Long Distance Hiker

Thru Hiker's Blog and More

  • HOME
  • TRAIL JOURNALS
  • TRAIL PHOTOS
  • RESOURCES
    • Trip Planning & Debrief
    • Fitness, Food & Health
    • Gear
    • Community
    • Recommended Reading
    • Arizona Trail (AZT) – Resupply Plan
    • John Muir Trail Resupply Plan
    • Long Trail (LT) Planning Guide
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT
You are here: Home / Mississippi River Thru-Canoe-2017 / Mississippi River 2017!

Mississippi River 2017!

August 19, 2017 by Beardoh and SweetPea

 

Up until now, all of our long distance traveling adventures have been by foot.  We have probably always known that a bike trip would be in our future.  But, a trip by water?  That hadn’t ever come up in conversation.  Until… about a year and half ago when our friend’s Qball and Safety Officer invited us to join them on a trip that they had slotted for the summer of 2017 – Canoeing the Mississippi River.

Safety Officer on the PCT – Completing the Triple Crown

 

Qball impersonating an Elk on our 2015 Arizona Trail hike

Our canoeing experience is fairly limited.  Beardoh had done three week-long trips in the Boundary Water’s Canoe Area – but that was a long time ago – these trips were in his youth, in the late 80’s and early 90s.  SweetPea had probably spent less than a handful of hours in a canoe before prepping for this trip.  In prep for the trip, we have spent a couple weeks at Beardoh’s Mom’s place in northern Wisconsin, and we have been trying to get out on the canoe for 1-2 hours most days – we hope that serves us well.

Some facts about the Mississippi River:

  • Length of the river is 2,320 miles
  • It is the 3rd largest watershed in the world
  • Passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana
  • The word Mississippi is an Ojibwe word misi-ziibi, meaning “Great River”
  • There are 29 locks on the river
The MS River and it’s watershed

Challenges that we foresee:

  • Finding good campsites
  • Securing our canoes while going into towns for resupply, rest, and showers
  • Contending with barge traffic
  • Constant sun exposure
  • All day-long arm workouts

We anticipate that the trip will take between two and three months, depending on the speed of the current as well as water levels in the most northern sections.  Unlike our hiking trips, it is pretty difficult to determine an average daily pace.  The pace will change and increase as we move south and the current increases.  North of St Louis, where the locks are located, we may need to wait for our turn to go through the locks when there is other traffic (barges, etc.).

The aim for the trip is to paddle the entire length of the Mississippi River, from the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.  We are all experienced thru-hikers, but none of us have done extensive trips over water.  This will be an interesting adventure.

Filed Under: Mississippi River Thru-Canoe-2017

« Colorado Trail (CT) – Post Hike Thoughts
Top Outdoor Blogs »

Comments

  1. Betty Stout says

    August 20, 2017 at 12:28 pm

    Wonderful idea. The river changes a great deal from top to bottom. Legacies Alive had someone swim the river in 2015. Good downriver current to carry you. Check out http://www.riverhistory.com. Great place to begin your research. Army Corps. of Engineers is another good resource. I look forward to following your trip.

    Reply
    • Beardoh and SweetPea says

      August 23, 2017 at 2:19 am

      Hi Betty! Thanks for checking out the post and following along. Maps from the Army Corps of Eng. downloaded 🙂

  2. My Countryside says

    August 26, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your site?
    My website is in the very same niche as yours and my visitors would really benefit from some
    of the information you provide here. Please
    let me know if this ok with you. Thanks!

    Reply

Questions or thoughts on this article? Please leave them below: Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Join our email list to be updated of our latest posts.

All Slovenia Mountain Trail 2022 Posts

Buffalo Roamer Podcast Image

Buffalo Roamer Podcast Feature

2021 Gear Lists – CDT and John Muir Trail

Don’t Patreon Us, Donate to these guys instead

Special Thanks To:


Top Posts & Pages

  • Thoughts and Advice for Hiking the Slovenia Mountain Trail
    Thoughts and Advice for Hiking the Slovenia Mountain Trail
  • PCT Resupply & Town Thoughts - Part 1 (Mile 0-454)
    PCT Resupply & Town Thoughts - Part 1 (Mile 0-454)
  • GET Day 28: Continental Divide Trail
    GET Day 28: Continental Divide Trail

Thru Hiker Blog

Well over 14,000 miles of our thru hiking blogs, photos of our trips and resources can all be found on this site.  We hope that the pages herein can be of help and inspiration.

Like Us On Facebook

Long Distance Hiker

Click Here for RSS Feed

Follow us on Instagram

Affilate Disclosure

Some of the links within the pages Long Distance Hiker are affiliate links.  We are discontinuing the addition of affiliate links to new pages as of February 2019.

We encourage you to support the trail organizations that make hiking around the world a possibility.

Copyright © 2023 · longdistancehiker.com · Thanks for Visiting ·

Sign Up for our mailing list to get our newsletter with new posts.
This is typically emailed 1-3 times per month.

powered by MailChimp!

 

×