Major change in trip itinerary!

Well, it's official.  I'm bailing on the idea of paddling to Florida.  Instead, I will paddle down the Missouri River to St. Louis, MO, and then head up the Mississippi River to the Illinois River.  From there I will travel to Lake Michigan and then on to my home state (Michigan) and to my sister's house in Holland.  She promised me a bucket of beer if I made it to the dock at her house in Florida, I'll be holding her to that when I get to MI.

Watching the river gauges on the lower Mississippi and Ohio rivers this week made it clear that it's going to be a mess down south for several more weeks.  It's possible the water levels would have dropped by the time I arrived but I was concerned about the muck and silt left by the flooding.  Quite frankly, I didn't want to spend 1-2 weeks camping in sticky goo.  Thus, the decision to head north.

The new route will still have me paddling 1200 miles (versus 1700 for the other route) but I can be a little less stressed about making it to my goal by July 4th.  In fact, I should be to Michigan by the end of June.  Another plus is that I can take the train home to Lincoln and then drive up later this summer or early fall and get my canoe and equipment.  I didn't have a plan how to get home from Florida or where my gear would be stored so there is at least some good news in making a major route change.

This trip was always about equipping myself for a 1000+ mile adventure and learning how to do an expedition length excursion.  In some ways I feel I'm copping out but I guess 1200 miles is still a bit of a challenge. :)  Oh well, the maps have been downloaded and I've worked up a new daily mileage goal sheet.  Since I'm carrying my food the entire trip nothing has really changed in my preparations.  I'm all ready to go...

Launch is tomorrow morning from Nebraska City.  Wish me luck!

Major flooding along the lower Mississippi!

Cairo, Illinois flooding as viewed from the air on May 12, 2011.

Aah, crud! The spring I plan to depart on my first mega canoe trip is the spring the lower Mississippi River experiences major flooding. Cairo, Illinois, lifted the mandatory evacuation order yesterday but a curfew still is in place until next week. It doesn't look like the water will be down below flood levels until early June, just about the time I had planned to arrive. It looks like I have a few options which include: 1) delaying my departure date, 2) going as far as St. Louis on the Missouri and ending the trip, 3) keeping my fingers crossed all will be well when I get to the Mississippi, or 4) change my travel route and head north to a different destination.

At this point I'm leaning towards option #4. I'm seriously considering paddling north to the Illinois River and then heading to my home state of Michigan via the Lake Michigan shoreline. That option is looking pretty tempting right now with the uncertainty of the flooding situation along the river course I had planned to travel. At this point I'm taking a wait and see approach. At some point in the next week or so I'll make the decision just for the peace of mind. The upshot is that either route will have me traveling by water for at least five weeks and I'll have quite an adventure doing so.

I'll keep ya'll posted.

JB

With the spray cover installed.

My first attempt at packing the canoe.

750 miles by truck to pickup my canoe!

Scott Smith, the builder of my canoe

Saturday was a long day. I drove to Iowa to the Illinois border to meet Scott Smith from Superior Canoes to take delivery of my closed deck canoe. He kindly drove half-way from Michigan so I didn't have to make a 23 hour round trip to get the boat. As it was I didn't get back to Lincoln until after 1:00 a.m. It was worth the trip, though, as the boat is a beauty, exactly the canoe I've been dreaming about owning for over 30 years.

This morning I tinkered with packing her and it rapidly became apparent that I needed to rethink and rearrange my bags. I have three large food bags holding eight weeks of food, enough to make it to Florida. Thus, food is 3/4 of my starting load. It all fits in the boat but there's little room to spare!

I did get a chance to sneak over to Holmes Lake this afternoon between Mother's Day activities. The boat paddles like a dream, even heading into the strong wind gusts (it felt like the wind was blowing 30 miles an hour today!) I had little trouble. The rudder system is quickly mastered and I was able to make good time when paddling into the whitecaps.

I didn't load the boat with all my gear today. Too windy for a loaded maiden voyage. I'll do that later in the week so I get a feel for how she rides.

Trip map

It looks like Blogger.com doesn't allow .pdf uploads so the itinerary I posted didn't show on the blog. I've scanned a map of the highlighted trip route to a .jpeg file and am posting it.  A number of people commented they didn't understand how I was getting from Illinois to Alabama via a water route. As you can see from the map, the entire watershed of the eastern U.S. is interconnected via canals and natural rivers.

Itinerary Finalized

I've put the finishing touches on my itinerary. It's pretty aggressive and I hope the mileage is attainable. Basically, I have to paddle at a four mile an hour pace with 10 hours of seat time a day. If I hit the water by 8:00 a.m. every day I'll be able to stop and set up camp and make dinner at 6:00 p.m. There are plenty of stretches of river where the flow will allow me to achieve at least four miles an hour with little trouble. I hope to get ahead of schedule for when the water slows down and I'm doing more strenuous paddling.

It looks like two weeks on the Missouri River down to St. Louis and then another month traversing the Mississippi River to the Ohio and Tennessee/Tombigbee Rivers. Once I exit the Mobile Bay in Alabama I'll be heading to Florida via the IntraCoastal Waterway. Lots of paddling and it should be fun meeting interesting people along the way.

The water flow is currently up on the Missouri below Nebraska City. It should drop by the time I leave in three weeks. Yahoo!

I've posted the itinerary as .pdf file. I'm not sure if Blogger.com will display it.

[Post script note: I converted the .pdf to .jpeg format.  The itinerary should now be visible above the blog text.]