Mississippi River Canoeing, Part 2: Mariners

Maybe the funniest name we were called was mariners. Our set of charts referred to us this way. Although a real mariner might have been insulted by our referring to ourselves in this way, we felt very smart as we learned to read the charts better and how to call into a lock properly.

It would go something like this.

Us: Lock 14, this is pleasure craft. (We didn't have a official name so we just said pleasure craft)

Lock: Lock 14 back. (This just meant they were listening)

Us: We are south-bound, about 10-15 minutes away. Can we approach or do you have something in there? (This was to check if there was a barge in the lock. Barges take a long time to lock through and it would be dangerous for our canoe to get too close to one.)

Lock: (we hoped to hear this...) Ya, just come on down Cap'n. We'll fill up the chamber for you.

They probably thought better of calling me Cap'n when they saw our tiny canoe.

The book of charts and the VHF radio, how we know where we were and got through locks.

It's interesting how you start paying attention to different things on the river.  We were always aware of things that you would never think of in the city. We got quite good at judging the speed of the current so as to be able to land on a certain beach rather than much further down the bank.  Being aware of wind direction became second nature to us since it affected us in paddling and knowing which way to angle our tents. They say you can't see the wind but we sure saw it in the waves it kicked up or in the dark water you see approaching when the wind is gusting. We got quite good at reading the surface of the water for eddies or objects just under the water. 

A barge exiting the lock as we approach.  This is three of 15 containers on this barge -- three wide and five long.

For all the skills we imagined we had, we had to respect elements much bigger and stronger then us, the main three being wind, barges, and locks and dams.

There was nothing you could do against the wind except paddle early in the morning or in the evening to avoid it as much as possible. But there were many days that we fought strong south winds and nasty waves which brought our speed down from 6MPH to around 2MPH. One day when fighting 35MPH winds gusting to 45MPH we did 30 miles. If there had been no wind we would have done 70.

We always gave the barges as much room as we could; they had the right of way because it took them 1.5 miles to stop.

This is a further-off shot of a full barge. We tried to stay far away from them because a number of people we met told us that we would be sucked under and die.

The barge captains assumed that we didn't have a VHF radio and were concerned about us, so we heard some interesting radio traffic.

As we where coming up to a lock early one morning we heard this:

Mary Sue: Lock 17 this is Mary Sue, you got Lewis and Clark up here, two boys in a canoe heading your way.

We had a good laugh about that but we were thankful that they were watching out for us.

Passing a barge early in the morning.

 The gates of Lock 19 opening. This Lock could fit the largest barge with no problem.

By this time we had gotten very good at getting through locks, and it was kind of old hat. Then we came to lock 19. It was huge. Remembering how small the canoe was we were thankful for radios and lock masters watching out for us as well.

Lock 19, one of the biggest locks we ever saw, 1200 ft long and a drop of 46ft. The darker brownish color shows how far down we came.

A tow boat at 1:00 AM with it's running lights on.  For size comparison you can see Andrew with the canoe dropping off one of the barge men  

Continued in Mississippi River Canoeing, Part 3: River Boys. 

Mississippi River Canoeing, Part 1: Adventurers.

Over the course of this trip we were called many things, crazy, ambitious, river boys, angels, among many others, but I think the term we would have used to described ourselves when we pushed our little boats into the swollen Mississippi river above St. Paul that morning would be adventurers. 

The trip was already in danger of not happening before it even started. High water levels caused by extreme amounts of rain had closed the first three locks that we had planned to do the first day. We had briefly considered delaying the start of the trip till the water levels went back down but it would have been at least a week and we felt if we didn't start now we never would, so we simply started a bit below the locks.

So we set off into the fast current which whisked us past sights we knew all too well from the land. It was the feeling that you have when you leave your neighborhood for vacation, seeing everything you know and just wondering what adventures lay around the next bend.

Barn's bluff in Redwing as seen from the river.

Locking seemed very scary to us at first since we'd never gone through one before and weren't sure how the radio worked.  We found, however, that locking was very easy.  You could just pull a little rope 200 feet away for the lock and the lock master would get you all set up.

The high water levels seemed to bring a curse as well as a blessing. Many of the sights we could have camped at were submerged. As a result we started having to put in more miles then expected each day just to find a place to put up the tents. Here we were able to find a great campsite and set up all our tents! That's my tent on the left, then Stephen's and Andrew's on the left. One side effect of all the paddling we were doing was that as we were falling asleep we would get the illusion that we where still in the boat and that it was rocking while going over waves or a barge wake. More than once we woke up in the night in a fright that the water had risen into our campsite.  It's odd how the river plays tricks with your mind.

Despite my best attempts to fix it, my kayak had been getting progressively more leaky as waves finally brought it to the end of it's life. The decision was made to finish the trip with just the canoe.  I was sad to say goodbye to my kayak since it meant I would not be able to go all the way to the gulf; but I was happy to spend more time with my brothers.  After some repacking and reorganizing we had quite a comfortable set up with one person resting in the middle on a kind of makeshift seat. Immediately we where happier.  We would each paddle for 2 hours and then take an hour resting in the middle. In Stephens case playing the harmonica. 

Andrew and Stephen backing the canoe into a handicapped parking spot in a flooded parking lot.

 The last campsite for the week was this tiny slip of sand which we called sinking island since it was slowly washing away. 

As the week came to an end we realized the trip would not be exactly as we had imagined it -- more paddling and fewer campsites then we had hoped for. But these are things that all adventurers must face.

Continued in Mississippi River Canoeing, Part 2: Mariners 

Hey all, Sorry I haven't made a post in a while but I've been in auckland running a hostel so not so many great pictures to put up, just some of hostel life.

Best care package EVER thanks all.

A guy who is painting some art for me.

Some of the art in my office.

And some more art in my office.(This one is not done yet)

Trains and ferrys.

Emers by the train.

Yes she makes the pic amazing.

It was such a nice day for a ferry ride.

Beautiful picten.

Just some fun pics

Tongariro Crossing (Pt 2)

Some more pictures up now.

Maybe my favorite picture.

What good times.

It was so snowy and blowy.

But we made it!

And then it cleared a bit.

Tongariro Crossing (Pt 1)

We where talking to Jake on the first night of our stay with the mills and we came up with the crazy idea of doing the Tongariro crossing in the middle of NZ winter.

It was a beautiful day.

Mt. something.

I miss Jak but what a way to say good bye to New Zealand.

Pics of lower down.

When I get back to free internet I'll add more pictures and posts.

Heaps cool as

We spent some time with the mills

It felt like being home because they were such a cool christian family.

We hung out in rotarua and saw some amazing geo-thermal activity.

I just thought this pic was heaps cool as.

Jak was very happy to be back in rotorua with the mills

And a cool lil movie.