the trip – loveyourbigmuddy expeditions

I am ready to get the ball rolling in high gear. My website will be developed enough to post for public in the next couple of days, I’m hoping, which is necessary before I can start contacting potential sponsors. I am having trouble sleeping at night thinking about all the things that need to be done.

I am meeting with Missouri River Relief on Sunday to discuss the trip and our relationship in it together. That will be a big step. Last week I filled out a couple of website contact portals. The initial one was to National Park Service, who claimed to be looking for projects to fund. Another was the Army Corps of Engineers. Much to my surprise, I heard from US Army Corps of Engineers yesterday! Neil Bass said that since they’re a govt agency, they could not sponsor monetarily, but they would be happy to provide river info, aerial maps, and meet with me on the lower river with food resupplies. Wow! I was thrilled to hear that. We will be in touch with each other after August.

I received my signed copy of The Complete Paddler by David Miller. Started reading it the other day (at 2:00 AM) and could hardly put it down. It is considered the “Bible” for paddling the MO River from its headwaters. Made me realize that this is truly an impressive journey and far from being a vacation paddle (not that that was what I was thinking). I think there will be lots of pleasure to be had in ways I’m not aware of yet. This may be true with displeasures as well. Got that.

The expedition is a perfect fit for me in so many ways. I love the mountains, rivers, lakes, paddling, wildlife, outdoor challenges, Lewis and Clark’s expedition, and I enjoy solitude. I also love meeting new people, so I am looking forward to the multiplicity of the journey. I feel a craving for it.

Once I get some sponsorship letters mailed out, it will be time to slooooow down and focus on student teaching. Three days of teacher planning will begin in mid-August, then school starts. Teaching middle school may very well be a challenge that rivals a float down the entire Missouri River. We’ll see.

I want to give special thanks to Norman Miller for coaching me through the initial phase of my decision to do this trip. He supplied me with an enourmous amount of information and motivation. He provided the water that started the seed growing, the seed that David Miller planted in my mind when he layed over for a week at Cooperslanding on the final leg of his trek down the river. I think that was around 2004.

That’s it for now. If you are actually reading this, thanks for your interest, and feel free to comment. I still don’t know what I’m doing with this blog, but I’m learning.

Paddle fast ~ live slow

Hmmmm….perhaps right now “live fast ~ paddle slow” is more appropriate.

Life is good.

Janet

LoveYourBigMuddy Expedition

My name is Janet Moreland. I am a Missouri River paddler from Columbia, MO, most often found at or near Cooper's Landing, Rivermile 170.

I graduated from the University of Missouri in December 2012 with a degree in Education, and am now certified to teach middle school social studies and/or science.

In December, 2013, I completed a 3,800-mile source-to-sea solo kayak expedition from the Missouri River source at Brower's Spring, Montana, to the Gulf of Mexico. On April 24, 2013, I skied into the source at 9,000 ft. in the Centennial Mountains, and arrived via South Pass at the Gulf of Mexico on December 5, 2013. My mission included elements of empowerment, education, and environmental stewardship.

In 2016 I successfully completed a solo kayak expedition from the Mississippi River source at Lake Itasca, MN, down to the Gulf of Mexico. And, in 2017 I solo journeyed the entire Yukon River from the Llewellyn Glacier on Atlin Lake, British Columbia, to the Bering Sea at Emmonak, AK.

It is believed that I am the first person ever to successfully solo kayak, from source to sea, the three longest rivers on the North American continent.

Status Updates

The journey is not over until the mission bears fruit:
Empowerment ~ Education ~ Environment

I reached the Gulf of Mexico on December 5, 2013.

Thanks to everyone for their heartfelt support. This was OUR expedition, and for that I am grateful.

Here is a synopsis:
I completed the challenging yet successful ski into
Brower’s Spring with Norm Miller on April 24-25.

I completed three days of incredible
bike riding 100 miles from Hell Roaring Canyon
To Clark Canyon Dam.

I paddled down the Beaverhead River from Clark Canyon Dam to Twin Bridges, where the river worked me hard and I suffered two holes in my boat and a sprained wrist by the second day.

From Twin Bridges, the Beaverhead River turns into the Jefferson River, which is deeper and wider, and one of the more beautiful stretches of this journey. This leg of the journey is neatly tucked under my belt.

I arrived in Three Forks, the headwaters of the Missouri River, on Saturday, May 11, approximately 300 miles downstream from the ultimate source, Brower’s Spring.

I spent the next four months paddling down the Missouri River, stopping at my home base, Cooper’s Landing, on September 16.

My birthday on September 28 marked my arrival in St. Charles, and I paddled through the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers the next day, September 29.

Proceeding down the Mississippi River, I arrived in Memphis, TN, on October 17. Here, I took an extended break of two weeks because of a speaking engagement I flew out to in Bend, OR, at the Conservation Lands Foundation ‘Friends Rendezvous.’

November 1 found me on my way again down the Mississippi River until December 5 when I reached the Gulf of Mexico.

Oh, what a trip it was!

Then, I couldn’t leave the upper Mississippi untouched, so I paddled the whole thing in 2016, Lake Itasca to the Gulf.

Might as well make it a Triple Crown, so I paddled the Yukon River, source to sea, Llewellyn Glacier, B.C., to Emmonak, AK, at the Bering Sea in 2017!

Do what you love and love what you do.

I now want to start writing my book about paddling the Missouri-Mississppi, LoveYourBigMuddy Expedition. Stay tuned.

Every day is a new adventure! Live fast ~ Paddle slow

Tag: the trip

On my way

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