities here and signs of life are minimal, not counting the tows. We passed one or two elevators and one farm throughout the day.

In the afternoon I had a very close encounter with one very large Great Blue Heron. As I was washing the dirt out of the end of one of our tent poles, the six foot tall bird landed less than ten feet away from me. Apparently, with a blue fleece sweater, grey pants, and a hat with a green bill I must have looked like a feeding Heron as I stood near the water's edge. When I turned to look at him, he gave a startled look as he realized I was actually a person and he flew off squawking angrily.

The night was a relaxing one. We sat by the campfire stargazing and listening to the sounds of howling coyotes before retiring back to the tent for some well deserved rest.

December 5th, 2009. Frozen water bottles and the Ohio confluence.

2010-09-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

Jewell and I woke up this morning to find our water bottles and water bags crusted with fresh ice. Winter is definitely chasing us south! The sun warmed us considerably throughout the morning and afternoon so we really couldn't complain. Late in the afternoon we reached Cairo, IL and the confluence of the Ohio River. This meant we had officially completed the Upper Mississippi. It also meant that our US Army Corps of Engineer maps were no longer of any use for us.

When our trip began, maps for the Lower Mississippi were on backorder and we had hoped to pick some up in Cairo which turned out not to be feasible. Fortunately the river channel is very well marked and easy to follow and we felt pretty comfortable finding our way sans maps. My dad also gave us some great logistical support from home and gave us a list of cities and at what mile marker they were found at.

We also reached another state, Kentucky. The first thing you see upon reaching the "Bluegrass" state is a huge cross on a hill overlooking the river. That would turn out to be one of the only structures we'd see on the state's banks as the western tip of Kentucky is sparsely populated.

Paddled over 40 miles today!

December 4th, 2009. Cape Girardeau, MO and dodging a bullet (literally).

2010-09-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day of paddling. We managed 35 river miles and spent a couple hours exploring the city of Cape Girardeau, MO. We both remarked at how we wished we had time to spend a night or two in town as it looked like a pretty fun place. Lots of bars and restaurants and a lively looking riverfront area added to the appeal. After stocking up on a few essential supplies, we continued on.

At this point in the trip we were both very happy to have left the sticky mud of the upper Mississippi behind us. Due to the stronger current here, the river banks were sandier and much easier to walk in. Small things such as these can be real moral boosters and this was no exception.

In the afternoon we had an unexpected and very unwelcome surprise when we were nearly shot by a hunter as we scouted a potential campsite. Just after we began unloading the canoe a shot rang out nearby and we both heard a slug zipping through the air above our heads. A splash next to us in the river was far too close for comfort and we got the boat loaded and back on the water about as fast as we possibly could have. It was probably our closest call yet.

I should point out that gunfire was so constant due to deer season being open throughout our trip that we generally paid it little attention, although we did try hard to avoid areas that looked like they may contain hunters. This is another reason we preferred to camp on wide open sandbars.

December 3rd, 2009. Hobo junk show.

2010-09-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning and thanked Mother Nature for giving us some sunshine and a reprieve from the weather. The morning was spent turning our camp into a hobo junk show while we strung lines all over to hang clothes and gear to dry. This delayed our departure until almost lunch time. We paddled hard through a very beautiful section of river and managed to make 20 miles, a respectable half day. Before bed we both marveled at how remote this part of the river felt, especially considering that we were only a couple days paddle from St. Louis.

December 2nd, 2009. Rain, cold and basketballs

2010-09-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

The weather today made it one of our most challenging days of paddling to day. Late in the morning it began raining and we had no respite throughout the afternoon or evening. My raingear was too light to keep me dry in the all day soaking rain and the temperature had dropped to the upper thirties. We both wondered if the rain would turn to snow by the morning, something we had been expecting since the day we left Minneapolis.

After dinner I spent a few minutes exploring a large nearby pile of trees and random garbage that had accumulated after a previous flood. We encountered many such piles during our trip but this one stands out for being chock full of basketballs, footballs, softballs and other sporting equipment. I imagined that most of these had been washed down sewer grates upstream in St. Louis. The amount of other bottles and garbage was pretty staggering as well.

I went to bed wearing soggy clothes in an attempt to dry them out for tomorrow.

December 1st, 2009. Meeting an old friend in St. Genevive, MO.

2010-09-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day! I had recieved a message early in the morning from an old friend from Minnesota, Adam Kreger who had been working in Florida and would be driving through the area today on his way back to Minneapolis. We decided to try and meet up that night in St. Genevive.

Paddling was fairly routine throughout the day with one notable exception. A few miles upstream of St. Genevive the river took a hard turn to the right. A strong current and large wingdam combined with a very intimely upstream wind to create a poweful water feature with strong eddy lines and whirlpools. Such moments of excitement to a lot to break up the monotany of long paddling days.

Upon arriving in St. Genevive late in the afternoon we were greeted by a very friendly ferry operator who handed us a box of bottled water. We spoke with him for awhile about working on the river. In many areas of the south it is not economically feasible to build bridges across the river so there are many ferrys. The man, whose name I don't recall, gave us permission to camp on the riverbank near the ferry's parking lot. This made meeting it very easy to meet up with our friend, usually we we tried to camp far from town on an island or isolated riverbank.

Adam arrived late in the evening and was a huge moral booster, burning two new CDs from his computer for us (we were getting pretty sick of the eight I had brought along) and giving us some fresh fruit straight from Florida. We sat by the fire until late into the evening catching up and telling stories about our respective adventures.

November 30th, 2009 New Challenges

2010-09-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

The paddling changed drastically after we passed St. Louis. The river moves much more swiftly once you are past all the locks and dams and the hydraulics around the many wing dams were more challenging. A whitewater enthusiast wouldn't consider the turbulence to be too scary but our boat was not set up for rough water and the whirlpools and currents had our adrenaline pumping on a few occasions throughout the day.

In the afternoon we found a beautiful sandbar campsite. Sandbars are great to sleep on because tent pads are easy to find and there is usually an abundance of firewood. It is very easy to scrape out a safe fire pit in the sand and you can leave very little impact on the wildlife, most trace of your presence being washed away when the river rises.

A highlight of the day was finding a large cat print near where we had set up camp. Mountain lions tend to be very reclusive and generally shy away from people but we both kept our knives close by regardless!

November 29th, 2009. St. Louis, Missouri!

2010-05-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

John and I decided to leave Grafton as early as possible, with plans to meet up with James near St. Louis to paddle the last leg into St. Louis. We were in high spirits, looking forward to seeing the famous Gateway Arch as well as getting a hot shower and a chance to clean our clothes. We didn't realize yet that this would turn out to be one of our most challenging days on the water. At times it was brain numbingly boring, and there were moments of sheer terror.

The river near Grafton was quite beautiful, the most scenic since the bluffs of southest Minnesota and Wisconsin. There were tall limestone cliffs guarding the eastern edge of the river, some of the last hills of their size we would see for the duration of the trip.

Despite our excitement to reach St. Louis and the beautiful scenery fate seemeded determined to dampen our spirits. The day was cloudy and dreary and rain threatened constantly. It was cold and breezy as well and we were both glad that we would be getting to spend the night out of the weather.

Our first big scare of the day happened as we were locking down. There was a fair amount of barge traffic near the locks and the operator decided to send us down the auxillary lock. The lock must not have been getting much use as it was full of logs and other debris. There was an unusual amount of current around the lock and it made entry quite a challenge. Floating and half submerged logs threatened to swamp us if we picked a bad line.

A crowd of sightseers happened to be at the lock that day and from the looks on their faces it was obvious they could sense our predicament. Cameras were out and flashing as we weaved through the logs and made it to safety. One one hand we felt like pro paddlers but we were also both furious at the lock operator for sending us into such a dangerous situation. After the lock doors opened on the downriver side we paddled to shore to grab a snack and regroup.

After lunch we started paddling through a more heavily used industrial area. The main Port of St. Louis was futher downriver, but there was plenty of traffic to watch out for upriver as well. We passed shipyards where old barges and tow boats sat moored, patiently waiting a refit or one final journy to the scrapyards. It looked like much of the tow fleet was starting to prepare for the offseason by getting a head start on end of season repairs. Paddling through industrial areas such as these wasn't my favorite, but at least it did give us something to look at.

