UK NOW.  University of Kentucky news.  July 9th, 2015
UK Alumna Hopes to Break World Record, Do Environmental Work while 'Paddling On' the Mississippi

Lexington Herald-Leader.  By Will Wright. July 11th, 2015
University of Kentucky Graduate from Lexington is kayaking the Mississippi River for adventure, research

I never know what I'm going to see each day.  Some days I see zero trash (that's happened twice so far), and I just enjoy the wildlife.  Usually I see 2-8 pieces of plastic trash per day.  I'm pleasantly surprised that it's this little so far.  When I see something bright colored, I head over to it, expecting that it's plastic.  Sometimes it's actually a sun-bleached beaver-chewn log or a wilting lily pad leaf instead.  One time I thought I saw a desk chair upside down poking out of the river, and when I arrived, it was just some logs and branches.  And that's sort of the problem.  While I think I see plastic in nature, nature thinks it sees nature, and sometimes it ends up being plastic. 

There are so many stories of turtles mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish, fish mistaking microplastics for plankton.  Dolphins and turtles getting tangled and mangled inside plastic rope and rings.  When wildlife eat plastic, they can become malnourished or starve to death, and their bodies absorb the hormones released from the plastic.  If the wildlife happens to be food in our own food chain (i.e. fish), we absorb these hormones too (bioaccumulation).  Liver damage and estrogenic effects (feminized males and decreased neonatal function) are some of the common negative effects. 

1. Behavior.  In order of importance... We, as consumers, need to demand corporate responsibility, so that things are designed for recovery (recyclability) or for environmental health!  It is also our responsibility to reduce the amount of plastic we use in our daily life.  And finally, the plastic that we use, we need to recycle.  

2. Waste Management.  Encourage your local waste management system to adopt best practices if they don't already.  Ask your locally elected officials to support this.  (Also, ask for a tour sometime of your waste management plant--it's fascinating and makes a great field trip!)

3. Design.  Plastics manufacturers blame the user for littering or not recycling, but if the items weren't non-biodegradable, single-use, and/or "disposable," in the first place, these problems would not be issues. 



Several of these images I've used with permission from 5Gyres.org.  Thank you for your support, 5Gyres! 

For the first couple hundred miles, the Mississippi River, nicknamed Big Muddy, was actually crystal clear.  I could see straight down to the bottom, 20 or 30 feet below.  On glassy days, I actually felt some vertigo from being so far above the river bottom "up high" in my kayak.  Since Grand Rapids, however, the river has earned it's nickname. This could be due to thunderstorms, eroding banks (as opposed to marsh), discharge from paper factory, etc.  Some of the reasons we care about how clear a body of water is (it's turbidity or transparency) are because oxygen has a harder time dissolving into turbid water (making it harder for organisms to breathe), sunlight has difficulty penetrating the water column (making it more difficult for water plants to photosynthesize), and particles can clog gills (making it even more difficult for fish to breathe and reducing their ability to fight disease).  Here's how you use a turbidity or transparency tube.  It's very similar to a secchi disk, if you're familiar with that. 

I spent the first half of the day editing videos, using the electricity under the campsite's picnic table pavilion. Around 2:30, a man walked up from the river looking triumphant.  He introduced himself as Levi, a solo canoer who is "flying under the radar" because he's not on Facebook.  He set up camp, and later we walked into town together.  We sat at the bar (water for me, $2.50 vodka/cranberries for him), then walked across the street to the restaurant where you can bring your own liquor.  Behind the bar, they keep locals' liquor bottles with their names written in sharpie.  Aw, small towns.  :)

Levi and I enjoyed a yummy, deep fried meal, and some good conversation.  He made a copper wire ring for his girlfriend and decided to propose to her tomorrow when she visits.  It was great talking with another solo paddler.  He said the Buddies Not Bullies folks behind me have only seen 2 deer because they're not stealth like we solo paddlers are (he's seen 46 and I've seen close to a 100).  He kept telling me to give myself more credit.  "You're plenty strong!  You've made it as far as I have, and this hasn't been easy!"  

In order to stock up on some canned food and wet wipes, we went to the convenience store in town.  "What're you going to do with all this food?" asked one cashier.  "Put it in my kayak and keep going!"  "Oh," said the other cashier, "are you going all the way to the gulf? Good for you!" as I nodded.  "And, you?" she motioned to Levi.  "I'm paddling to the Iowa border."  "Why aren't you going ALL the way?" they quipped.  "See what I have to deal with, Alyssum? I get this everywhere!  700 miles, and no one cares because it's not the whole river!" 

