Category: Expedition

Moving Right Along

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, Planning

So very much to do, but I am loving it.  Having time off this month to focus on planning and preparation is becoming more and more important.  My days are full.

Progress updates include the following:

My daughter, Haley, and I are going to pick up my Shasta kayak tomorrow, December 16.  The boat and all the gear that came with the deal (thanks again, Bob!) is being stored at Michael Clark’s Big Muddy Adventures headquarters in St. Louis.  Merry Christmas to me (payment day is so far removed in the past that they will seem like gifts :))!  Thanks again Michael for storing the boat for me.

Boat and GearJPG

Also, Haley confirmed with me yesterday that she will help with my shuttle.  She will accompany me to Montana, and hang out with me until I get started.  Then, drive my car back home.Xmas_2011_MoRiver

(The bandage on my hand was from last year this time.  I had carpal tunnel surgery on both my hands.  They are great now.)  We’ll definitely stay at Norm Miller’s Base Camp International in Livingston, MT, while I try and assess whether a source start is feasible. This road trip will be the first time we have been out of the state together, or on any type of significant trip, ever.  I cannot wait!

Rod Wellington, who will be paddling through Cooper’s Landing this Monday and Tuesday, will help me get a better idea of what the 300 mile stretch from Brower’s Spring to Three Forks is like.  He is encouraging me to start at the source: “Janet, I wholly encourage you to start at the source. The 298 river miles above Three Forks was my favourite part of the river. it cannot be topped. ”  I have wanted to start at the source since I decided to do this trip.  However, April will offer up additional challenges.

snow at browers

Brower’s Spring drainage heads off to the upper right of this photo (by Norm Miller).  This photo was taken in June.  I will have to start in mid-April.  Not sure if it will be possible, despite my ski-mountaineering background.  Hell Roaring Creek below heads downhill from the spring and, obviously, will not be a paddling stretch.  Seven miles hiking in and seven out.  Something to seriously consider.

HellRoaringCreek

I added a Pay Pal button on this blog (Make a Donation Page).  Financial support is not the only “support” I need, but it is an important one.  Haley and I met with Tina Casagrand yesterday to discuss Kickstarter, an online video fundraising program.  She shared a lot of valuable information with us in this regard.  I have asked Jim Karpowicz, friend, river rat, founder of Missouri River Relief, and creative documentary filmmaker, if he can help me produce a video.  He is willing to help so I hope to meet with him to discuss further.

I also met with the co-founder of Missouri River Relief, Charlotte Overby, who is now River Coordinator at Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF), and beloved by our entire river rat community.  CLF works with and supports groups and non-profits who advocate for wilderness lands managed by Bureau of Land Management (condensed explanation).  CLF supports Friends of the Missouri Breaks Monument.  We are floating ideas around.

UpperMoBreaks

I created a Facebook Page, LoveYourBigMuddy Expedition, so please “like” it.  Part of expedition planning is sponsorship proposals.  Companies like to see lots of exposure potential in their sponsorees.  Social media is a big component of the total experience.  Being as this is my first endeavor, it is likely sponsorship will be light, if not none.  But, one never knows for sure, right?  If you are reading this and have not yet “liked” my FB page, I implore you to do so.

Rod Wellington is due to arrive at Cooper’s Landing Monday and stay over a couple of nights.  He started at the source in June, and is paddling to the Gulf of Mexico.  He is paddling the seven longest rivers in seven continents, all self-powered.

Rod Wellington

We will take good care of Rod at Cooper’s, as we do all of the river folk paddling through.  He can stay for free, take a shower, do his laundry, drink beer, play games, eat a home-cooked meal, run into town, and watch wide-screen surround sound sports/TV/movies.  Monday night is game night at Cooper’s. Yes, like games:  SkipBo, Monopoly, Cribbage, darts, etc.   May be a bit of culture shock.  Although, he’ll be hanging out with river folk family.  We’ll warm him up before sending him back out on the river. Robin and Connie Kalthoff in Waverly set a high bar for taking care of paddlers.  They are about 3 or 4 days upriver, and one of the stops for paddlers on the way; a hard act to follow.  Here they are just yesterday, Friday.