Mid afternoon we rounded a corner and found ourselves at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. It seemed rather anticlimactic as we had been looking forward to seeing the Missouri since we'd left. We pulled off at a monument on the point between the rivers and found that it was in a horrible state of upkeep. Frankley the idea of setting up a park there was pretty poor planning due to the constant threat of floods and it appeared as though someone had realized this and made the decision not to maintain it anymore. After snapping a few pics we paddled on towards Chain-of-rocks canal and the most boring paddling of our lives.

The Chain-of-rocks canal was created to that boat traffic on the river could avoid the infamous Chain-of-rocks, a ledge that spans the width of the river and is major obstacle of navigation at almost all water conditions. It is a straight narrow passageway with uniformly graded sides and no character whatsoever.

Paddling the canal is about as much fun as running on a treadmill. It feels like you are going nowhere and there is no current whatsoever to push you along. After spending almost a month on the river we had become accustomed to making good time with the help of the current and now it seemed as though we were on the world's longest and narrowest lake.

Our only distraction on this part of the paddle was seeing a herd of deer on one bank. We paddled close to shore and Jewell hopped out to try and see how close he could sneak up to them. He was able to get very close before the deer before they smelled him and bounded off to the woods. Shortly after seeing the herd of deer we saw a coyote running along the bank in the direction the deer had run off to, no doubt looking for dinner.

We were now in a race against time to get to the end of the canal and our final lock of the trip before it got dark. We were slowly losing the race and by the time the lock was in sight it was clear that it would soon be dark. We were less than thrilled about the prospect of locking down in the dark and more than a little concerned about the barge we could see coming up behind us.

We paddled up to the lock, frantically scanning for the chain that would signal our presense to the lock operator. We had never had a problem locating the signal rope before but at this lock it was strangely elusive. Our sense of urgency was high due to the approaching tow and the tension was palpable. We were both frusterated that there didn't seem to be anyone working at the lock as there were usually Army Corps of Engineers workers all over the place. We tried yelling to get the attention of someone to no avail. It was as quiet as a masoleum.

After paddling back and forth between the main and auxillary locks a number of times we noticed that the signal light on the main lock was green, meaning it was ready for entry. We assumed that someone had noticed our presence and was signalling us into the lock. We paddled in and waited for the doors to close behind us. Again nothing happened. The doors stayed open and there was still no lock personnel in sight.

Again we back tracked and pulled out of the lock to reasses the situation. We could still see a tow approaching, but the lights on the tow made it hard to judge the distance and their engines are surprisingly quiet and being trapped inside the lock was a terrifying thought. Just after we paddled out of the lock an operator appeared in one of the windows overlooking the gate. We signaled him with a flashlight and he flashed back and us and waved.

We foolishly took this as a signal that he was waving us into the lock and paddled back inside. After a minute or so the operator sauntered out and informed us that:

"You boys might want to leave, there is a tow coming and he ain't gunna be able to stop."

Immediately we pulled a 180 and got out that lock as fast as we possibly could. Being squished by a barge in the very last lock on the river was not in the gameplan and if it didn't kill us it would surely end our trip. After we got out of the lock we pulled into a position of safety beside a large piling and watched as a 15 barge tow sailed into the lock a mere 60 seconds after we had vacated it. The barge filled the inside of the lock with mere feet on each edge. There would have been no room for our canoe save for the space beneath the curved bows of the leading barges and who knows what kind of currents or turbulence would have been found there.

This was our closest call to date and although it further illustrated the importance of having a marine radio. I vowed never again to make a trip like this without one.

After the lock gate closed behind the tow the operator came out and waved us around to the auxillary lock were we proceeded through without further incident. We were now just a few miles from our takeout at the Lewis and Clark statue near the Gateway Arch.

On last obstacle remained between us and a hot shower. We still had to cross to the other bank of the river and find our takeout point in the dark. The current was much stronger now that the water from the Missouri was also pushing us along and made for some exciting night paddling.

Finally after a long and stressful day we made it to our take out point and found James waiting with the car. As it turned out James had been unable to make it out on the water with us (although he didn't miss much due to poor weather and the nature of paddling the canal). We felt pretty bad about messing up James' nice ride with all our dirty gear and were supremely grateful for his and his wife's hopsitality and generosity.

The rest of the evening was spent visiting with the Dixon's and then washing clothes and ourselves. Sleep came easy tonight.

November 28th, 2009. Grafton, Illinois and The Rotten Apple

2010-05-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for paddling! The temperature was pretty balmy and at points we were down to just our pfds in the afternoon. There was lots of sunshine and when the wind died down it felt almost hot, definitely not typical weather for the end of November.

Because of the amazing weather there were other boats on the water today. In general we were very amazed at how little recreational boat traffic there was on the river. We saw lots of barge traffic and some hunters and trappers but very very powerboats or sailboats throughout our trip. One of the few exceptions was just upriver from Grafton, Illinois. We came across a number of groups of boats, some quite large and luxurious looking, parked together on sand bars with parties going on inside or on the beach. Unfortunately we had no time to stop and make new friends, although we did exchange greetings with a number of the boats. Most of the people we had talked to could not believe that we had come all the way from Minneapolis and were even more surprised when we told them we were headed to New Orleans.

I had been in contact with James Dixon from the website Adventure Canoe.com and he had offered to meet up with us when we reached St. Louis. James also offered to meet us in Grafton for dinner the night before we were to arrive at a place called The Rotten Apple, a delicous cajun themed restaurant. James and his wife Cathryn were awesome and bought us both dinner, a welcome change from our usual camp fare as well as a delicious cold local brew.

After the Rotten Apple, we headed down the street to another hole in the wall where we had a chance to talk to some Grafton residents. We spent a couple hours talking about life in the navy, growing up in grafton selling worms as bait to make extra money and run ins with the law.

After saying goodnight to James and Cathryn and making plans to meet by the St. Louis arch tomorrow, we headed back to our island campsite and fell fast asleep.

November 27th, 2009. Louisiana, Missouri

2010-05-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

Stopped to resupply in Louisiana, MO today. We pulled off right on the edge of town at the Louisiana boat club landing. Right after we landed we were approached by a nice gentleman from the club who welcomed us to town and asked us what we were up to. When we told him we were going to buy supplies he immediately offered to drive us across town to the grocery store. We were both taken aback by his kindness and hospitality to us being total strangers.

It was a good thing we had found a ride because the grocery store was over three miles from the river and it would have slowed us down greatly to carry groceries that far. We also got to talk to the man about the town and growing up in the area. He said he liked to fish for catfish on the river and told us that some of the bigger ones weigh well over a hundred pounds on that part of the Mississippi. He also said something which we heard many times when we asked local fishermen if they ate the fish they caught out of the river:

"Well yeah, we eat them here... but I wouldn't eat them much further down especially after (insert next large town downriver)."

November 26th, 2009. Thanksgiving!

2010-05-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to another cold, wet and windy day. We decided that due to the weather as well as the holiday to take a layover day. This would not only give us the opportunity to rest, but also to make some repairs on gear. It also gave us a chance to call in and say hi to our families which were home celebrating Turkey day.

I spent the morning sewing a hole in the tent bag, reorganizing our food tote and washing out our cooler. The afternoon was spent listening to music in the tent and playing cards. We did not bring along much in the way of creature comforts, just a discman/radio with a small set of speakers, one deck of cards, and a book or two. We had only a handful of CDs with us which we listened to over and over. Many of the songs will remind me forever of our time on the river and became a sort of soundtrack for the trip.

Our Thanksgiving day feast was our favorite standby meal: ramen noodles with Busch's baked beans on top. This had become one of our favorite meals and was chosen as a menu item to satisfy our bodies huge appetite for carbs. We ended up throwing most of the ramen seasoning away do cut back on the sodium and found that one packet in a pot of 5 packs of ramen added enough flavor. For dessert we feasted on pineapple chunks and green tean. It was a meal fit for kings as far as we were concerned.

Novermber 25th, 2009. Wind, rain and lock delays...

2010-05-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today was a tough day to be sure. The day started off cold and wet and we stayed in the tent a bit longer than normal to see if the rain would blow over. After a breakfast of oatmeal with liberal amounts of butter and brown sugar we hit the water around 8am.

