Zero Emissions Expeditions

Missouri-Mississippi River System Expedition Q&A – Ask away!

// June 29th, 2012 // Uncategorized

I’m opening the floor to questions about my kayaking journey down the Missouri-Mississippi river system.

I’ll compile all the questions and post them, along with my replies, right here on www.ZeroEmissionsExpeditions.com. I’ll answer any questions that come my way. Ask away!

My journey started on June 17 at Brower’s Spring, the utmost source of the Missouri River, and I have paddled approximately 210km (130 miles) so far. My current position is at the Clark Canyon Reservoir, near the town of Dillon, Montana. My destination: the Gulf of Mexico.

The first question comes from Ron Dudley:
‎Q: What are the logistics for keeping you supplied with food and other expendable essentials? Are you alone or do you have support from others for such things? (two questions, I know – but they’re related).

A: I assume that the “other expendable essentials” that you refer to includes toilet paper. If that’s the case, I am carrying two rolls of one-ply and will be able to resupply in major centres along the river. Running out of toilet paper is among my highest concerns on this journey. I take extra precautions to ensure that my supply of TP is adequately topped up and within arm’s reach at all times. I’m currently seeking a toilet paper sponsor to help defray toiletry costs.

Carrying and resupplying food has been an issue in the early stages of the journey. Calculating how long it will take to travel a certain distance using human-powered methods of transportation can be a challenge in itself. A total of twelve days of food had to be taken into the area close to the source (east of Red Rock Lakes NWR). I estimated that it would take at least ten days to descend the various tributaries to the town of Dillon, approximately 300km (186 miles) from the source (water-based distance). I added two days of food for insurance in case of delays. Further down the Beaverhead, Jefferson, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, food will be resupplied at towns and cities, as needed. I can carry 12-14 days of food in the 16’ sea kayak. In terms of resupplying, I am operating alone without support. I carry a Katadyn ceramic water filtration system and have used it many times so far on the Red Rock River and the Lima Reservoir. Lake water filtered through a ceramic filter generally tastes as bad as you can imagine it would. I generally filter four litres (one gallon) of water per day. This filtering process takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. I usually have a good-sized crowd of mosquitoes motivating me to finish the filtering in the shortest time possible.