Robin Kalthoff

Rod and I will be discussing the 300 miles between the source and Three Forks quite a bit.

You can visit his website at ZeroEmissionsExpedition

Zero Emissions Expeditions passionately promotes the practice of low impact, long distance, self-powered exploration.

Oh, one other thing happened last week.  I spoke with my Social Studies methods professor when he was writing up a teaching letter of recommendation for me.  I directed him to the MizzouWire story, which had just posted a couple days earlier.  Then I brought him to my blog site, and he loved all of it, especially the book, “Our Mississippi.”  He asked me to contact him after break and said he would help me with a book.  We’ll see.  I love it when things just fall into place.

Thanks for listening.  -Janet

Let the adventure begin! | Mizzou Wire | University of Missouri

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, Media

Sunset on the Missouri River, Cooper's Landing, Columbia, MO

Let the adventure begin! | Mizzou Wire | University of Missouri.

Let the adventure begin!

New Mizzou graduate plans record-setting kayaking expedition

  • Story by Nancy Moen
  • Photos by Shane Epping
  • Published: Dec. 7, 2012

December Mizzou graduate Janet Moreland plans to make history on a solo kayaking expedition this spring — and hopes to incorporate her adventures into a middle school curriculum. She’s equipped with 16 years of kayaking experience and a brand-new bachelor’s degree from the MU College of Education.

At 56 and with a new bachelor’s degree from the MU College of Education, one nontraditional student leaves Mizzou to pursue an adventure she’s been dreaming of for years. In May, Janet Moreland will embark on a solo kayaking expedition of the Missouri River from its headwaters at Three Forks, Mont., to St. Louis, a 2,320-mile span of paddling and portaging.

Moreland hopes to become the first woman to navigate that length of the Missouri River solo by kayak and to use the expedition as a teaching tool for social studies and science classes. She views the river as a “living laboratory” for teaching middle-school students about cultural history, geography, the natural environment and social interactions.

Just the thought of the approaching adventure wakes her up at night. “Maybe I’m an adrenalin junkie,” Moreland says.

Moreland’s journey will take three months, far less time than the 20 years she invested in working on a bachelor’s degree in education.

Extreme journey

Moreland has been training for her river adventure for years. The self-described river rat has been kayaking for 16 years, with nine of those on the Missouri River. She runs two miles every other day and has been jogging most of her life.

Moreland will need mental endurance as well as physical stamina to be on the river for days on end. As lonely as the expedition seems, Moreland will find support from a network of kayakers.

There will be fishermen, boaters and towns along the way, but Moreland could spend 10 days to two weeks on the river with no sign of civilization. She says solitude doesn’t bother her; she once lived alone in a house on 220 acres: “I’ve always been extremely independent. The solitude is something I look forward to.”

The tradeoff is the extraordinary beauty she’ll experience. The first 300 miles of the expedition will be engagingly scenic, and if she’s paddling on a cloudy night, light from the towns will reflect off the clouds to show her the way.

But the seven to nine big lakes along the route will offer challenges. One of those lakes is 230 miles long. Moreland’s major concern, however, is wind. Gusts along the river can reach 70 miles an hour, and if the winds are too strong, she’ll need to paddle at night when they die down.

Moreland caught the lure of extreme kayaking seven years ago after meeting paddler Dave Miller, author of The Complete Paddler. Miller had stopped for breakfast at Cooper’s Landing on the Missouri River, where Moreland cooked on Saturday mornings.

She was further hooked after another paddler, Norm Miller of Montana, said he believed she could be the first woman to kayak the entire length of the river solo. In 2004, Norm Miller (no relation to Dave Miller) paddled and hiked the Lewis and Clark route.

Janet MorelandIn September Moreland retired from her job in the MU Sustainability Office. A longtime environmentalist, Moreland thrives on outdoor adventures.

Wilderness and wildlife

Moreland will take an assortment of essential supplies for her journey, and she’ll refresh her two-week food and water supply in the river towns.

She’ll pack an expedition tent that can handle wind, a cook stove, a two-wheel trailer to portage her kayak around the dams, a sleeping bag, warm clothes and boots. She’ll take a flint stone as an emergency fire starter and a hatchet for chopping firewood, building windbreaks and cutting her way through river brush and vegetation.