The wind was constant and unrelenting. Paddling into a tough headwind is one of the most frusterating things a canoeist can experience. One must work twice has hard to move half as fast as normal. Keeping up a good attitude is essential or your spirit will be easily broken.

We made it to lock #22 in great time, despite the wind but unfortunately we were forced to wait for almost three hours for a tow to lock down ahead of us. There was another tow waiting as well but luckily the Army Corps of Engineers lock operators squeezed us in in front of the second tow or we would have been waiting another two or three hours at least.

The poor weather continued throughout the rest of the afternoon and between the weather and the lock delays we made a grand total of 23 miles, a rather dissapointing day. We took some solace in the fact that St. Louis was less than 100 miles away.

We made camp that night just north of Louisiana, MO.

November 24th, 2009. Hannibal!

2010-05-08T00:54:00.000-07:00

After a breakfast of bacon and oatmeal we hit the water bound and determined to make it to Hannibal. Hometown of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, Hannibal is probably one of the most famous towns on the Mississippi. One can hardly think of a trip down the Mississippi without the story of Huck Finn coming to mind. I actually had a conversation with a National Parks ranger in Minneapolis about how the story of Huck Finn had become such a big part of the narrative of the Mississippi that it overshadowed all the "real history".

We paddled hard throughout the dreary day and managed to make it the thirty or so miles to Hannibal by about three in the afternoon. Just across the river was a campground that looked like it was not being kept up very well but it seemed like it would do the trick for us. We set up camp and ferried across the river to check out the town and find a place to charge my cell phone battery.

After a quick stop to look at Mark Twain's house we headed into the downtown area to find a place to grab a beer and a bite to eat. We stopped at the Main Street Wine Shoppe and had a beer and chatted with some locals from the town. Everyone was extremely nice here and we met the local comptroller, an engineer with the railroad as well as a man who happened to be from my home county in Minnesota, Dakota county.

The Wine Shoppe was great and the company as great as well but unfortunately they did not serve food so after a round we headed off in search of a burger. Our second stop was at Kerley's a local bar and grill where we had a delicous meal.

After walking around town for awhile we headed back to the canoe. At this point in the evening it was very dark and we could barely see the other side of the river. The current was also moving fast enough to make us work pretty hard to get back to our camp site. Luckily there were no barges to deal with and we made the crossing with no complications.

November 23rd, 2009 500 mile mark and the attack of the flying Asian Carp...

2010-05-08T00:14:00.000-07:00

Today was quite the day. We had our first day of paddling that approached the forty mile mark. We also crossed the 500 mile mark for the trip.

In the morning we passed through the lock and dam at Keokuk, IA. This is by far the largest lock and the one with the biggest drop in water level. The lock is 1,200 feet long and could have fit an Iowa class battleship with over 300 feet to spare. It felt a little rediculous locking down with just our puny little 18 foot canoe but there would have been no way to portage around it. The drop in water level was over 30 feet, much greater than any lock we had encountered.

Just after crossing the 500 mile mark we pulled off on the riverbank to celebrate the occasion. When we reached the point 15 feet or so from the bank something happened that I will never forget. The water exploded in front of our faces. It was as if a handful of grenades had gone off all around us. The air was full of huge fish flying in every direction.

This was our first experience with the infamous Asian carp, an invasive species that has been working it's way up the Mississippi. Asian carp have earned a repuation as being a dangerous fish due to their strange habit of jumping clear out of the water in front of an approaching boat. In some cases people have been injured sometimes seriously by the fish. We were not injured although Jewell had one fish actually bounce off his arm.

For the rest of the day our nerves were on a hairtrigger as fish continued to jump in our vicinity at random moments although not as close or as intense as the first time. We hoped that this was not going to be a serious problem for the next 1,200 miles. I don't think our nerves would have lasted if it had!

November 22nd, 2009 Last Iowa sunset...

2010-05-07T23:57:00.000-07:00

Today we had our first taste of Missourian hopsitality... and we hadn't even reached Missouri yet! During an early morning stop in Burlington, IA to fill our water bags we met a group of hunters who were camped on an island downriver. They were taking a trip to drop off some supplies before heading back to their deer camp and we chatted with them for awhile before taking off. It seems one of their party had also come down with a bad case of poison ivy. They suspected that it had happened from burning poison ivy vines, just like happened to Jewell. It further goes to show how careful you have to be when burning anything in a heavy infested area.

Before they headed back to their camp, the hunters gave us each a couple cans of chunky soup and a few bottles of gatorade which we graciously accepted. They also offered to tow us a few miles downstream which we graciously declined. If we accpeted one tow it would have been too easy to accept another and we felt it went against the idea of paddling the whole way ourselves. It felt a little too much like cheating. We thanked them regardless and pushed on.

We ended up putting in a pretty good day, paddling over 30 miles. As afternoon turned into early evening we were faced with a difficult decision. We were approaching an area that was pretty heavily developed with no campgrounds or forests in sight. It was looking like we might have to do some night paddling if we couldn't find something soon. Our last hope to avoid a late night paddle, something with neither of us found very appealing, was a small island that may or may not have been part of a waterfowl sanctuary.

We paddled up to the island about a half hour before dusk and found that there was just enough room to throw up our tent and the trees were just thick enough to give us cover in case someone would have objected to our staying there. Luckily no one hassled us and we were able to get a good night's sleep. We would need it, for tomorrow we would cross into our fourth state: Missouri.

November 21st, 2009 Waking up in a war zone...

2010-05-07T23:43:00.000-07:00

This morning started off with a bang. Lots of bangs actually. It sounded like a war zone outside and do the deer it literally was. After a quick discussion it was decided that we should lay low and hang out in the tent until it was good and light outside. The area around us was clearly full of hunters and there was no reason to rush out when visibility was still low.

After a late breakfast of bacon and eggs we hit the water. It wasn't long before we paddled by a group of hunters doing a drive on a nearby island. We tried to keep our distance and hoped that we wouldn't cross paths with any errant 12 gauge slugs.

This part of the river was not my personal favorite as far as scenery goes. There were none of the scenic bluffs that are typical of south eastern Minnesota and the land was swampy and unimpressive.

We passed many homes and cabins, almost all high on stilts and many looking like they had been recently rebuilt. We also passed the remains of numerous cabins in various states of decay. The stood as silent reminders of the wrath that the swollen floodwaters of the Mississippi can leave on the river valley.

After a long day of paddling we set up camp just upriver from the town of Burlington, IA. As we were getting started with dinner a boat full of slightly sketchy looking men drove by and then turned in to come talk to us. They we covered in bad tattoos and each had a beer in hand as they drove up with a number of crushed empties lying in the bottom of the john boat they were driving in.

We chatted with the men for awhile and they warned us to stay clear of the poison ivy that was all over in the woods in these parts. This was a little bit late for Jewell unfortunately. They also let us know that snow was in the forecast for the next day. Although it had generally been fairly mild during the afternoons, the temperatures at night were getting noticeably colder and were certainly cool enough to allow for snow.

We had prepared ourselves to deal with cold weather but hoped to avoid it if at all possible. Both Jewell and I had brought along two sleeping bags so we could double up if the weather dropped too low. I found that the combination of a 45 degree down REI bag with a synthetic slumberjack bag of unknown temp rating (probably 20 degree) kept me warm and toasty even on the coldest days and allowed me to regulate my temperature very well.

We both fell asleep that night thinking of snow and hoping we wouldn't wake up under a blanket of white.

November 20th, 2009 Back on the water!

2010-05-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

Today started late but in great spirits. We were on the water just after lunch and worked hard to put Muscatine behind us. The sun was shining as we paddled past the barges and industry of southern Muscatine.

Muscatine was once the site of a large button making industry which made use of the abundance of mussel shells in the Mississippi river. After the mussel populations crashed as the result of over-harvesting, the button industry crashed as well. These days most the the industry in Muscatine seemed to be ethanol and agriculture.

We locked down #16 late in the afternoon and began looking for a campsite. We had paddled 20 miles, not bad for a half-day, and set up on a nice small island.

Getting back on the water had put us back in good spirits and Jewell seemed unfazed, even though he had to have been pretty miserable from the poison ivy that covered much of his body. It would require him to take extra time each day to tend to, and a good deal of hassle for him as well. I felt very lucky to have avoided contracting poison ivy, or maybe I am one of the lucky ones who don't react, but regardless I was unaffected.

