late july/early august

I've just been thinking about some of the practical issues surrounding the early part of the trip. I'm a bit concerned that the two-day event in Minneapolis is quite early (25th-26th July) and that it *might* be a push for me to get out there ready for paddling at that point. That's not to say you shouldn't do it, although I'd really like to spend some time on that stretch of river, especially around Fort Snelling, so hope you wouldn't be averse to passing along there again?

I was actually wondering what you thought about signing up for a short course on canoeing or kayaking at an outdoor centre in Minnesota - say a couple of days, if we can find one? I notice that the St Cloud State University can organise training:

http://www.stcloudstate.edu/campusrec/outdoorendeavors/canoeshuttle.asp

This might be a good opportunity to pick the brains of the instructors about the river - St Cloud being on the Mississippi they would presumably be able to give us lots of advice - and also about gear we might not have thought of. If we then headed up to Lake Itasca (I'm assuming you'd want to start from source?) we'd have a period of fairly easy paddling to get used to the canoe etc.

There seem to be quite a lot of 'outfitters' in northern Minnesota who will work out what you need for the trip etc. I don't know how much these cost but would it be a good idea to email a few of them, just to see what they say? If there are any near Lake Itasca (which I guess there must be), it might be worth starting with them.

Anyway, just a few thoughts. Very happy to do some emailing - what do you think?

Friends of the Mississippi River

Perhaps we should do this as part of our introduction to the river. I spoke yesterday with Whitney Clark, the Director of FMR (he's writing a letter of support for the MN grant I'm applying for), and the way he described this made me think we should definitely think about doing it! (also, I'm testing the email--> blogger post functionality...)

Mississippi River Challenge [1]

Display Date: Saturday-Sunday, July 25-26, 2009 (with volunteer shifts and check-in beginning July 24) Location: The Twin Cities stretch of the Mississippi River

The Mississippi River Challenge is a one- or two-day canoe or kayak event on the amazing Twin Cities stretch of the Mississippi River. This unique paddle was begun in 2004 by Friends of the Mississippi River to foster appreciation of the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities region and raise funds to protect it.

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Paddle it!
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The Mississippi River Challenge promises a unique excursion: pass through locks, paddle with voyageurs and camp overnight inside Historic Fort Snelling! to find out more about participating in the only pledge event of its type in the upper Midwest, visit the Mississippi River Challenge Website [2] to find out more and sign up! Read more… [3]

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Landlubbers wanted!

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Volunteers are critical to the success of this large-scale event. At 11 different riverfront locations along this 44-mile route, volunteers help paddlers come in off the water to refuel and refresh. You can sign up for just one three- or four-hour shift, or take two to earn free entry into the party at Fort Snelling Saturday night (a $20 value), or make a weekend of it and earn FMR SuperVolunteer status (20 hours in a year) and t-shirt. For more information, visit [4]the Challenge volunteering page [5].

[1] http://www.fmr.org/participate/events/mississippi_river_challenge-2009
[2] http://www.mississippiriverchallenge.org
[3] http://www.fmr.org/participate/events/mississippi_river_challenge-2009
[4] http://www.mississippiriverchallenge.org/volunteer.php
[5] http://www.mississippiriverchallenge.org/volunteer.php

small canoes

I was very interested to read this:

The canoe worked out fine, but was larger than necessary from the headwaters down to Bemidji. Bemidji State University’s Outdoor Program Center rents smaller (pre-scratched) canoes that would have been more appropriate for that first stretch.

I agree that it might well be a good idea to hire one of these smaller canoes and then up-grade in Minneapolis. I've been jotting down a list of things that would need to be done before we set off and most of them can be done from a distance. This seems the ideal way to avoid having to do a lot of preparation in situ.

Incidentally, I followed the links you posted and was looking at some photos of the river in its very early stages - it made me very excited! (Have ordered a big map of Minnesota for my wall at work...)

canoe information

Jeff sounds like he might be an ideal source of advice and ideas, and if we can enlist him to join us, that'd be totally cool, too! right now, I'm feeling like the idea of inviting a whole array of different people to participate as they like might be a really wonderful thing. instead of the solo trip I originally envisioned, it becomes a sort of fragmentary ragged little caravan of assorted folks with a variety of perspectives and interests in doing the trip. I doubt it will get out of hand, because how many people are really crazy enough to drop everything and come along? but those who do will be self-selecting to be interesting companions, I think!

anyway, I'm trying to keep focused on a few things OTHER than this project, but I couldn't help doing a bit of googling about canoe travel after our conversation yesterday:

http://www.bucktrack.com/Mississippi_Canoe_Planning.html

http://sourcetosea.net/if-i-were-to-paddle-the-mississippi-again/

the latter had this little tidbit:

The canoe worked out fine, but was larger than necessary from the headwaters down to Bemidji. Bemidji State University’s Outdoor Program Center rents smaller (pre-scratched) canoes that would have been more appropriate for that first stretch.

so maybe we should rent a smaller canoe (or borrow kayaks) for the first part of the trip and then outfit an expedition canoe when we get to Minneapolis? this might mean no need to scope out MN in June, we could just show up in late July and get started...