She’ll keep bear spray on hand for any encounters with grizzly bears.

Because cell phone service will be scarce, she’ll use a laptop to post blogs and update her journal, forming the basis of a book she plans to write. A video camera attached to her kayak will capture images.

Moreland’s students and the public can follow her adventures at loveyourbigmuddy.com.

Trailblazing teacher

“Life is a journey. Live fast. Paddle slow,” sums up Moreland’s philosophy of life and love of adventure. Her goal as a teacher is to show students that it’s possible to follow their dreams, even those dreams considered out of reach.

“Children need to learn to believe they can make things happen they didn’t think were possible, and I want women to know that, too,” she says.

A lifetime of challenges that would test any adventurous spirit has seriously overqualified Moreland for extreme adventure.

She lived alone in Hawaii in the most remote part of the island and in Yosemite National Park. She worked as the first certified female member of a ski patrol in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, routinely doing avalanche control with dynamite and sometimes “under-the-rope” skiing on unpatrolled slopes.

She taught wind surfing and tried skydiving. She worked as a commercial salmon fisher in Southeast Alaska and as a carpenter in Bear Valley, Calif., repairing snow-damaged houses and, with two other carpenters, building a redwood house “from the ground up.”

Moreland’s quest for an education degree began in San Francisco, when her daughter, Haley Rose, was in preschool. Attending college part time, Moreland took classes here and there, fitting course work between moves, jobs and family responsibilities.

She moved to Columbia in 1996 after two years in Springfield, Mo., and, in 2005, decided to get serious about a Mizzou degree while working at the university. She retired recently from the Sustainability Office, where she worked on MU’s projects in environmental responsibility.

Her interest in kayaking developed after she learned her house was just down the road from the Missouri River. She drove to Coopers Landing and discovered the river.

“All of a sudden Columbia became home for me,” she says.

Teachable moments

Moreland plans to use her solo kayaking adventure as the basis of a curriculum on river sustainability and stewardship, as well as to build self-esteem in adolescents.

She’s greatly appreciative of and works locally with Missouri River Relief, a volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to the health of the Missouri River. The organization connects children, teachers and the public to the Missouri River through clean-up activities and educational events.

Partly because of that group, the Missouri River is an “incredibly clean, beautiful wilderness waterway,” Moreland says.

Moreland’s river explorations will continue after she completes this summer’s expedition. She plans to paddle down the Mississippi River, from St. Louis to New Orleans, in summer 2014.

Moreland completed a student-teaching internship during the fall semester at Jefferson Junior High School. She will work as a substitute teacher for Columbia Public Schools in spring semester, while applying for a permanent position after her adventure.

So, You Want to Paddle Down the Missouri River?

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, Missouri River

By Norm Miller, in his own words…

Norm Miller paddling UP the Missouri River in 2004, retracing the Lewis & Clark Trail: STL to the Pacific.

What does it take to paddle down the Mighty Missouri River from Montana to St. Louis?

I personally don’t think there is a formula as in hind sight, the experiences of others who have taken the challenge are all different. I think it maybe more of a personality type that can just go and take off for weeks or months…especially alone.

I am very comfortable being alone, which is not the same as being lonely. Some people are more secure with themselves than with a group of people. I’ve had friends tell me that they could never paddle and camp for weeks alone. When I hear this I get the sense that they don’t know themselves well enough. For me, it’s always been a way of life. I’ve been very independent all my life. Don’t get me wrong, I had plenty of friends to roam the neighborhood as a child, building forts, playing army, hiking and fishing and just plain escaping from our parents. I also spent many hours alone, comfortable being solo.

Norm’s expedition from St. Louis to Three Forks, MT, over the Rockies, and down to the Pacific Ocean took six months.

I often wondered that if everyone who has gone on a long paddle trip took the same personality profile, if we would all score the same rating? For the most part I am very shy, which some people find hard to believe. As a child I use to hide under my bed when relatives would come over, only to come out after they left. Now that I’m near 50-years old I feel more at ease around people, especially groups. But there are times when I must seek the shelter of my cave and go run off solo somewhere.