November 19th, 2009 Day Two in Muscatine

2010-05-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

Another day of waiting around town. It rained all day and our biggest comfort was the fact that at least our unplanned layover was getting us out of the worst weather we had thusfar encountered.

The poison ivy was responding well to the medication Jewell picked up and we hoped that if the trend continued we'd be able to be back on the water the next day.

Most of the day was spent hanging out in the hotel room watching bad cable movie reruns and repacking our gear. We were both getting a little stir crazy at this point, and I think Jewell would have decided we were ready to leave the next day come hell or high water.

November 18th, 2009 First day in Muscatine

2010-05-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

Not much interesting happened today. I walked down to check on the boat, which was fine and then proceeded to find my way to the library. I was able to get an hour of time on the internet which I used to catch up on a couple of emails as well as a blog update.

I wish I had better things to write about the town of Muscatine but my journal entry for the day was pretty depressing regarding the town. Maybe it was the weather combined with the fact that we were not supposed to be stopping caused me to look at Muscatine through a negative lens but I could not find anything exciting about the place. Many of the storefronts were vacant and most of the town seemed to be suffereing from depression, economic or otherwise. I hoped we would not be here long.

November 17th, 2009 Muscatine, IA

2010-05-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

Knowing that we were going to be needing to stop and get a hotel room, I had called ahead to my Dad who graciously found the cheapest hotel in town. We were lucky enough to have the support of so many friends and family member's who served as a constant support service when we needed information on the fly and on this occasion it was especially helpful.

We pulled off on a beach just river from downtown Muscatine. We were forced to leave our boat locked to a tree with a lot of our larger gear bags stashed underneath. We hoped that it's out of the way location and the fact that it was partially hidden under some alders would prevent our things from being tampered with. We packed up our most essential and valuable items and started hiking.

2 miles later we arrived at our hotel. When we asked the concierge at the hotel if she thought our boat and gear would be safe she cheerily informed us that:

" The boys here will do just about anything to get out fishing so I wouldn't be surprised if they at least take the boat..."

We decided to make it down to the water at least once a day to check on our gear if at all possible. In a positive note, the weather was terrible and we figured that the rain would keep people inside and away from the river.

After checking in we took our first showers in almost two weeks and changed into some clean clothes. We were both looking forward to the opportunity to clean up and wash clothes. We also made a trip to wallgreens to get some poison ivy scrub.

After all our errands were completed we hunkered down for some rest and relaxation in front of the tube.

November 16th, 2009 Bad news...

2010-05-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

We got an early start today so that we would have plenty of time to get through the Quad Cities and find a campsite before dark. Jewell thought that he might have had a spider bite on his neck but it got much worse throughout the course of the day. We are a little worried that it may be poison ivy and began to keep a close watch on it. After discussing our options we decided that if there isn't a big improvement soon we would stop in the next town.

We made good time today due to a strong NW wind that pushed us along at a good pace. Unfortunately this tailwind was a huge detriment when we approached locks 14 and 15. The waves, some whitecapping, were funneling directly into the lock walls. These waves reflected back and forth and created some nasty paddling conditions. It took immense effort and concentration to keep the boat from swamping and we both let out a huge sigh of relief when the lock doors closed behind us. Had our boat been better equipped for whitewater conditions it might have been a little more fun but as such we were net set up to paddle in those conditions.

Lock #15 was particularly bad. Jewell did a masterful job of getting us right in place to pull the chain alerting the lockmaster of our presence. This requires you to paddle right up to the wall so that the bow paddler can reach up and pull a chain connected to the lock wall. Sometimes the chain or rope is high enough that it requires you to get out of your seat to reach them. Lock #15 was one of these.

"Shoulda brought a radio." was running through both of our heads at this point. Lock operators use marine band radios and if you plan on using the locks you will save a lot of time and energy if you bring along a radio to give them a heads up of your approach. Waiting for lock doors to open under good conditions might be boring but under these conditions the jeopardy of our trip might hang in the balance if we were to take a swim.

After what seemed like forever one of the lock operators came out. He yelled through the wind to tell us that we needed to go around into the auxillary lock. This required us to ferry backward into the chop to get around the pilings seperating the main lock from the auxillary. Another solid job by Jewell in the stern put is in perfect position and we finally made it into the protection of the lock walls.

After lock #15 we paddled downriver into Andalusa Slough to escape the wind. We eventually set up camp directly across the river from a campground which was closed at the time. We opted for the wind protection afforded by the woods which we had become accustomed to.

The weather had turned to rain for the first time since we left and this seemed almost fitting as we were about to experience our first setback of the trip. We decided to stop in Muscatine, IA the following day. The poison ivy was spreading and would require more treatment than our basic first aid kit would cover. Although our trip was long and mostly spend in relatively wild feeling country, we were usually not more than a day or two at most from more specialized medications which had had opted not to carry.

I don't think either of us ate that much dinner that night. Hopefully our stop would be a quick one, but whatever happened it was pretty clear that Jewell was willing to tough it out if at all possible. Jewell is not the kind of guy to complain about being uncomforable and I admired the grit it would end up showing thoughout the following days.

November 15th, 2009 Fulton, IL to Clinton, IA

2010-03-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

Today Jewell and I experienced something very strange. We heard a strange noise above us, almost like the wind blowing steadily. The strange thing was that the tent was not moving or shaking as it normally would when the wind was blowing. Gazing out the tent door into the pre-dawn darkness we saw nothing but ink black skies.

As we got out of our sleeping bags and began packing up camp the sound dissipated and then stopped altogether. After a breakfast of eggs, bacon and English muffins we loaded the boat and hit the water.

As soon as dawn broke we began to hear the now familiar sound of shotgun fire all around us, another reminder that waterfowl season was in full swing. The skies above were filled with birds of all varieties, the most common being mallards, Canada geese, and teals. At this point we heard the strange noise from before and realized that it was the sound of thousands of birds flying overhead.

All morning we watched wave after wave of birds flying by, even seeing some high flying swans and snow geese.

Before lunchtime we made it to lock #13 and were greeted by at least an hour long wait for the towboat "Mary Anne". While waiting to lock down we met a nice gentlemen named Rich who was taking wildlife photos from a blind he had constructed near the lock. We chatted with him for awhile about growing up the area and duck hunting and he offered to take some pictures of us which he would then email. It's always great to get a chance to chat it up with locals along the way.

After locking down we paddled past Clinton, IA and Camanche, I and made it to within a few miles of the Quad Cities. Our campsite was in a pretty wooded area and had a utilized our portage fire grate for a little camp fire, something that was to have dire repercussions....

After a ramen and baked bean dinner we retired to the tent and fell asleep listening to the now familiar call of bard owls.

November 14th, 2009 Bellevue, IA

2010-03-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

Today started early as we hoped to crank out some good mileage. Not long after taking off we locked down directly in front of Bellevue, IA. We decided to run into town to pick up some supplies we had neglected to get in Dubuque, such as duct tape. I also hoped to find a place to get internet and possible charge my phone.

The day was beautiful, sunny and warm and very pleasant. Bellevue is a very nice town, much nicer than Dubuque and we took some time to explore. After picking up our necessary supplies we headed back to the boat.

I'd like to note something that we experienced on this trip that made us feel a lot better about humanity. While stopping in towns we generally only carried our wallets and most valuable pieces of gear. At any point a passerby could have walked off with some pretty darn expensive paddles, pfds or any number of other pieces of equipment but this never happened to us and for that we were grateful.

Tonight we decided to heat up a big pot of river water and attempt our first scrub downs of the trip. We had a great beach site with lots of firewood so we built a nice big bonfire to dry off next to and got all washed and clean. It felt good to scrub off some dirt and change into some fresh layers, our first time in almost ten days.

November 13, 2009 Leaving Dubuque and a swimming buck

2010-03-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

After a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs and english muffins we reloaded our canoe and hit the water a little after 9:00am. This was a pretty late start for us but after yesterday's sufferfest we felt that a little extra sleep was in order.

Today was a great example of how fast the terrain can change on the river from an urban landscape to a rural setting. After leaving a fairly large city, it took less than an hour of paddling to be back surrounded by woods and fields.

