Mississippi River - After Thoughts

Although my 12 foot boat worked fine for this 3 day trip, I'm not sure it will be big enough for a full blown source to sea paddle. For that trip I will need to pack more food, more clothing, fuel and stove and portage wheels.

I definitely want a bigger tent. Ideally a very light and compact 2 person tent that will allow room for me to sit and move around and still have room for gear. In an extended trip, there will be times when I have to wait out rain.

I brought way to much food. I could have paddled two more days if I had just two more cans of dinner. Breakfast, lunch and snacks where more than enough for extra days.

I needed to bring at least 1 more gallon of water. If I stressed out about anything on this trip it was that I would run out of water. Can't have that on a long trip.

The river is not too big for me. I learned to read the river pretty quickly. At the end of each day, I knew I could have gone further. I can and will complete the source to sea!

Mississippi River 8/16/2018 11:50 am

Made it to the boat ramp, over and hour before Nik will be here. So, I gave me a chance to Unload my boat, and get my gear organized for easy loading when Nik gets here.

Paddling under MN State Hwy 101 in Elk River

Riverfront mobile home park with boat access 

Off the river and I feel great!

My trusty boat stood up well to the test.

Mississippi River 8/16/2018 10:15 am

Took a break to get out and stretch my legs at a horseshoe bend in the river just south of Elk River. I'm fully in the Twin Cities metro now, with buildings, people and roads. Such a contrast to the peace and tranquility of the past few days.

Signs of civilization 

Classic explorer shot

Mississippi River 8/16/2018 8:45 am

Woke up at 7:30 this morning feeling sleepy but not sore. I have to say, I was pretty worried going into this trip that I would be in a ton of pain for the majority of the time. In fact, I found a nice easy paddling stroke that allowed me to keep a steady 3-4 mph pace. The number of miles I paddled, was based on where the next camp was, not how far I could go.

I had 12 river miles to go to get to the meeting point with Nik at the confluence of the Mississippi and Crow rivers. I knew that if I paddled with only one small break, I could make it there my our agreed upon 1:00 pm time. I was able to eat, break camp and get packed up in just over and hour, way better than the two hours it took the day before.

This was just supposed to be a selfie, but I accidently caught myself mid yawn.

The little blue tent served me well, but for next year I want one I can sit up in 

Here you can see how I up from the river the camp is

Mississippi River 8/15/2018 8:00 pm

This site was in the direct sun from the time I arrived until 8:00. I was so hot from paddling, then just roasting while in camp. I was able to was into the trees and lay out my mattress and read, but it was still hot with now moving air. The one good thing was since it was so hot, and my boat was sitting right in the sun, I used the dry hatch to put my can of chili in and after a hour it was probably 130 degrees, perfect for eating!

My main job before going to bed was to send Nik my pick up point info so he would know where to go. My original was going to be Mississippi West Regional Park, just west of Anoka. Well, I couldn't find it on Google maps to send him the location so I had to move up river 3 miles to the boat ramp in the little town of Dayton. I was able to get that sent out and then turn in for the night.

Mississippi River 8/15/2015 5:00 pm

The afternoons paddling was more technical than anything I've experienced to this point. Lots of rough water at every river bend. Water level is only between 6 inches and 3 feet, so whenever there are rocks, the water gets rough with white water thrown in just to make things spicy!

I misread the map thinking I was still 2 miles away from camp when I looked at the island to my left and saw what I thought was sign. As I paddled closer, I realized that this was the site I was looking for. Wow, total God thing that I happened to look over when I did.

As I had reading in the Mississippi River Paddlers facebook page, with the river level being low, the access to some the campsites can be difficult. The Dimmick Island site was one of those were there was a four foot bluff I had to scramble up and then hall all my gear and boat up.

Mississippi River 8/15/2018 11:40 am

One thing I learned yesterday, It's way hotter paddling in the afternoon than in the morning. So, today I tried to get to 2/3 distance before lunch. I was successful and found a nice riverside park in Monticello. I was able to hide my boat out of sight to the park goers so I could get out and explore. I found a nearby Walgreens that had ice cold drinks, so I walked over and bought a Mt Dew to go with my peanut butter burritos. Also in looking over the map, I had misread the noted water replenishment spots thinking they were on day two, when they were actually on day  three, meaning I was going to have to go into water conservation mode. Luckily this park had a water faucet and I was able to refill all my water containers. Another lesson learned for next year.