I personally feel more at ease when life is simple. I often feel I was born 200-years too late. I love to camp and enjoy the peace that I find along rivers or travelling abroad solo. I’m comfortable being in foreign countries and not knowing the language. I get by easily with sign language and drawing pictures to communicate to people.

To me if you can paddle all day, set up camp, cook your food, clean up your mess, go to bed, get up in the morning and repeat everything, then paddling two-three months is not that big a deal. It becomes far more of an emotional, spiritual, and psychological journey than a physical one. My mind is always at battle wondering about things, my well being, what if’s, do’s and don’ts. In 2004 while paddling up the Missouri I was at a constant battle with myself. The main issue was the slow pace in which I moved. I could have easily walked much faster than I was paddling. In the strong currents of the lower river, 2-mph hour was my tops speed. So, living in the 20th century with all the high-speed fast paced lives we all lived, slowing down to a snail’s pace was very difficult. I had to concentrate on the small picture, never the final destination. My mantra was “one stroke at a time will get you to the ocean.” I had to stay focused on the bend ahead, the distant tree or bridge and never the Pacific! I would have gone insane had I not slowed my mind set. “River Time” is what many paddlers talk about; slowing down the pace of the world, the natural environment and not the speedy rate that most follow.

Being able to adapt to changing conditions is another factor that is helpful. On my first big paddle trip I started off very set in my beliefs as to how the day should go. I didn’t accept change very easy. Well, that only lasted about a week and I knew that nature dictated much more than I ever imagined. The weather was the biggest factor. Wind and storms will tell you when you can and cannot paddle. So get use to watching the sky, feeling the wind, observing the weather. It truly tells a lot. After a week or two you can get much better than the weatherman at determining what the forecast will be for the day. There will be times when you just have to wait it out. I’ve spent days wind-bound to a tent, waiting for a break to proceed onward. Don’t be in a hurry. Enjoy the storms, the hail, the tornados, the flooding, the snow, the lightning and the intense sun. Explore the surrounding shore, the distant hillsides. I’ve spent hours in N. Canada on a remote river on my knees looking at stones. I’ve found some amazing things while wandering around waiting for the wind to abate; from Inuit burial grounds, old buildings, rare animal sightings, hot springs, and even a family gathering with plenty of cold beer. Being stranded in the wind is also a good time to rest, to catch up on that needed sleep. I’ve come to love the wind! It has become my friend. I no longer curse it but enjoy its gifts and wonder.

Wind-bound on Canyon Ferry Reservoir

to be continued…

Wilderness Classroom…can you say, “Totally Awesome!”

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Education, Expedition

Dave and Amy are on a three year kayak/canoe/dog-sledding expedition around North America, bringing the wilderness into the classrooms of 65,000 school children and 1900 teachers.

Currently delayed on their North American Odyssey, which they began on Earth Day in 2010, they were scheduled to present at the New Jersey Kayak shop right before Hurricane Sandy hit.  They presented to a small audience, and then got outta there.  The shop suffered damage, but their kayaks were waiting for them, tied up in front, when they returned from evacuation.  They are staying in New Jersey for awhile to assist with the hurricane relief before heading down the east coast to Key West.

Check out their introductory video here, their blog, and their Facebook page to see exactly what they are doing.

Very cool.  Enjoy!

Vanessa Knight Begins Adventure Pedal-STL to SF

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, Uncategorized

Vanessa (Ness) Knight was part of Dave Cornthwaite’s 1000 mile swim support crew this summer.  While Dave swam 1000 miles down the Missouri River, Vanessa SUP’d alongside, with Ben Stiff and Emily Bell, the entire way.

L-R: Ben, Em, Dave, and Ness

Vanessa headed out today from St. Louis to San Francisco on her own personal adventure expedition.  She is realizing a dream, like literally, a reoccuring dream I’ve had for decades: biking across the country.  You GO, girl.  Check her blog site out here.

Ness Knight

Hey Em, looking forward to hearing from you, and your future adventure endeavors!!!  Keep in touch!  😉

Dave’s Expedition 1000 crew, minus Vanessa–she struggled with food poisoning and hit the pillow early this night.
Sorry we missed talking to you, Ness.

Self-efficacy: A Blessing or a Burden?

