Our kayaking trip down the Mississippi River (page 1 of 2, see link at bottom of page to go to page 2)
July 7-August 28, 2005 Pete Keith Barbara Keith Peter Keith Barb Keith Pete and Barb Keith
Only 1700 miles to go! This was our big sendoff. Barb's folks Ken (taking photo) & Esther, sister Luann and her kids Drew and Ben, and cousin Shona and John helped us with our gear and wished Barb a big Happy 39th Birthday! We started at Hidden Falls Park in St. Paul, at mile 847 (which means it is 847 miles to Cairo, the junction with the Ohio River). The current was about 3 mph here, the fastest it ever was while we were on the river. This was a beautiful day to start, one of the few that was not hot. Our kayaks were made by Hobie. You can check them out at www.hobiecat.com They're "pedal kayaks" meaning they have a pedal propulsion system, as well as traditional paddles. They can also be sailed if the winds are favorable. All in all, a fantastic craft for getting down the river without petrol.
The Upper Mississipi between Minneapolis and St. Louis has 29 locks. This is how the Corps of Engineers maintains the river's depth for barge traffic. Prior to their construction, the river ran essentially freely, with occasional rapids and variable depths. Most people are quite surprised that any floating craft, even a kayak can "lock through". And it's free! Who actually pays is a complicated answer, but at this moment we're care free! We had to wait about 2 hours to get into this lock at Alma, WI, as there was an upstream barge coming through when we arrived.
This was a typical campsite on the upper river. Here we're just across from Trempealeau, Wisconsin on an island. Barb took this one of me from inside our great new tent. I'm celebrating the end of our fifth day--a long one at 35 miles. Typically we could only do about 25 miles on the upper river and still have some good relax time at camp. We aimed to find a campsite by 4:30, but good places to camp did not always present themselves in a timely manner.
As you float downstream, the bluffs just get bigger and more beautiful. This is just north of La Crosse, I believe.
White Pelicans. We saw many large flocks of them, especially in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. We also saw lots of other great birds, including bald eagles, cormorants, hawks, vultures, geese, terns, sandpiper chicks, and storks.
This is the perfect campsite. It's on an island in the middle of the confluence of the Wisconsin River and the Old Man. The key ingredients are easy access, sandy bottom for swimming, trees for shade and hammock and kayak tying, flat spot for the tent, and a nice view.
From that same campsite, a refreshing swim. This was our first real test of the heat. It got to near 100 degrees that day, and there was but a tiny tailwind which just matched our slow pace down the river. We ended up having a number of these days, and we would seriously contemplate whether we could make it much further. But then when we'd jump in the water, all would be fine again. The water temp started in the 70's when we left St. Paul, and by here it was in the low to mid 80's, still reasonably refreshing. (By the end of our trip, the water temperature was over 90 degrees and felt a little like stepping into a hot tub.) The water was also surprisingly clear, especially as we ventured further south. This was a pleasant surprise. I won't be fooled, however, as I know there's still a load of bad stuff in there--mostly agricultural runoff these days.
And perhaps some stuff from this place... Barb is demonstrating our ingenious sailing setup. Our kayaks actually came with sails made by Hobie, but we elected not to use them as they were too big for our comfort in a strong breeze. So we got out the sewing machine and each fashioned our own smaller sails, which worked wonderfully. With a moderate breeze from about 90 degrees or behind, we could sail faster than our typical pedalling speed of 3 mph. The flippers under the pedals act as our keel. We got to sail about every third day on the upper river. But below St. Louis we had a head wind or no wind nearly every day, so sailing was pretty much nil.
One of the unexpected pleasures our our trip was getting visitors! Barb's sister Lu and the family met up with us for a night in Muscatine, Iowa. Paul works for Northwest Airlines, so they used his perk to see us and cheer us on! We truly were reinvigorated afterwards.
This was another memorable campsite, on an island north of New Boston, Illinois. We pulled in early to this spot as there were numerous barges lined up to use the lock just downstream. Many had been backed up earlier due to a sandbar that blocked the river for a few days. We thought it best to wait until early tomorrow morning to try our luck. Even though much of the river is quite isolated and remote feeling, we got good cell phone coverage. It was a real treat to share our trip with friends and family along the way.
Heaven and Hell in Oqwauka, Illinois. Strawberry milk. Yes, that's the heaven! Heat was certainly the most difficult challenge on this trip--far more difficult than the physical work of kayaking. It was 95 or hotter nearly every day after the first week. The only thing that saved us most days was a breeze.
Just after leaving the fine town and friendly folks of Keokuk, Iowa I noticed I was taking on a lot of water in my hull. Turns out I'd sprung a leak in the hull. A small crack had formed at a molding defect. Just a few phone calls later and Hobie had arranged to bring me out a new boat to the river--covered by my warranty. All I had to do was make it a few more days to get near St. Louis. A little gasket sealer, silicone and some rubber foam got me there without sinking. Here's Larry from St. Louis Sailing Center getting me all set up with my new rig. Now that's what I call customer service. Thanks Hobie!
Another visitor! My brother Andy was driving from Houston to the North Shore and arranged to meet us in Alton, Illinois. Many years earlier Andy canoed the entire length of this great river. We had lots of stories to share! But some of Andy's stories gave us a little fear, just as we were nearing the really big river, joined in by the Missouri and Ohio rivers. Andy'd had a couple scary moments on that big water.
The last and final lock. This is the lock at the end of the "Chain of Rocks" canal near St. Louis. It bypasses the last stretch of rapids on the Mississippi. A rock dam actually accentuates the rapids these days, a fact we quickly realized when we had to abort our attempt to simply portage around those rapids. The notion of portaging turned out to be the worst decision of our trip. We actually had to go back upstream 4 miles in the now current-laden free flowing river, and then wisely take the bypass canal to this lock. But from here there are no more locks, all the way to the ocean. It's a kind of freedom.
Don't miss page 2! Click on link above...