When we finished our full human-powered source to sea descent of the Amazon River I was elated to have achieved such a hard fought goal. I also kind of figured it might take me a while to get back on a big river again. Well it has been a good many months now and walking across Iran in it’s entirety earlier this year might have been the trigger, (or is it final straw?) but I reckon it might be that time again…

The next hardest thing after having decided to complete a human-powered descent of the longest river on each continent is coming up with a suitable ordering. With the Amazon done I am left with 6 pretty special rivers to complete. How do you choose the next? I have spent a good number of weeks now researching furiously and scribbling notes in my journal in some sort of mad equation hoping to come up with a result. I considered so many factors and by some luck I have managed to make sense of my quasi-mathematics to find a winner.

In 2011, I will make a full human-powered source to sea descent of the Mississippi River in North America (or more accurately the Red Rock – Jefferson – Missouri – Mississippi). At a touch under 6300km this river system is the 4th longest in the world behind just the Nile, Amazon and Yangtze rivers. A whole lot of paddling! I am amped to soon be on such a magnificent river. No hippos, crocs or gun-toting rebels on this descent but a waterway as mighty as the Mississippi is taken lightly at one’s own peril. Complacency leads to mistakes which leads to failure. Not an option for me I am afraid!

I have a pretty accurate put-in date which I will reveal soon, as well as announcing in the coming weeks some pretty cool sponsorship news. I plan to make the descent largely alone (ie. no team), but I would be stoked if anyone were to join me for a wee paddle if they so desired.

Tagged: 7 continents, 7 rivers, adventure, descent, Expedition, explorer, extreme, Jefferson River, kayak, Mark Kalch, Mississippi River, Missouri River, paddle, Red Rock River. Written under expeditions, news