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, The Route
Below Fort Benton. Photo by Norm Miller.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my trip down the Missouri River.  Most days, I long for the start day to arrive, even though I still have much preparation left to do.  I think about some of my conversations with Missouri River paddlers, as we visited on their stops at Cooper’s Landing, and the advice to “just go put your kayak in the river and go.”  This simple advice helps me keep the trip in perspective:  just enjoy the paddle and the “country”side.  Of course, there is the challenge, too.  My self-efficacious nature says, “bring it on”!  I absorb every piece of information and all video clips I can find on our Facebook Paddlers pages.  I make note of much advice from Norm Miller, my go-to expert.  I read about paddling expeditions, or expeditions in general, to learn about experiences requiring mental durability, physical stamina, and personal validation for embarking on extraordinary missions.

Thomas Walker, Tyler Ranes and Bob Bellingham passing through Cooper’s and sharing their stories.
Enjoying Mark Kalch’s enthusiasm at Cooper’s during his stop-over.

Expeditions are not for everyone.  But for some, the need to set goals beyond the borders of your box and the zones of your comfort are always within mental range.  In my twenties living in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, my peers and I were always pushing the limits of security by skiing where most people don’t, high up on the mountain tops or across the mountain range.  In my thirties, my peers and I on the coast endeavored to break through windsurfing securities by attempting to sail the uncompromising waves at Ocean Beach and, of course, at the mouth of San Francisco Bay (you DON’T want to break down with an outgoing tide, just sayin’.)  Perhaps it is a matter of insecurity, always striving for the satisfaction of defying your personal limits.  I don’t know.  Perhaps it is growing up with two older brothers and always believing I could do ANYthing they could do.  I once climbed out on a limb of a tree when I was five years old, my brothers watching, undoubtedly on a dare.  The challenge ended with a fall and a mild concussion (maybe that’s it!).  Perhaps it is a love for the wilderness and the need to get access to it.  Part of it HAS to be the challenge.

Mt. Williamson group from Bear Valley in early 80s. Took two days, half of us made it to the summit. Glad we made it safely up, then down.
Chute skiing in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite (before road opening).
S.F. Bay-sailing with the big dogs.

Self-efficacy:

“People with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided.”
–Albert Bandura

Looking down at the Brower’s Spring drainage (in the middle) from Sawtelle Peak. Photo by Norm Miller.

My mental challenge right now, which I have been confronted with since I committed to this expedition:  where do I start?  Do I make it a river “source” start, which adds 300 miles, two weeks, major expedition conditions (skiing in to Brower’s Spring at 8,800 ft in April?), and access to some incredibly beautiful wilderness, including a wildlife refuge?  Or, do I just put my kayak in the river at the mouth of the Missouri and start paddling?

Hell Roaring Creek below Brower’s Spring. This would be a ski or snowshoe stretch (I think 7 miles in and 7 out), not to be paddled.
Norm Miller (left) and Mark Kalch (right) at Hell Roaring Creek below Brower’s Spring, which is back up in the mountains behind them.

Watch Norm Miller’s video of Mark Kalch sharing his experience as he made his way down the stretch from the “source” to the “headwaters” of the Missouri River.  Much of this section leaves little to be desired…  Click here

Mark heading off just below Three Forks. Plenty of incredible wilderness to behold. Photo by Norm Miller.

I can’t help but think I would regret not starting at the ultimate source at Brower’s Spring, being soooo close.  However, the thought of just putting in at Three Forks gives me a more peaceful easy feeling as well as an assurance of some incredibly beautiful wilderness, without the expedition extremes.  Oh, the burden of a self-efficacious nature!  🙂

Dreaming of days, and nights, on the river

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, Missouri River

I lay here watching the lightning and listening to the thunder outside.  I have just put down Dave Miller’s “The Complete Paddler.”  I am trying to imagine laying in my bed on the banks of the river, in the midst of wilderness, perhaps a storm outside my tent, and wondering if I’ll be imagining this very night in which I’m dreaming of my 3-month trek down the Missouri River.  I am safe and warm and dry right now.  Will this be something I long for then, just as I am longing for the isolation and adventure now?  (photo by Norm Miller)

Three Cheers to our Inconspicuous Victors this last Week-end!!!