During lunch we pulled off on a small island and did a little exploring. Jewell found a tree that must have been struck by lightning. It looked as if it had been hit with an artillery shell. The truck was split down one side and huge pieces of wood shrapnel were strewn about. One large chunk of wood had been blown over a hundred feet and become embedded in the hard ground. It was an excellent reminder of the power of lightning and something we would remember later on in the trip when storms were approaching.

Later in the afternoon the wind picked up and forced us to take refuge in a back slough of the river. We were not past the southern tip of Wisconsin and approached the shore of Illinois for the first time. The back channels were a nice break from the main channel of the river although I was worried about being lost in the maze of sloughs. There was lots of beaver activity and at least once we were forced to turn around and try another route. However, even backtracking was preferrable to another day of battling the wind.

Just as we were starting to think about looking for a place to camp I noticed a large branch sticking out of the water, swimming across the slough. After watching it for a moment I realized that the "large branch" was actually a deer. Hunters were pushing many deer deep into the swamps and islands on the river and this wouldn't be the last deer we'd see seeking refuge on the islands.

The deer made the crossing in front of us as Jewell frantically searched for his camera. The deer was oblivious to our presence and we snapped off a couple pictures before it saw us and bolted for cover.

Tonight also marked our first falafel dinner of the trip. Jewell and I would start referring to the staple as "feel-awful" as it tended to give us both indigestion, although I quite liked it especially with spaghetti.

We feel asleep this night listening to a dispute between to angry bard owls.

November 12th, 2009 Dubuque, IA and the hardest paddling of my life

2010-03-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today was supposed to be easy. A 22 mile stretch of river was all that stood between our campsite and our resupply point in Dubuqe, IA. For the past week we had been logging close to 20 miles by lunch time so we didn't bother to set a lunch aside before we took off. With high spirits we set off just after 6:00 am with the hopes of reaching Dubuqe by noon..

Within an hour of paddling conditions took a severe turn for the worst. A strong South wind started blowing in our faces. The wind whipped the water into a jumble of whitecaps and we were forced to quarter the waves to keep them from breaking over the bow. This involved keeping the boat at a roughly 45 degree angle to the waves which happened to be coming straightfrom the direction we wished to travel. We were forced to keep turning back and forth which slowed us down greatly and necessitated some frantic paddling at times. Numerous times waves pushed their way over the sides of our boat and we had to bail out water.

Every yard gained was an immense struggle as we forced our way downriver. Our backs and arms were burning as we pulled as hard as we could on our paddles. We both began to be overcome with frusteration as we realized that there was no way we would make it to town by lunchtime. Hypo-glycemia added to the tension and a cold lunch of hummus and cheese did little to satiate our enormous appetites.

It wasn't until after 3:00pm that we pulled off the river at the city campground in town. We were both utterly exhausted and not at all ready to hear about the problem that awaited us... the campground was closed for the evening.

Our friend Casey Bastian from Wilderness Inquiry met us at the landing and had volunteered to take us into town to pick up supplies and gave us the bad news. We discussed possible options and decided to just call the city and see if we could stay. I ended up speaking to a woman from the city who politely informed us that although the city campground was closed, there was a private campground a mere 20 miles away.

Luckily for us, while I was on the phone Casey's mother was also talking to the city and managed to get the park director's permission for us to stay. More than likely it would not have mattered as we didn't see anyone but a few walkers come through the area.

After restocking and repacking we passed out, hoping that tomorrow would bring a respite from the wind.

November 11th, 2009 Prairie Du Chein, WI and towboat encounters

2010-03-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

Again the weather had blessed us with sun and relatively calm weather. After downing the first of many oatmeal breakfasts of our trip we headed onto the water just north of Prairie Du Chein Wisconsin. For the first time on this trip I felt as if we were getting into remote country. We were in the area of Yellow River State Park in Iowa and most of the local developement was off the main channel of the river which added to the feelings of isolation. Traffic on the river was minimal, just a few hunters and trappers.

We had decided to forgo a stop in Prairie Du Chein as we had a previous plan to meet a friend in Dubuque for our first resupply so we paddled right on past the city. At this point in the river there is a rare split in the channel that is maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. One channel leads through a side slough to the town. Another channel takes a more direct route past the town.

As we had chosen to skip the town we started to make the crossing over to the main direct channel. When we were approximately halfway across a towboat pushing two barges headed upriver began to make a u-turn into the Prairie Du Chein channel. The towboat was headed directly into our path and did not seem to notice that we were there.

Jewell and I both turned on the gas and paddled as hard as we could for a good minute and a half. After our short sprint we were in the clear and turned around to watch as the towboat cut behind us. Just then a deckhand popped his head out of the side door on the towboat and pulled out his radio, undoubtedly talking to the pilot about his near miss.

Later on that day we had our second fun towboat encounter. A large USACOE tow was headed downstream pushing a large barge full of heavy dredging gear. It put out a large wake, uncharacteristic of most tows, as it flew downriver. Luckily the waves were very parabolic and widely spaced because they were at least four to five feet from trough to peak. When we got to the trough of the waves all we could see was water surrounding us, almost like being in a bowl. The wake ended up being pretty fun to ride out but had the waves been closer together it's very possible that we could have taken an unplanned swim.

November 10th, 2009 Ducks, ducks and more ducks

2010-03-04T12:21:00.000-08:00

Our first day of paddling in Iowa! Again we have been seeing hundreds and thousands of waterfowl. Migration is definitely in full swing. Countless mallards, wood ducks, teals and green wings are everywhere. This has been the warmest day of our trip so far.

We saw our first trappers today. It looks as though they are going after muskrat as muskrat lodges are everywhere on this part of the river. Sportsmen are about the only people we seem to be seeing on the river at this time of year besides towboats.

We made camp on a low island that showed signs of beaver activity everywhere. Beavers are very abundant on the river and several times during the night we awoke to the sounds of trees crashing down after being cut by their sharp teeth. 27 miles paddled today.

November 9th, 2009 Lake Onalaska and La Crosse

2010-03-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

Today was another day of paddling under beautiful blue skies and calm weather, perfect for the big water we'd encounter. Lake Onalaska, just north of La Crosse the widest point on the Mississippi river (although we would hear numerous other places claimed to be the widest as we paddled South).

The pools in the La Crosse area are a duck hunter's dream. The lakes are large and open and allow for ample room for hunters to spread out and share the space. Some of the pools are as much as 10 miles long and over 2 miles wide so the paddling here is a lot more like lake paddling than river paddling.

As we paddled over water that was as smooth as glass we remarked how lucky we were that we didn't have to fight the wind here. It would have been a grueling struggle on side an exposed body of water. Luckily the weather was as good as usual and we were able to make good time.

This was our last night camping in Minnesota as our camp was just a mile and a half upriver of the Iowa border. It was finally starting to feel like we were making it somewhere...

November 8th, 2009 Buffalo City to Trempealeau

2010-03-03T22:57:00.000-08:00

Today was a standout day! We were up and packed before sunrise and on the water by 6:00am. The sheer numbers waterfowl in this area is astounding! Thousands of ducks, geese and swans were everywhere. There were also many hunters and sunrise brought the sounds of sporadic gunfire. Jewell and I were both wishing we had brought along a shotgun and some decoys but unfortunately there was no room in the boat and we didn't want to have to buy liscenses for 11 diferent states!

As we paddled on in the afternoon we noticed a barge approaching far behind us. We knew there was a lock further downriver and decided to see if we could beat the barge to the dam. We paddled hard all afternoon and stayed ahead of the tow for miles. Tows need to slow down around the corners and we were able to stay ahead of the tow by cutting corners and keeping up our speed. Unfortunately all our hard work was in vain and the tow passed us just before we reached the lock.

What we thought was misfortune ended up being just the opposite. As we now found ourselves with a 2 hour chunk of tme to kill we decided to wander into the little town of Trempealeau, WI. We walked into the bar at the Trempealeau Hotel and chatted with some locals, one of whom was from my home county, Dakota country in Minnesota. We found out that the name Trempealeau means "mountain where the feet is bathed in water" the French translation for the native name of the nearby mountain. At one time the mountain had been surrounded by rivers which had since been diverted for the sake of the railroads.

