Sandy Bromenschenkel, texted me last night to say, “was that you passing by? You could have stayed here!” Well, shoot, I missed a great opportunity.  But not to worry; she very graciously and generously brought me some duct tape this morning so I could fix the Mama Raccoon damage on my deck bag, AND some freshly made pancakes (with local fresh blueberries and homemade maple syrup), eggs, lemonade, and strawberries.  What a treat!  She and I enjoyed a lovely morning breakfast together at the picnic table, me sharing my experience so far, her telling me stories of past paddlers that she’s hosted and met over the years.  It feels like a quest in a way.  Each person I meet has a little bit more information to share about what to expect in the upcoming days, and if I missed them, I’d miss out on the info.  For instance, I learned that I can probably get a portage around the dams in Grand Rapids, and that there’s a library right across and upstream from the put-in, where I can likely pitch my tent (and enjoy wifi!).  I think I might do that tonight/tomorrow.  I’m sitting on the dock at Schoolcraft right now.  Some young girls came and went for a quick swim as I was packing up my tent, mindful of my things strewn about the dock.  My phone is charging by the sun.  I’m rested and fed, and now it’s time for me to get packed up and head out.

As I packed up, a young boy and his father came through, to go fishing.  They returned with 3 walleye before I left, and I had a chance to talk with them about my project.  The young boy, Danny, was super congenial and appreciated the plastic ball I gave him (found floating on the river last night) and a couple stickers. The young ladies came back too, more numerous this time, and they were super excited about my project.  I learned they were councilors (Megan, Mary and Josey) from Camp Foley.  They all excitedly asked questions and when I shoved off, they let out a great cheer for me, and shouts of encouragement.  Whoo hoo, what a great send-off!

I paddled 18 miles today, still a long day, and especially long after 26 miles yesterday (my longest so far).  I paddled a lot with my eyes closed, and slumped forward on my deck bag or leaned back on my deck several times for a quick cat nap.  Each time, I started in the center of the river, flowing slowly forward, but woke up lodged in the reeds, still.  It was one of those I-feel-like-I’m-only-using-a-cereal-spoon days.  To exacerbate the feeling of are-we-there-yet?, when I reached the lake on which the Grand Rapids Power Plant is located, the lake was choked with reeds, meaning that what could have been a 2 mile paddle straight across became a multiple mile switch-back paddle as I followed the widest part of the river.  Half-way through the lake, my phone rang, and I gladly used the opportunity to take a rest.  It was a journalist from the Lexington Herald-Leader.  I have to admit, I’ll never get tired of taking “official” business-type calls in the wilderness!  

I also did my first water collection sample for Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation today.  I will be collecting 1L water samples approximately every 100 miles, which I will send to their lab.  They will dry out the sample, burn off the organic material, and use a microscope to take a look at what sort of microplastics are present.  Microbeads?  Filaments?  More on this to come...

I also received a tip from a river angel, Jim, that the campsite at Pokegama (above Grand Rapids) was safer than the library.  Again, an excuse to stop early.  Check!  When I arrived, a very nice man offered his son’s campsite as a place to pitch my tent since the campsite was full.  Again, thank you!  The campground officer, Colin (same guy that helped Dave Roberts on Lake Winnie a few weeks ago) helped me locate wifi nearby.  So I walked half a mile to the LMNOP-za pizza place where I used wifi for ½ hr to check email before they closed.  And enjoyed a whole 10” pizza.

Today was the 2nd day in a row that I skipped my planned campsite and went straight on to the next. Last week, when my deltoids stopped working, another muscle group would work until failure, and so on until paddling felt like I was just stirring soup with a spoon and nothing more.  Today, when my deltoids felt tired, I felt a strong lower back kicking in, I felt alternate postures and handle-grips working their magic.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still super sore and should probably not push it too hard over the next few days, but I do feel like I’m getting better at this!