We spent the evening hanging out at some RV campers' campfire (Mike and Cindy).  They were self-avowed climate change deniers, and Mike works at a plastic factory.  Cindy was quick to mention the biodegradable soap they use, and Mike was very proud to share the stools/tables he made out of scrap polyethylene that would have been waste otherwise.  He said that the company he used to work for never had recycling unless the recycling companies paid them (most recycling companies require you to pay them to pick up the waste). He said the new company he works with was bought out and it took the new management 6 months to implement mandatory recycling, and they recycled 70 tons (!!!!) in the first month.  Both Cindy and Mike were unaware of the plastic gyres in the oceans.  They were aghast to hear that there's a swath larger than the size of Texas swirling in the Pacific Ocean!  I talked a little with them about microplastics and microbeads (against which you can take action here), and they seemed curious and receptive.  I'll be posting more about my work with 5Gyres.org soon! 

I only slept an hour last night before I woke up. I must have been subconsciously worried it would rain (I hadn’t put my rainfly on, and I had forgotten my solar panel on the deck of my kayak).  I talked to a friend, scrounged for some more food, and went back to sleep after a couple hours.

I got an earlier start, but it still takes me 2 hrs from saying “okay, let’s move” to being in the boat, in the river, having taken my first water quality sampling. I’m sure it could be done faster, I just don’t know how.  I think I probably get really sidetracked along the way but it’s hard to monitor myself. 

I only had a 15 mile day, but it took me forever!  I’m thinking that means I should probably rest in the next day or so.  It was really windy on some parts, so that also slowed me down.  For a good portion of the paddle, I heard lawn mowers.  Not as enjoyable as the sounds of birds.

I notice that my back hatch gets wet sometimes even when the weather is fine and there are no crazy portages.  I think it’s water from the cockpit…but where is that water coming from? I try to dry out all the hatches and the cockpit with my sponge every morning and night, and it’s hard to tell if the water is just hiding under my seat or something.  I asked Jim Lewis how to tell if I had a cracked hull.  He gave me some tips: empty the boat, turn it upside down, press on the middle, see what happens, dry it out, take it for a spit, see what happens.  *sigh*  When I arrived at Palisade tonight, I tried to dry everything out, and decided I’d start with checking to see if one of my water bottles leaks.  It would be much better to have a leaky water bottle than a leaky kayak.  

It's still pretty wild, but occasionally I do pass through the back yards of houses.  All sorts!

Getting over the mosquito boundary and out onto the water was a struggle this morning.  I slept in extra simply because I didn’t want to leave the safety of my tent.  But once I did, the mosquitos weren’t biting as badly as they were swarming.  The river was even free of deer flies today.  I spent the first half of the day just reconnecting with the river, listening to the birds, looking at the trees I was passing.  I tried to learn to read the river—the eddies sometimes indicate fast moving water, and sometimes indicate stand-stills.  I think the best way to find the sweet spot in the channel is to look for the cotton wood fluff floating on the surface that’s moving the most quickly.  This mostly works, but sometimes you have to zig-zag all over the river to stay in the fastest moving water. Is it worth it? Not sure yet.

Today I saw a deer swimming to the shore, and later on I thought I saw another one, so I started my GoPro as I paddled closer.  I realized that it wasn’t a deer at all, but a (very large) red fox!  Such a fluffy tail!  Very cool.  I also saw a young raccoon chilling as it hugged a tree trunk, and later 3 young raccoons going to the riverside to wash their hands and look for snails. Lots of large turtles, some as big as 2 feet in diameter.  And I saw a bald eagle with a white spot on its chest, like a cravat.

I was happy that tonight’s campsite had a rocky bank instead of the usual mud.  Much easier to unpack and repack the boat from solid ground rather than sinking sludge. 

I put my battle armor on, knowing I’m going to lose the fight, but hoping for the least impact. Pants, thick socks, long sleeved tee shirt.  I take a deep breath.  Unzip my tent, hop out onto my tevas, rezip, run to pee, run back, fall into the tent as fast as possible.  Kill mosquitos inside tent as fast as possible 1-gotcha-2-3!....12-13-14….37-38-39-40.  Forty mosquitos in my tent.  Again! They’re all smooshed, I can breathe again.  They continue to swarm outside, the battle inside the tent didn’t so much as dent their numbers.  My hands and ankles and bum itch like crazy.  I apply the anti-itch (active ingredient: ammonia) and gladly take the smell of urine over the maddening itch.  

I check in with my back.  Are you well enough to keep going today?  It says…probably. The current of the river flows past as I look outside my tent.  Even if I just hopped in and didn’t paddle, I could make some time.  But that means another battle with the mosquitos.  The one that drives me mad—the one where they bite me mercilessly while I struggle with the neoprene cover for my hatches and can’t swat them away because I have to complete my task before I shove off.  It takes a great deal of mental fortitude and discipline to go knowingly into this losing battle every day. I want to ask the paddlers who have gone before me if the mosquitos get better…but I’m afraid they might say it gets worse…so I haven't asked. 