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, Missouri River

Victory in St. Joseph!

So many victories on the rivers this last week end!  Hats off and kudos to these awe-inspiring challenges and extraordinary achievements.  But the humblest of all heroes are in St. Joseph and they deserve our attention, too.  First, though, a recap of events:

Mark Kalch is first man to paddle the Missouri River from source to Gulf, completing two out of seven of the longest rivers on seven continents.  http://www.7rivers7continents.com/worlds-end/

Dave Corthwaite swims 1000 miles of the Missouri River and pulls into the St. Louis Arch having completed his trek with his team.  https://www.facebook.com/expedition1000

Tyler Ranes and Tom Walker finish their (aluminum) canoe trip from Great Falls, Montana, to New Orleans.  https://www.facebook.com/tyler.ranes.5?ref=ts&fref=ts

Brent Mills and Hunter from Greenville, South Carolina had reached the Gulf the very morning Mark Kalch did, having paddled the length of the Mississippi River from Lake Ithasca.  https://www.facebook.com/brent.mill?ref=ts&fref=ts

 Dom Liboiron Canoeing to New Orleans in Memory of my Uncle Mitch, Rod Wellington https://www.facebook.com/rod.wellington.9?ref=ts&fref=ts , and Matthew Batton https://www.facebook.com/matthew.batten.73?ref=ts&fref=ts are still paddling on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

But let me tell you about the unsung heroes on the Missouri River.  The citizens of St. Joseph, Missouri, under the leadership of Missouri River Relief, spent a cold day on the river cleaning up trash from its river banks on Saturday.  Different strokes for different folks (no pun intended), these adults, children, men, and women reaped unforgettable rewards and earned quiet respect because of their selfless service to help make our Big Muddy one of the cleanest and finest rivers in all the land.

Three cheers to River Relief and the folks in St. Joseph!!!  You should stand tall among the victories that graced our mighty waterways this last week-end, October 6, 2012.

(Clean up photos by Rachel Beck  www.rachelbeckphotos.com )

Lots of Activity on the River(s) Lately

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, Missouri River

Dear interested readers:

Today, October 6, 2012, we congratulate two phenomenal adventure accomplishments.

One, Mark Kalch reaches the Gulf of Mexico yesterday after paddling from the Missouri River source at Brower’s Spring in Montana beginning in June.  He has been paddling every day for over four months and has become the first man to paddle solo the entire Missouri River and watershed, which is approximately 3780 miles, and the longest river in North America.  Congratulations Mark!

Here is an earlier email sent to Norm Miller regarding his finish:  From Mark: “Done! Stoked! That South Pass below mile 0 is beautiful. Can you believe got down there about midday and guess what? 2 young fellas who had paddled down from Ithasca!!! Ha! Crazy! Cool. Brent and Hunter. They have a facebook page. Big muddy mississippi adventure or something. Crazy huh? This was at Port Eads about a mile from end. They had teed up a lift back so I sprinted my ass down to open ocean. Big waves. Did some video and photos then pulled onto sand and did some more. Paddled back up a mile and we hung out at the top of the lighthouse there. There loaded kayaks onto boat and back in Venice in 20 mins! Stoked! They have left now. Had no room in car back to New Orleans. But dont matter got to sort gear and clean boat. Hope to get a lift back Sat or Sun.M

Secondly, Dave Cornthwaite and his team: Ness, Em, and Ben, approach St. Louis this morning, October 6, 2012, after Dave swam 1,000 miles down the Missouri River.  We had the pleasure of meeting the team at Cooper’s Landing last Sunday and enjoyed their company immensely.  They are a charming bunch with an immense enthusiasm for challenge and adventure while raising money and awareness for breast cancer through the CoppaFeel organization.

Dave has a bag of 25 adventure trips he is in the midst of accomplishing, and Em is starting to step out of her “normal” box into a life of “challenge and adventure.”  You GO Girl!  Was not able to visit with Vanessa because she was healing from a bout with food poisoning.  Ben was busy enjoying bonfire and beers while at Cooper’s.  He adapted immediately to the Cooper’s Culture.
Word from Dave’s twitter feed one minute ago: they reached the STL Arch at 10:20 AM, about an hour ago.  Three cheers for the team!!!