Leaving Crazy James’ campsite, I felt like it was my duty to record the spot (on instagram) since I would normally think it was quite beautiful.  I did my best, but the mosquitos were thick, and so was the poison ivy.  I was trying to get out of there as fast as possible.  Along the river today, I continued listening to Harry Potter and the methods of Rationality—it’s a good keep-paddling-method, listening to a story.  I saw more than 10 bald eagles, and an otter bouncing on a sand bar, and a bunch more rodents (can’t ever tell if they’re otter, beaver, or muskrats) swimming.  The kingfisher are not enormous anymore, but they’re still plentiful.  Goldfinch have started making an appearance, and at night I hear bullfrogs (I think not native?) in addition to the greenfrogs (which sound like knocks on wood).  

At one point, I paddled by a homestead, marked by hand-hewn fences, and out popped a man, who seemed to have a 6th sense for paddlers coming through (I usually sneak up on wildlife! But he was immediately out to greet me).  It was George Hawkins, one of the Mississippi River Paddlers river angels, and he offered me a new handle to make portaging easier (yay!), some peanut butter and dehydrated eggs (to make up for the nuts and eggs that Mama Raccoon stole yesterday), and some of his gorgeous beaded handiwork! He's of native descent (Leech Lake band of Ojibiwe, bear clan, eagle spirit) and works with super tiny beads and his own designs.  He lost his daughter in an accident earlier this year, and I think I reminded him of her a little bit, at least in adventuresome spirit.  I will think of him and his daughter fondly every time I wear the earrings.  He was so encouraging.  “You’re doing great.  There are people who gave up on this journey before here.  You just stay healthy and keep those bug bites and poison ivy under control and you’ll be okay.  I think one man stopped not far from here because he said his legs looked like tapioca.  You gotta dry the poison ivy out, and keep from scratching the bug bites.  You’ll be fine.”  The earrings are made in the image of James Earle Fraser's "End of the Trail" sculpture, which depicts a Native American on horseback, returning from battle.  It is meant to represent the strength of the Native, their spirituality, their medicine as they transformed, proudly, into the next century. George suggested that he meant it for me as encouragement that I would definitely reach the "end of the trail," and that I had his blessing. In his words, "it stands for 'never give up.' The horse and rider are dead tired and still stand to fight."  I asked how long he had lived there on the river, and he said, “6 generations”!  It's the ancestral land of one of the seven native sisters who made a bluster and were granted the land by the POTUS at the time.

I interviewed George, and it turns out in 4th grade, he and some classmates were the kids that came up with “Give a hoot, don’t pollute”!!  I think that’s so cool!  He’s my hero, and I met him! (interview coming soon)  I enjoyed chatting with him on the river bank a while longer.  He set me up with some pool noodle as paddle grips for my aching hands (a wider grip to relax my arthritic hands), and I was off.  


The deer flies were really bad on the water today, so I wore my head net during the 2nd half of the day. I paddled on all the way to Schoolcraft State Park, just past Deer River where I arrived just before 10pm.  I had just barely enough light to set up my tent, and then it was dark.  The humming mosquitos swarming outside my tent lulled me to sleep.

The day was sunny and gorgeous as we enjoyed the drive up from Minneapolis to Lake Itasca.  I had been up until 3am again, downloading all the the audiobooks I want to listen to along the journey, and we woke up at 6:30 to get the kayak loaded onto the car.  We arrived at Lake Itasca around 2 and it took another hour or so for me to pack the boat, and then portage it over to the headwaters.  I met a bunch of people at the café there and standing at the headwaters and shared with them my business cards so they could follow along.  One young lady (~10?) who was playing in the water asked me where I kept my clothes and what I’d eat along the way, and then she said, “Mom, I want to do that when I grow up.” 

Brad and Jenny have helped me SO MUCH in the last stages of preparation for this journey.  Brad was there, snapping pictures as I fumbled for the first time into my kayak on the water.  It began to rain, and someone mentioned tornado warnings, but I just wanted to get going.  The rain held to a light drizzle most of the 5 miles, and let up several times. 

From the very start, I was in love and reminded what it is to be in the wilderness.  Wild iris blooming purple on the banks, new-to-me water lilies open to the sky, ducks and ducklings around the bend, but also mosquitos, spiders, and a leech.  I was so glad I had packed my mosquito head net on deck—I wore it most of my paddle while flies and mosquitos buzzed around. 