I mowed all the fresh blueberries that Jim brought me this morning. I woke up early, excited to go more than half-way to Palisade, encouraged by all the inspiring stories from Jim last night.  Somehow, I still didn’t leave camp until 11am.  Here’s what I do in the morning, the reasons I keep getting such late starts despite waking up early. 

• Lay in just a little longer and/or update my journal
  
• Take my vitamins/medicine
  
• Brush my teeth
  
• Stuff my sleeping bag and pillow into compression sacks
  
• Deflate my sleeping mat and fold/wrap it up
  
• Find something to eat
  
• Brave the mosquitos to go pee
  
• Rush back and enjoy just a little more time in my tent without bugs
  
• Change from camp clothes to paddle clothes
  
• Pack camp clothes
  
• Pack electronics bag
  
• Review map for the day
  
• Make sure I’ve collected all my trash
  
• Take down tent and pack it up
  
• Take 3 or 4 loads back to the kayak for packing:
  

1.     camp clothes, sleeping pad, tent, dobh kit and sometimes food in back hatch
2.     electronics bag strapped on top
3.     pillow, sleeping bag, quick-grab bag in front hatch
4.     food bag in-between my legs in the cockpit, snacks and lunch on deck

Lastly, I don my gloves, pack my water and tevas, put on my sunglasses, hat and PFD, and shove off.  It’s sort of a production.  I haven’t figured out how to make it less of a production considering that

a)  I need my tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, pillow, camp clothes, dobh kit, and some food every single night, and they’re all packed in the farthest reaches of my kayak for weight/balance/fitting everything like a puzzle—reasons.
b)  I can’t leave my lunch/snack bag on deck. (Mama Raccoon taught me that)  Gotta bring it into camp each night.
c)  I use my electronics each night to type my journal, record my milage, and besides, I want that stuff with me at all times.
d)  Mosquitos suck.

Anyway, the river was less full of deer flies than the past couple days, but I counted that I killed 24 of them (all were biting my hands through my gloves).  This, on a good day!  

The day felt pretty easy and lovely.  I realized yesterday that my normal “shortcuts” across turns was yielding some very difficult paddling against strange eddies.  So today, I worked on finding the “sweet spot” in the current.  Often, that means going the “long way around” the curves…but not always.  You've got to watch the water, and look for the fastest moving water, and follow that.  Tiny whirlpools indicate that the water is eddying and will slow you down significantly. 

I spoke with Emily from ASC today, and she and I talked about working to get a story about me up on their site and some more info about them on mine.  Another "meeting in the wilderness". 

After 13 miles, my mid and lower back muscles felt like they were right on the verge of serious spasms.  Not wanting to risk having my back go out (when that happens, I usually have to lay flat for 2-4 days), I stopped paddling, and floated the next 6 miles to the next campground, only paddling to steer.  Slow going, but pretty nice.  I ended up doing 19 instead of 28 miles today—not quite Jim Lewis-worthy, but still respectable for me.  

When I found my camp, I wanted to immediately lie flat, but had to, of course, set up camp first.  Feet covered in thick, clay-ey mud, I unpacked and set up my tent as fast as I could.  In the few seconds during which I put my things inside my tent, a whopping 40 mosquitos followed me into the tent.  I spent a few minutes killing mosquitos, the last of which were full of blood by the time I found them.  Splash!  Ewwww…it was like a killing field in my tent.  Then I spent 10 minutes wet-wiping the mud off my feet, then had to eat some dinner (cold mashed potatoes with dried leeks), change into my camp clothes, blow up my sleeping pad, and THEN lie down.  Ahhh, my back immediately thanked me.  Hoping resting tonight does the trick and I can continue tomorrow.  

Yesterday I was brought a fresh batch of daily contact lenses.  They’re made of plastic.  The container they’re packaged in is plastic.  Every day that I use them (almost every day), I am creating waste.  Single-use plastic waste. 

I dispose of them properly, and recycle the pouches they come in, but that doesn’t change the fact that I create plastic waste daily.  There are many plastic items that I still use in my life, but this is the only thing that I use almost every day, that only has a single use.  Lasik is not a good option for me for financial reasons as well as the fact that I have super dry eyes and astigmatism. I often feel guilty about this plastic use.  But I also feel grateful to have an option that allows me to have better than 20/20 vision, good peripheral vision, no headaches, the ability to wear make-up (if I’m performing, for instance), and which isn’t affected by my super dry eyes.  *sigh*  

I just wanted to address this head on.  I’m not perfect in my reduction of plastic use in my own life.  I do what I can, and I can always do more.  I don’t want to legitimize my plastic use, nor do I want to feel like I bear an albatross around my neck.  I just want you, my readers, to recognize what plastic you use in your life, and to be aware.  The first step in reduction is awareness.  I am sharing my awareness.