I was able to hang out reading in the shade until 2:30 to allow for a less hot afternoons paddle.

This is my morning set up to keep the sun off my face, neck and ears.
In the afternoon it gets reversed to protect my neck 

Mississippi River 8/15/2018 - 7:00 am

Woke up after a great night's sleep in my little one man tent. A breakfast of cold coffee and trail mix. Breaking camp and loading the boat for a 9:00 am launch

In reviewing my maps for the days paddle, I realize that there is a 10 mile gap of the river between the two pages of my printout. I had just a strong enough data signal to look up the section on Google maps and screenshot it for reference. Problem solved. However, I'll have to more mindful of this for next years big trip. In the more remote parts of the river, I won't be able to count on data service.

Mississippi River 8/14/2018 - 8:00 pm

I debated whether to start a fire to warm up my canned pasta, but there was not much in the way of firewood so I ate cold from the can. No clean up to deal with, score!

Later, I sipped a cup of Irish Whiskey while relaxing and reading The Rum Diary. Beautiful sunset over the river. A perfect way to end my first day on the water.

Mississippi River 8/14/2018 - 4:00 pm

Landed at the Oak Island campsite, Having traveled 20 river miles from River Bluff. The island has a nice wide beach, with a steep sandy hill leading up to the site. I was happy to find a picnic table and and open air pit toilet, no pooping on the ground for this guy!

No, this isn't a weber grill. It's covering my lovely pit toilet! 

Thanks to my friend John LaPlant for lending my back the tent I gave 2 years ago.

Mississippi River 8/14/2018 - 12:10 pm

Landed at the CW Outfitters riverside beach in Clearwater, 9 river miles from River Bluff. Feeling pretty good. I bought a cold Mt Dew at CW to go with my peanut butter burritos. I realized that I forgot to pack my first aid kit! Sure hope I don't end of needing it. After a 30 minute break, I'm back on the water with the sun shining brightly over my right shoulder.

Mississippi River 8/14/2018 - 10:00 am

I drove with Nik to my starting point of River Bluff Regional Park, just south of St. Cloud. After loading my boat, I pushed off and waved goodbye to Nik and told him I'd see him on Thursday. The weather was cool and cloudy with a gentle breeze blowing from the west. With a river current of 1 mph, I dipped my paddle into the water and started my way down river.

Half a mile from launch, I came upon a male Bald Eagle perched in a tree on the left bank. Once I was within 200 feet, he took off and flew directly over me, his beating wings so strong I could feel the air move over my head!

Mississippi Kayak - The birth of an idea

Ever since moving to Minneapolis in the summer of 2006, I've been intrigued by the Mississippi River and its role in the growth of the United States. Being a flat water paddler, I always thought of this river as something that only a legendary paddler would ever even attempt. Over the years, I ended up reading several books about Mississippi. In early 2017 I had came to the realization that doing a "Source to Sea" paddle trip was something I was definitely interested in.

In researching how to take on a trip like this I did tons of online searching. Come to find out, the state of Minnesota has designated the entire length of the river in the state as a State Water Trail. The water trail has a series of campsites set up at 10 -15 mile internals through the entire 700+ miles that it flows through Minnesota. Looking at the way the camps were set up, I stated to feel like I might actually be able to do this.

Another resource that has been instrumental in my early planning was a Facebook group called Mississippi River Paddlers. This is an invite only group that has tons of info on what to bring, what to watch out for, etc. It even tracks the progress of all the paddlers on the river throughout the paddling season.

A couple weeks ago, I found out that my lovely wife would be visiting our daughter in San Francisco the week of August 13th. I got to thinking, I really should at least give a couple night Mississippi Rive paddle a shot to make sure this whole this was not just a pipe dream. So, I broke out all my old camping gear from a million years ago and did a practice pack up in my trusty Current Designs Solara 120. To my amazement, everything I needed fit!

So, I looking over the water trail maps and found that the section from St. Cloud to Anoka, a 50 mile stretch seemed like the logical place to go. It was far enough away from the Twin Cities that I didn't have to worry about camping, but close enough that should I get in trouble, Nik could be there in an hour to bail me out.