After leaving the bar just before dark we hopped back in the canoe and prepared to lock down. As we paddled towards the lock we were both amazed to see another canoe waiting to use the lock. As we approached the other boat and yelled a greeting we were even more amazed to find that the other canoe was being paddled by our friend and co-worker Adam Hoffam and a buddy from La Crosse, WI. The two paddlers had left Minneapolis 2 days behind us and paddling like madmen hoped to reach La Crosse that night.

Initially we had planned on making camp just downriver from the dam, but decided to paddle with the other canoe for awhile as they had another 15 miles to go to make their goal. Jewell and I were both blown away by their 50 mile a day pace on this section of the river as we thought we had been working pretty hard to cover 30+ miles per day.

As we paddled towards La Crosse we again found ourselves in near pitch dark conditions. Again we were nearly blinded by the Towboats "Eye of Sauron" spotlights and found it as nerve-wracking as before. After another 7 miles or so of paddling we decided to make camp and pulled off on a nice permanent site about 6 miles north of La Crosse. We wished our fellow paddlers well, ate dinner and called it a night.

November 7th, 2009 Lake Pepin to Buffalo City

2010-03-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

After our layovery day on Pepin, we were anxious for the wind to die down. Fortunately it did after a day and we were back on the water. The weather was beautiful as we paddled down the long and scenic lake.

We passed multiple cruise boats around the south end of Pepin. The decks were crowded with tourists and we got some crazy looks as we paddled our overloaded canoe past them.

One of our first close calls came on this day as we paddled behind a day marker. Strong currents, a large boat wake and the wind combined to create a large standing wave which almost managed to swamp our canoe. Luckily we reacted quickly enough to brace the boat from going over and we had a good nervous laugh about it.

That night we camped in one of the best spots of the trip. We camped on a beautiful sandy campsite with lots of space and a nice permanent fire ring. As we cooked dinner large flocks of Canada Geese, Snow Geese and Swams flew overhead. We also heard Bard owls, coyotes barking and had a small possum wander into our camp. I was actually able to get close enough to the possum to have reached out and grab him but I didn't want to put undo stress on the little guy so I let him be. 30 miles paddled.

November 6th, 2009. Windbound on Lake Pepin

2010-03-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

Our third day of paddling was our shortest day on the water. We left our campsite on a private boat landing before dawn, as we weren't really supposed to be there, and made it a couple miles past Old Frontenac. High winds were rushing up the lake causing big waves and whitecaps, some in excess of two to three feet. We decided to take this opportunity to reorganize and repack our gear and get some rest. It was nice to lay out on a big sandy beach and enjoy the sunshine but hate to lose a paddling day so early in the trip. 2 miles paddled today.

November 5th, 2009 Hastings to Frontenac

2010-03-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

Our first full day of paddling began with a cold and crisp morning. The water bottles we had left outside were partially frozen and our gear and tent were covered in a dusting of frost. I remember wondering if we'd brought along enough cold weather gear. Fortunately the sun was shining and by afternoon we were paddling in balmy fall weather.

We approached our first lock and dam of the trip around lunch time. A very anxious and overly concerned lock operator yelled at us as we approached to stay clear of the dam. He must not have realized that we had both been through other locks many times and were fully aware of the dangers of approaching the wall too closely. As it turned out there was a barge tow coming up the lock and we were forced to pull off and wait for about an hour and a half to lock down, something that would happen many times on our trip. The break did give us a chance to pull off and make a hot lunch of ramen noodles to go with our trail mix.

After locking down into pool 3 we were amazed to find a huge fleet of fishing boats full of angler's trying their luck on the water. There must have been close to 50 boats and our first reaction was to assume that some sort of fishing tournament was going on. As it turned out, this was just a very popular fishing spot and the beautiful weather had brought the locals out in droves. Unfortunately there was a lot more fishing than catching going on. In fact, it would be hundreds of miles of paddling passing scores of boats before we would actually watch someone land a fish.

Late in the afternoon we passed Red Wing, MN and paddled into Lake Pepin. This is an absolutely beautiful area surrounded by high bluffs and lots of woods and trees. Wildlife is plentiful and it is easy to see why this area has been settled since long before any European's or American pioneers came here.

Unfortunately on this day we were forced to paddle past dark looking for a campsite. This was our first experience with night paddling and it was a bit nerve racking when we were forced to share the lack with the tows and their overpowering searchlights. We were both reminded of the dark eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings movies as the tow's powerful searchlights scanned the lake. Even at a range of two miles their light was blinding. We quickly decided to find the nearest campsite and call it a night. 33 miles today.

November 4th, 2009 Leaving Minneapolis

2010-03-02T15:09:00.000-08:00

Our first day! We departed this morning from Hidden Falls Park in St. Paul. My father, Mark Imsdahl and a co-worker from Wilderness Inquiry Shannon Raab were there to see us off under gray skies. The temperature was in the mid 40's and it was misting rain, not exactly ideal conditions but not terrible either.

It was odd to be paddling through St. Paul. I had seen the river countless times before but always from shore and usually at a much higher speed. It's funny how much more you notice when you have the opportunity to slow down. Ducks, eagles, heron and many other birds were everywhere, something one might not notice when driving by at 60 miles per hour or more.

Paddling though South St. Paul and Inver Grove Heights was surprisingly scenic. Limestone cliffs flank both sides of the river at points and it was easy to imagine that we were paddling in the early days of exploration when the only travelers here were Native American's or Voyaguers.

A long day of paddling brought us just past downtown Hastings where we made our first camp. A delicious dinner of Macaroni and cheese fortified with hamburger filled our stomachs and helped recharge our strength. We made 32 miles, with another 1,680 or so to go!

Trip Recap: Leaving Minnesota

2010-02-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

As John Jewell and I pulled out of Hidden Falls Park on the morning of November 4th and began paddling I could not help but wonder "what the hell have I gotten myself into?" John and I were both experienced paddlers and had spent lots of time on the water, but neither of us had completed a trip approaching the length of the Mississippi. My thoughts were filled with all the things that could go wrong over the next two months and I wondered if we would have the mental and physical strength to make it to the finish.

The canoe we used was an eighteen foot aluminum Beaver, with trim lines and a fast appearance. We were lucky enough to be loaned the boat by Greg Lais of Wilderness Inquiry and the canoe would prove itself time and again over the course of the trip. The only complaint I had was the limited amount of freeboard meant that the gunwales were frighteningly close to the water when we were fully loaded.

Packed inside our boat was all the gear we would need to survive for two months on the river. An old Eureka three-person tent was our home at nights and did a serviceable job of keeping us out of the elements. We brought along an old tent fly that we hung as a rain tarp for cooking and eating under during bad weather. Creature comforts were at a minimum and our only sources of entertainment were a portable cd player/radio, a deck of cards, and a book about the Mississippi River. The rest of our gear consisted of clothes, rain gear, sleeping bags and ground pads and various other pieces of miscellaneous gear. Our cook kit consisted of two pots, a frying pan and our trusty Coleman double burner stove. Although Coleman is generally not considered to produce high end camping gear, their stoves are bombproof and the fact that their design has changed very little over the years is a testament to their reliability. White gas is also significantly cheaper than propane canisters like one might use on a hiking trip.

John and I both used bent shaft paddles, mine being a Whiskeyjack paddle made in Duluth Minnesota. I have used a variety of paddles over the years and I loved this paddle's light weight and comfortable grip. The blade is also reinforced with fiberglass along the entire blade with makes it very sturdy. It is also a very aesthetically pleasing paddle.

PFDs or Personal Flotation Devices, commonly known as a "life-jacket" are arguably the most important piece of personal gear. I used an Astral Norge PFD and have come to love its comfortable fit and thoughtful design features such as fleece lined pockets and reflective piping for extra visibility.

For navigation we carried an old set of US Army Corps of Engineers navigational charts. These would prove to be very helpful when dealing with the 27 locks and dams that we encountered. They were also useful for finding towns and resupply points. Unfortunately the maps only covered the first half of the journey and were only useful until Cairo, IL. We hoped to secure maps for the lower portion of the river when we reached Cairo.

As we paddled on that first day I could only hope that our preparations had been thorough enough and that we would have everything we needed. Only time would tell...

New Orleans!

