Mississippi: Thrupaddle in a folding kayak

[German Tourist]

From September 29th to December 15th, 2012 I thrupaddled the Mississippi in a folding kayak, a Feathercraft K1.

The Mississippi is a paddler's dream: I had expected an industrialized and populated river and instead I encountered an almost pristine river and an incredible wildlife almost all the way to the delta.

However, there is not much information about the Mississippi for paddlers on the internet or in the media – very undeservedly. I am therefore posting the link to my Mississippi trip report on my blog here and hope to inspire others to do a similar trip.

And of course I am willing to help other thrupaddlers with information and tips!

Enjoy!

http://christine-on-big-trip.blogspot.de/search/label/Mississippi

[Hiking Malto]

For the link. This is the kind of trip that I will do once my knees are shot from hiking!

[John Donewar]

Christine,

"I had expected an industrialized and populated river and instead I encountered an almost pristine river and an incredible wildlife almost all the way to the delta."

I live directly across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Looking at the pictures of your kayak inside of the locks I have to wonder how you signaled the lock operator. Were you ever in the locks with other water craft such as barges or tow boats?

To me that would be "tricky" stuff with a 51 pound folding boat!

I've seen pieces of driftwood in the Mississippi the size of a small submarine. Did you have any close encounters during your thru-paddle of the Mississippi?

Party On,

Newton

[German Tourist]

Newton,

barges and motorcrafts contact the locks via radio. Paddlers have to go almost all the way to the lock doors where there is a pull cord on the side in the lock wall. You pull the cord and that triggers a signal for the lock master. The big problem is that in windy conditions the waves inside the lock entrance are so high that it is almost impossible to reach the pull cord without getting smashed into the lock walls. Luckily, all the locks have phone numbers and we had cell phones, so we just called the lock master.

Usually were were alone in the lock. Twice we shared the lock with another small craft: Once a pleasure boat and once a small US Corps of Engineering work boat. I don't think that you are allowed to be inside the lock with a huge barge. The risk of being smashed is too big.

Driftwood was not a problem at all on the Mississippi. We did not even see a lot of driftwood in 2012. But I have paddled the Yukon in 2011 and driftwood was a huge problem there.

Christine

[Dale Wambaugh]

What a great journey, although the Yukon is the thing to brag about. I've thought of doing the Columbia River system myself. Thanks for sharing!

[German Tourist]

I have paddled the Yukon as well…. ;-)

[John S.]

Christine, thanks for sharing. Awesome trip.

[Buck Nelson]

Very nice, German Tourist!

[German Tourist]

Bucktrack,
a big thank you to you! Your website is the best information source for a Mississippi thrupaddle available right now and has helped me a lot preparing this trip.
GT

[Buck Nelson]

You had some good advice on your write-up. I plan to link to it on my site if it's OK. Good luck on your next adventures!

[German Tourist]

Bucktrack, please go ahead and link away. And if you ever plan on doing a trip in Europe please let me know so I can help you.
GT

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