At the very start, I found 3 floating flip-flops and a lone croc.  I retrieved them from the water and I realized I was going to have to start carrying a trashbag on deck for this sort of plastic –waste clean up. 

The first day was marked by shallow water and lots of mud.  I had to walk my boat through some of the areas where it was just too shallow, and I almost lost my teva several times because the mud was stronger than the Velcro on it.  I ended up going barefoot most of the way.  

Just as I started to get tired, a huge thundercloud came up behind me, and I was lucky that it brushed aside me, and never went overhead.  I saw some scary (but beautiful) cloud formations and wondered if I should just pull into a mud flat and hunker down for the night in the marsh.  I couldn’t really think how that might work, but decided it was what I’d do if I saw lightning.  The clouds got darker and darker, and I heard thunder, and just when I was sure I was going to have to mud-camp my first night, an enormous rainbow erupted.  It made me so happy and elated!!!  What better way to start this trip than an ominous storm that warns, followed by an encouraging “you can do it” from the sky above.  As the rainbow faded I saw a snap of lightning, and when I rounded the next bend, I saw the blessed signpost for the my destination, campsite Wanagam.  

Relieved, I hardly even minded the above-the-knee mud that I had to climb into to crawl up the bank.  Gathering my camping gear from the hatches with a drizzle, mosquitos, and so much mud was definitely a trick.  But I reminded myself what I’ve been coaching myself to say in all such situations—“go slow, one thing at a time, be careful.”  

The rain let up as I set up camp, and I was so exhausted, I just had a can of baked beans for dinner.  I realized that I overestimated my map’s “waterproof” nature, and that it was mangled by the water because I hadn’t put it in a ziplock bag.  Dumb dumb dumb. Oh well, could have been worse.  I cleaned off what I could of all the mud, and collapsed into my tent, wet and cold and glad to have a cozy bed.  

I'm rather embarrassed by all the new gear and equipment I have, but also grateful for the opportunity to be doing this journey at a time when technology, materials science, and engineering play a huge part in the success of such expeditions.  Even 10 or 20 years ago some of my gear and equipment didn't exist or was prohibitively expensive.  For instance, I used to never travel with music because tapes were just too heavy and bulky.  I remember considering bringing mini-discs along in Tanzania in 2001, but decided that part of the traveling experience was leaving comforts like music behind.  And look at me now!  Traveling with my computer!  And ALL my music!  And my phone!  And an ipod!  etc etc etc...  Don't worry, I will still be enjoying the sounds of the river quite a lot.  

In the past few days, in addition to my kayak, I have aqcuired:

