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.