2009-12-30T08:55:00.000-08:00

After 1,700 miles of paddling over the course of nearly 2 months we have finally reached our final destination. It's hard to believe we are done, it seems like we just started!

I want to thank everyone who has helped us along the way and been so supportive of the trip. Our parents and families have been behind us the whole way and we can't thank them enough. Thanks to Greg Lais and Wilderness Inquiry for providing us with a trusty canoe and the SPOT GPS that let you track our progress. My uncle Tom gets a big thanks for showing us a good time in Memphis and cooking us delicious meals the whole time we were there.

We also met many people along the way who we couldn't have completed the trip without. Casey Baustian has a huge help in Dubuque getting us resupplied and greasing the wheels of the local Parks Dept. so we could camp there out of season. James Dixon from Adventure Canoe forum brought us much needed tent stakes, took us out to a delicious dinner in Grafton, IL and put us up for the night in St. Louis. HC "Chris" Porter took us in in Vicksburg, MS and let us shower and get out of the cold for a night and use her computer. This was remarkable being that we were total strangers, and pretty scruffy looking by that point. Thanks to Jim from the Louisiana boat club who drove us across town to buy groceries and to the many people we met along the way for the great conversation and advice about the river.

Thanks to Rachel Ramaker and her roommate Matt for putting us up while in New Orleans and for being so hospitable. Especially to Matt for driving our gear to their house with his car and Rachel for helping me carry the canoe a mile back to their house.

Last but not least we owe a huge thanks to Joel Schleisman for helping us keep the blog updated while we were on the way. Most of the updates you saw were the result of text messages sent to him which were uploaded to the site.

If there is anyone I have failed to thank I apologize.

The past few weeks have been crazy and I can't wait to go back and fill in some updates, there are some good stories to share so check back.

12.23.09

2009-12-29T06:32:00.000-08:00

We made a stop today in Natchez, MS. It's a cool little town and full of history. This picture is of an old plantation house that was built in the late 1700's.

We lucked out again with the weather and enjoyed 70 degree sunshine. Hopefully the predicted thunderstorms tonight aren't too bad..

New friends and beautiful weather!

2009-12-21T17:33:00.000-08:00

Today we paddled into Vicksburg Mississippi. As we paddled into town we noticed someone waving from a car parked near the river. We waved back paddled on and stashed the boat before walking into town to grab a burger.

After walking into town we ran into one of the women waving at us, a lady from New York named Eve, who just finished her own Mississippi River adventure. We talked for awhile and exchanged info and headed to Burger Village for a delicious cheeseburger and a cold beer. While eating, another lady came in who happened to be Eve's friend and an artist from Vicksburg. After talking with her for a bit she was kind enough to offer us a place to stay tonight and a warm shower (she probably smelled how badly we needed one).

Chris is a graphic artist who has a fantastic gallery and website www.hcporter.com. It has been great talking to Eve and Chris about the river and Vicksburg. Eve is a composer and did a driving, kayaking and biking trip down the river for inspiration for a new project. Her blog is erbvd.com/riverblog

We can't thank them both enough for their generosity and hospitality. It is truly a joy to meet such great people while doing a trip like this!

A flock of pelicans near Greenville, MS

2009-12-17T06:14:00.001-08:00

This was the view out of our tent this morning. A beautiful sunrise after a chilly night!

We had our best day yet today, paddling over 50 miles in beautiful weather. We were paddling in short sleeves watching hunters drive by wearing heavy coats and full face masks.

The forecast looks good tomorrow so we hope to put in another good day and hopefully be close to Louisiana.

12.14.09

2009-12-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

We've been having a great time staying with my uncle North of Memphis for the past two nights. It is hard to leave and get back on the water!

We stopped yesterday at the store and resupplied on food and fuel and should be able to make it to New Orleans without stopping again for food.

The river down in Tennessee is flowing well and water levels are reasonably high. This makes paddling over all the river's wingdams much easier. We have had a fun time negotiating some of the fast water over and around these wing dams and have paddled through some that would be considred class II rapids. We prefer to paddle around such obstacles with a fully loaded boat, especially considering the water temps but sometimes it can't be avoided. In these cases, you just have to be as safe as you can. Paddle hard and trust your paddling partner and your boat. Always wearing your PFD is important too!

The weather forecast looks good for the next few days and we can't wait to make some miles.

New Madrid, MO!

2009-12-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

We are sitting in New Madrid, MO right now taking a quick stop to get a few supplies and charge the old cell phone.

The weather has been a little bit chilly and wet since we left St. Louis with temps getting down below freezing most nights.

This area of the river is very remote so our cell coverage and the ability to update the site is not as good as it has been. Check out our friend James' blog for some good pics of us in St. Louis : http://www.adventurecanoe.com/forum/topic/howdy

We should be near Memphis in a few more days and hopefully we can do another update and send in some pics then.

St. Louis!

2009-11-29T21:47:00.000-08:00

We have finally reached St. Louis Missouri! It's been a great few days. The weather yesterday was perfect for paddling and the temps were into the upper 60's.

Before we left Minnesota we got in touch with James from the Adventure Canoe Forum who lives in St. Louis. James and his wife met us last night in Grafton Illinois and took us out for an awesome dinner at The Rotten Apple. It's a great little cajun style restaurant where we had a delicious meal and some cold beers. After a great meal we walked down the street to a great little dive bar where we met some very interesting local guys who had some great stories to tell about growing up in the area. It was definitely one of the more memorable nights of the trip.

Tonight we are staying with our new friends at their sweet loft in downtown St. Louis, just blocks away from the famous archway. St. Louis seems like a great place and we wish we had more time to explore the town. Unfortunately we can't stay long as we have to make up mileage we lost during our layover in Muscatine, IA.

On our paddle today we passed the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and the current increased noticeably. With this new current we expect to make some great mileage!

11.27.09

2009-11-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

Long day today so this will be a short update.

Stopped in Lousiana, MO this morning to resupply and get water. Just as we landed a gentleman from the Louisiana Boat Club was walking out and offered to drive us to the grocery store and back as it was about a 2 mile walk one-way. The generosity and hospitality of total strangers really restores your faith in humanity!

After leaving town we raced a tow about 10 miles to the next lock and actually beat him as he had to slow down quite a bit to take the turns.

We ended up making close to 35 and hope to beat that tomorrow.

On a depressing note, we have been getting bitten by mosquitos tonight... wasn't expecting that, even this far South.

11.26.09 Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

2009-11-27T08:08:00.000-08:00

We decided to take the day off and rest up and take care of some tasks that we hadn't had the time or energy for.

We had been going without tent stakes that I'd left at home so I carved some wood stakes that should do the trick. I also sewed up a hole in the tent bag that had been making me a little nervous after seeing tent poles slipping out. Since we usually pack up in the morning while it's still dark it would be easy to miss one that fell out.

The rest of the morning was spent cleaning and reorganizing the cooler and food bin and planning our thanskgiving feast... mac and cheese with tuna and baked beans. Yum!

Hope you all are having a great turkey day and we are thankful you are following us on our journey!

11.25.09

2009-11-26T08:51:00.000-08:00

Heavy rains in the morning forced us to take a late start today and we were on the water at about 9:30.

Although the sun did come out for a bit in the late morning, the rain was back in the afternoon and made for a cold, wet day of paddling.

We also had a two-and-a-half-hour delay at lock #22, and that combined with the late start resulted in less mileage made than we had hoped.

As I am writing this sitting in the tent, the wind is howling and it feels like a storm is brewing. Our camp is pretty bomb-proofed and we have a great rainfly/tent setup so we should ride on any weather Mother Nature sends our way.

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving back home. We are thinking about you all back home!

11.24.09

2009-11-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

After a rainy day of paddling, we've pulled into Hannibal, MO. We took a walk by the house of Samuel Clements, also known as Mark Twain, and saw Becky Thatcher's house as well. It's too bad we don't have more time to explore the town because there is plenty to see here.

We did stop by one of the local haunts to get some hot food and to recharge cell batteries. We had the chance to chat with some of the locals who were all great people. We met the county commissioner, a Union Pacific conductor, and a former Minnesotan from Owatonna.

It's always fun to meet locals; it's too bad there aren't more opportunities.

11.23.09- First Missouri sunset and the attack of the Asian Carp...

2009-11-24T06:45:00.000-08:00

Paddled close to 40 miles today and crossed the Missouri border.