• GoPro Hero4 Silver/Surf for optimal video sharing of the experience, with the relief of knowing my camera is waterproof.  THIS IS FOR YOU, DEAR READERS!  I've got deck-mounting, tripod, and head-mounting capability. I can't wait to see how it works...
• GPS Garmin eTrex 10 for marking exact lat/lon for data collection, speed, and waypoint entry.
• YSI Pro2030 sonde (water quality probe) for measuring dissolved oxygen, salinity, conductivity, specific conductance, total dissolved solids, barometric pressure, and temperature. Major shout out and THANK YOU to YSI for lending this equipment for this project.  They went above and beyond by expressing excitement about my journey and overnighting this instrument to me. Looking forward to using it! 
• VHF Cobra Marine handheld floating radio for listening to weather and communicating with lock managers and barge captains.
• Werner camano carbon shaft 2-piece paddle.  I am looking forward to using the greenland paddle that the boat came with; they say the long, thin blades make paddling very easy and efficient for long distances.  It's a paddle that is easy on joints which is especially important for someone like me with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.  It will take a longer time to get up to speed, and doesn't do technical paddling very well, though, so I have the Werner paddle to make sure I can paddle quickly out of the way of barges if need be.  I have also heard that switching between a carbon blade and a greenland paddle is something that my wrists will thank me for. 
• Pelican cases and dry bags.  Pelican cases for my electronics, and dry bags galore for everything else.  I have a feeling that this expedition will be mostly spent pulling things out of bags, stuffing things into bags, and packing them all.  I have already resolved to use all this time as my daily meditation.  I've already managed to scrape my nail across the back of one of my knuckles (scabbed over now) while stuffing something into a sack, so I need to be very mindful and relaxed when I do this activity. Can't have any uneccesary cuts and scrapes on the river!
• Utility cord to tether everything to my boat!  Don't want to lose ANYTHING.
• Transparency tube for measuring water transparency.  It's like a secchi disk (a black and white checked disk that you lower into the water until you can't see it, then measure the length of the cord), but is a little bit more precise because you don't have to worry about the difficulty of measuring transparency in shallow water, or the forward angle that might arise in fast currents, obscuring the true depth of transparency.
• Water proof note pad and water proof pen for writing down my water quality data.  I'm such a nerd, I love this data collection stuff.  
• Two more platypus water bags.  They're virtually indestructible.  I had two already (one of which I've had for 19 years and is in great shape), but bought a couple more to make up for the laundry detergent container that I had planned on using in camp for washing hands and dishes.  (It was just to bulky to fit anywhere in my kayak, so I relegated it to the recycling bin).  The platypus water bags will conform easily to the strange shape of the area behind my seat in the cockpit where they'll live.  
• Lifefactory glass food storage container with silicone molding for holding my leftovers overnight and eating the next day for lunch
• Grand Trunk collapsible camp stool, which I hear is great for doubling as a solar panel platform, where the battery can hang out in the mesh pocket underneath.  I also hear it's great for drying clothes under safety of the rain fly at night.  And plus, every account I've read has said that the camp chair is the one thing everyone was SO GLAD they brought.
• GoalZero Sherpa 50 Solar kit which is rated for expedition type excursions and charging not just a phone, but my energy-hungry laptop (and GoPro, and VHF, and iPod).
• And, perhaps my favorite piece of gear, the Sea to Summit Jetstream Pump Sack for pumping up my sleeping pad each night without getting winded and dizzy.  I'm inspired and impressed with the simplicity and functionality of this small, lightweight, super helpful equipment.
  
  

In just a week, I'll be headed up to Minneapolis to collect my kayak and a few more provisions, and then I'll be starting this journey!  Ever since I dropped my cats off at their summer camp location, things have felt like they're moving at a very fast clip.  Last minute dehydrating, last minute packing, and I'm still making last minute calls and connections.  I'm SO excited, and I am utterly grateful and humbled by the 58 people so far who have donated to my Kickstarter campaign--we are 70% of the way to my goal!  The kickstarter is up until next Friday, June 19th at 11:59pm. THANK YOU so much, to all of you who have helped spread the word of this project and donated.  I have one more week to go, and collecting that last 30% is going to be nerve-wracking, so please help me get to my goal SOONER than LATER (please!). If I go over my goal, I will be able to potentially afford a sonde (a probe that measures water quality), which would really improve the ease and stability of my water quality measurements.  At this point, I have spoken with John Sullivan, a water quality biologist who used to work for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  He paddled the Mississippi a few years ago, measuring water quality along the way.  He has shared his data and methodology with me, and I'll be repeating it to the best of my abilities.  He was able to borrow a sonde from the Wisconsin DNR a few years ago, but does not have access to them any more, as he has retired. I am doing my best to borrow a sonde, but in the event that I am not able to borrow one, I would only be able to afford one if I am funded $1200-1500 above my stated fundraising goal.  Failing that, I'll be collecting water samples the old fashioned way, measuring the samples ashore later in the day; a methodology that is much more time-intensive.  So, fingers crossed that I make my goal ASAP, and that I am able to either borrow a sonde, or that my fundraising goes exceedingly well.  Help me out, my dear readers! 

I'm so excited to be announcing this project!  I will be paddling the Mississippi River this summer while documenting water quality and plastic waste along the way.  This blog is where I will be sharing all progress, stories, videos, photos and journal entries.  Please RSS the blog to make sure you don't miss an entry.  Thanks for joining me!