Here is a clip from their first days:

The Early Days (includes a visit from Mark Kalch)

Here is a link to his blog post which, when I read it, I instantly became interested in their endeavor:  dave-corn

Hot off the press from Dave:  We made it! Journey No. 7 of Expedition1000 finished at 10:20am this morning, as my team and I reached St Louis Arch to finish an epic 1000-mile swim. Hard to believe its over, what a challenge! See www.Facebook.com/expedition1000 for further updates and photos throughout the day. Yeah!

As for me, I am fully immersed in student teaching 8th grade Social Studies.  I am loving every minute, but not a day goes by that I don’t contemplate some aspect of the challenge ahead of me beginning in May.  Which will be more of a challenge, teaching middle school or paddling 2300 miles of the Missouri River in 3 months?  No clear answer yet!  All good!

Regarding planning, Eddyline and I are in communication.  They have asked me to send them a “wish list.”  Sweet! Thank you, Lisa!  I have corresponded with Kokatat and have sent them a wish list for paddling gear.  They will not be considering any expedition sponsorships until after January 1.  Dave Cornthwaite strongly suggests I consider taking a MacPro laptop and a Go Pro camera for uploading, downloading, writing, posting, tweeting, photographing, and authoring.   I am planning to apply to be a SPOT Ambassador.  I will have a spot locator no matter what, an absolute necessity according to Bob Bellingham.  The device will track my progress/location, send updates to designated family/friends, and serve as an emergency 911 communication device.  A tent, stove, and sleeping bag will be my most important sponsorship requests, which I will work on very soon.  With all of these items in my quiver, I will be nearly fully equipped.  Oh, and a solar charger.

Veteran Missouri River paddlers are planning a float gathering that would land them in the river with me at, or near, the beginning of my expedition. VERY excited about that possibility!  Among these paddlers are my coach,  Norm Miller, who, during the 2004 Lewis & Clark Bicentennial, paddled up the Missouri River from St. Louis to Montana, hiked over the Rockies, and paddled down to the Pacific following the route of The Corp of Discovery.  He is also host extraordinaire for all paddlers heading down the Big Muddy from Montana.  And, Dave Miller who authored the Missouri River paddler’s bible, The Complete Paddler, and visitor to Cooper’s Landing in 2003, when he laid over and hung out with us Riverbillies for around 10 days (we know how to have a good time!), has indicated he will be coming out from New York.  I am in the process of convincing my brother to come and float a week with me, too.  He has always been close at hand during my life’s adventures.

Oh, and University of Missouri’s photographer, Shane Epping, will meet with me on Sunday to take photos which will accompany a story on MizzouWire, the University’s Alumni Association electronic newsletter.  They are interested in my expedition and would like to post the story in December.

Okay, off I go to write up lesson plans, reflections, and a capstone paper.  Life is good.  Busy, but good.

Warm regards, Janet

First Press About my Expedition

by loveyourbigmuddy expedition, posted in Expedition, Media
Bob demonstrating how the sail works.

Greetings!  Bob Bellingham from Australia, after 12 weeks paddling the Missouri River from the headwaters in Montana, stayed overnight at Cooper’s Landing last Wednesday, August 22.  He is only five or six days from St. Louis, his final destination.

While we were looking at his boat and gear on the boat ramp, Tom and Tyler paddled up.  They are two free-spirited 20 year-old men paddling in a canoe from Great Falls, Montana, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

The two, and Bob, have been leap-frogging down the river on their own individual journeys.  What a nice evening sharing river stories, eating Thai food, and listening to a couple from Guatemala play music!  I know, right? In Columbia, Missouri!

Earlier in the evening Tess and Zach from the Columbia Missourian, one of our local papers in town, came down to interview Bob and me.  This is a nice story about Bob and his journey, and my first local press regarding my expedition.  It’s pretty special.  (Thank you, John Schneller)

You can find the article from Friday, August 24, here:  Columbia Missourian.

L-R: Zac the photographer, Bob the paddler, Tess the writer.

A photo of me, and Bob, from the article.