Today we gad our first experience with Asian Carp and it just about caused us to pee our pants! Just as we were pulling off to land to celebrate passing the milestone of 500 miles paddled, the water just feet in front of the boat exploded. A huge 25-pound carp flew 3 feet in the air with a huge splash. We had heard that we might encounter this massive invader, but were totally unprepared when we did. We had more jumping close to the boat later in the day. I'm sure we'll see plenty more as the trip goes on.

Once again the weather is beautiful, but rain in the forecast might change that. We'll just have to wait and see.....

11.22.09

2009-11-24T06:35:00.001-08:00

Looks like the updates I sent over the past couple days didn't go through so here is a 3-day recap.

Friday was our first day back on the water after our layover in Muscatine, IA. It was also Illinois deer opener; we saw lots of hunters and heard lots of gunshots. We had a nice campsite and paddled about 20 miles due to a late start. We fell asleep to the sound of coyotes.

Saturday sounded like WW3 with all the shots we heard being fired around us. We both wished we were deer hunting ourselves. Paddled about 25 miles. Camped just outside of Burlington, IA. We have traversed over 450 miles.

Today was sunny and warm. Filled up waterbags in town and met some hunters from Missouri. They were good people and gave us some gatorades and a couple cans of chunky soup. They offered to tow us a few miles but we graciously declined. Ended up making it to Nauvoo, IL, just a few miles from the Missouri border. Should surpass 500 miles tomorrow.

Back to civilization for a minute or two...

2009-11-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

After two weeks on the water we are back in civilization and I finally have a chance to hop on a computer for a more in depth update.

The first two weeks of the trip have gone better than we could have hoped for. The weather was almost perfect for the first 300 or so miles and although temperatures did get a bit chilly at night the days were warm and usually sunny. We were quite surprised to find ourselves paddling in t-shirts and shorts on more than one occasion!

Traffic on the river has been surprisingly slow. Even though one might not think of the Mississippi as being a very remote place, we have often gone days without talking to anyone other than the occasional fisherman and the Army Corps of Engineers lock operators. In fact, other than the tow boats pushing barges up and downriver, the only people we have seen sharing the water with us have been sportsmen and women. We have ecountered lots of folks fishing and many mornings and late afternoons are full of the sounds of gunfire as the ducks and geese are flying in huge numbers. Luckily bird shot does not travel far and we are not in any danger.

The number of hunters is not at all surprising considering the staggering amount of waterfowl we have seen. Literally tens of thousands of mallards, geese, swans and others are common on the big pools upriver of the locks. At points the sky has been dark with migrating birds everywhere you look. I have never before seen birds in these numbers and you can see why the Mississippi is such a crucial flyway for migratory birds. We have also seen wood ducks, teals, goldeneyes, coots, bluebills, canvas backs, pelicans, snow geese migrating. Bald eagles are ever present and we have heard many owls at night.

Birds are not the only wildlife we have encountered on the river either. We have seen some big deer on the in and around the sloughs as well as opossum, beavers, mice, voles and squirrels.

For camping, most nights we have pulled off on islands or sandbars just off the river. There are many commonly used campsites on sandy sites all along the river which we sometimes take advantage of. Unfortunately, many of these sites are full of garbage and refuse. It's too bad that many people can't take the time to haul out their waste, it really isn't that hard. On nights where permanent sites aren't available we just find a clearing in the woods and set up as best we can. We have actually come to like the woods sites better as firewood is easier to find (assuming conditions are safe for fire) and the woods tend to block out wind and the blinding search lights of the towboats.

We have had the pleasure so far of running into a couple friends along the way so far. Adam Hoffman and his friend Ben were canoeing from Minneapolis to La Cross, WI, making the trip in an impressive three days! We encountered them at the lock near Trempelaue, WI right at dark and paddled with them in the dark for a good seven miles before setting up camp. Those two sure can paddle, they made the trip that distance in almost half the time we did!

Another Wilderness Inquiry staff member and friend, Casy Baustian was gracious enough to meet us in Dubuque, IA and drive us around town buying supplies. Her mom also helped us out by contacting the regional parks director and getting the OK for us to stay in the city park which was closed for the season. We owe them both a big thanks for their help!

Well I better sign off for now as my computer time limit at the public library here is about up. Thanks for following us so far and keep watching for updates!

11.15.09

2009-11-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

After a fairly easy day, we are sitting just north of the quad cities. The morning paddle was amazing as the mallards were again flying by the thousands. It took a long time to make it through the lock. However, during our wait we struck up a conversation with a local photographer who promised to send us some pics. With rain in the forecast, we are hoping to stay dry as possible.

2009-11-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

Made over 30 miles today and camped and set up camp south of Savannah, Illinois. We saw tens of thousands of migrating ducks and took a couple of hours to explore Bellvue, Iowa. Bellvue is a great little river town. We met some friendly folks. We had our first rain of th trip today, but it was light and blew over quickly. The two of us are looking forward to making some good mileage over the next few days as long as the wind stays down.

South of Dubuque, IA

2009-11-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

(Post is 1 day behind documentation. Received via text message)

After taking the morning off to clean gear and repack, we paddled about 20 miles past Dubuque. The highlight of the day was seeing a buck swimming in a back slough.

Conditions were not much from yesterday with lots of wind and cloudy skies. No snow or rain, so we can't complain. We are hoping to cover some real distance over the next two weeks and make St. Louis by Thanksgiving.

We will soon surpass the 300 mile mark of the journey.

Last post before we hit the water...

2009-11-03T20:02:00.000-08:00

I found this great video on the Mississippi river but out by the National Park Service. It's some great background on the area we will be paddling through tomorrow.

The last of the gear and food is being packed as we speak and hopefully we will have the GPS Spot calibrated tonight so we can catch a few Z's before we have to wake up at 5am tomorrow.

Last thanks to Leon L. for donating some mini speakers so we have tunes to listen to. Also, thanks to Matt. G for helping get my bike tuned up and ready to be sold. The help and support we have recieved already is heartwarming and you will all be in our thoughts as we journey South.

Less than 24 hours to go!

2009-11-03T09:20:00.001-08:00

Less than 24 hours to go before departure! Jewell and I have been running around in circles preparing and making last minute preparations.

I would lilke to thank James and Dennis from Adventure Canoe Forum for their help over the past day and look forward to meeting them in St. Louis.

Again, we can't thank our friends and family enough for their support and we will miss you all.

UWCA and Wilderness Inquiry featured in Star Tribune!

2009-10-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Wilderness Inquiry and the UWCA for being featured by reporter Emily Johns today's Star Tribue.

"Working with the district and the National Park Service, Wilderness Inquiry hopes to ramp up the program over three years, to eventually get 10,000 kids a year on the river. This year, they served 4,500, and about 1,800 of them are from the Minneapolis public schools"

http://www.startribune.com/local/65840017.html?page=1&c=y

2009-10-27T17:50:00.001-07:00

With just over a week to go, packing and prep is taking on a new sense of urgency!
This post is signifigant because it is the first one sent directly from my phone! More to follow...

Planning Continues...

2009-10-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

We've finally set a concrete date for the trip dearture! We will be setting off from Hidden Falls Park in St. Paul on November 4th, probably around sunrise. We are hoping to make Hastings in the first day and continue at a strong pace until we can get South into warmer weather.

The weather lately has been a bit of a concern with temps in the 30's and 40's and lots of rain and moisture. We will certainly be prepared for whatever weather we encounter on the trip, but 50's and sunshine would be greatly appreciated!

Prep, Prep and more Prep

2009-10-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

Preparations are continuing at a rapid pace. Last night we purchased a brand spankin' new Coleman double burner stove and a few cold weather clothing items at Midwest Mountaineering . You have to love the prices at Thrifty Outfitters upstairs at Midwest. I was able to pick up fleece pants, two pairs of wool socks and some fleece gloves for less than fleece pants alone at another larger local outfitter. Thrifty indeed.

Jewell bought a nice new Mitchell bent shaft paddle and some clothing as well.

For the next ten days or so we'll be pouring over maps, checking and re-checking gear and hoping for good weather.

Here we go..

2009-10-22T10:27:00.001-07:00

Finally got the blog up. Hopefully we can share something that you will find interesting!