Afterglow RFT VI: Styx - Mississippi River Canoeing

Mike took the day off of work so that we could hang out. He works for the Minnesota DNR and has always been an outdoors kind of person. I'm the creative writing, computer savvy, use my words kind of person, so the most time I spend outdoors is when I walk between my car and the office. He wanted to take the canoe down the Mississippi River. I wanted to write about that kind of adventure. Something says this adventure would not end well. When we put the canoe in the water, I quickly realized I couldn't sit up front. Then Mike got in first and when I tried to get in, I made us tip right near shore. I'm no way graceful and have a weird center of balance. I apologized to Mike but warned him that if we did this, we would end up in the water one more time. But he still wanted to make this journey. I didn't understand why.

People never believe me when I say that I'm not good at things. I provided Mike with plenty of warning before we embarked on this journey but he didn't listen. So when we pulled to the river bank and attempted to get out (so that we could carry the canoe around the impass), it was no surprise to me that I got stuck in the mud. I stepped onto what I thought was solid ground and I sank into it like Artax in The Neverending Story and kept on sinking into the Swamp of Sadness. I lost my shoe deep in the mud and Mike had to dig it out. When all was said and done, I was wet, covered in mud, shame and ready to give up. But we were in too deep (literally) and to continue down the river was our only option. So I walked it off, rubbed some dirt in the wound (and on my face), got back into the canoe and took it like a man. There's a first time for everything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Way up in the headwaters region of Minnesota, the Mighty Mississippi River is not what you used to seeing it look like near the Twin Cities, St Louis or when it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Up here it is just a tiny winding stream that is a peaceful and serene voyage. With it being late fall, all of the leaves were off of the trees but the weather was still decent, so we had a nice little trip down the river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had trouble getting into the canoe, so I certainly wasn't ready to get out of it (knowing that I had to get back in). But my vein and circulation issues with my legs made a stop inevitable as I was getting cramps and numbness. We pulled to the side and I carefully stepped onto dry land without incident. We walked around for a bit, took a bathroom break and then continued down the Mighty Miss.

We came to a point where it was impossible to travel, so we had to portage (definition: the carrying of boats, goods, etc., overland from one navigable water to another) so that we could continue on our journey. As I previously mentioned, I'm not so good at getting in and out of the canoe, so in the infinite number of scenarios possible, one did not exist that ended well. But I had no choice. This was happening.