Louisiana Loop.... on pause

It isn’t as if the trip hasn’t begun, it’s just on pause before the water portion begins....,

There is a whole subculture to observing flora and fauna in Grehound Bus Station that given the amount of time spent, reveals a lot about the human condition as a species.

If you have been there between 12 and 24 hours more than once then you know what I mean.

LOUISIANA LOOP - the Last Chapter on the Mississippi River Run -the map

LOUISIANA LOOP - the Last Chapter on the Mississippi River Run

Louisiana Loop #A1 "Sacrifice to the River Gods"

"I owe it all to the man Upstairs"

"Thank you Jesus"

"I couldn't have done it without God"

"to God be the glory"

YOU'VE ALL SEEN IT AND ALL IN SOME WAYS DO IT

You offer some kind of sacrifice to the gods.

(in this case river gods or for Christians the Angelic being on the Mississippi)

From the Oscars to the Super Bowl, higher powers, certain people, MOM'S OR DADS, even sponsors get attributed with a special thanks for getting us thru.

AND THIS IS A GOOD THING

Doing pagan or native spirit smoke, laying hands and blessing, 'christening a new adventure with alcohol, there are a hundred and one ways to realize for yourself...........

NO ONE REALLY DOES IT ALONE OR BY THEMSELF

(they had help somewhere or some time)

Now as a preacher I trust a lot in God knowing my heart and taking care of me, but I don't deny I have "sacrificed" to the river gods and I am sure maybe you have to whether you realize it or not.

When some wildlife, river wave, sand bar or just plain dumbness strikes you

and you lose something on the River and can't find it.

WE CALL THAT SACRIFICING TO THE RIVER GODS

(and every year everyone does it)

Louisiana Loop T-minus -1 and counting......."it don't come easy"

It don't come easy.

I don't know how often you have traveled LONG DISTANCE on a greyhound bus, but it don't come easy at 60 plus. I mean I have nothing against Greyhound and am glad they are here, and I have traveled Coast to Coast on them once............when I was younger..........but at 60?

With 400lbs of kayak and gear?.............Weeeeelllllll............

For me sometimes the adventure is just getting there and getting launched.  Planning of course helps and while many people have sponsors and money, budgets and money, friends and money, ,,,,,,,,,,,,did I say MONEY!!!

When you are self -supportive in an industry that thrives on sponsorship, you takes whats you can gets. 

As in 48 hours on a Greyhound Bus.

IS THIS HOW LEWIS & CLARK STARTED?

SUK........Stand Up Kayaking.

I blame it on John Sullivan 

who is a accomplished Stand Up Canoeist (SUC)

But while I Stood Up Paddling the Mississippi River

 in this Sea Eagle 370 in 2016

 paddling the Mississippi River........

(picture by John Ruskey)

I was not a true Stand Up Kayaker until I took the SE 420x "Moon Shadow" on a demo run across Utah Lake and back on the same course that was nearly a disaster for my wife and I in separate Kayaks in 2015. 

A freak storm came up and almost proved disastrous. One kayak was lost then and never recovered.

But the 14 miler round trip proved Childs Play "Stand Up Kayaking" with "Moon Shadow". I flew over the lake and was astonished at the speed and ease. 

Just to verify I sat down and tried paddling and was discouraged enough to get back up and stand up. It wasn't that sitting wasn't fast, it was, but standing was easier and faster.

Now I admit technique and paddle lengthe has to be adjusted to be effective stand up paddler, but once I had that down I am not your conventional kayaker.

NO, I won't be buying a glorified surf board and do SUP, but you can bet your sweet bippy you will see me STAND UP KAYAKING all over the Mississippi and Louisiana Loop

WHY I'M INFLATABLE..........

It seems to drive other people crazy, 

but I just seem to have too much damn fun 

with something they never thought would float.

IT'S WHAT I DO

PROVING YOU CAN TOO

Louisiana Loop -2 and counting.........."brainchild"

FROM BLISTERING HEAT...........

                                                           to pouring down rain............

I have used umbrellas for every aspect of kayaking I can imagine.

These latestest incarnations of Costco camp umbrellas are larger than a personal use umbrellas (though I always carry a golf umbrella in my gear) were used both for sunshine and rain on Lake Powell in summer of 2017 when my wife and I did a hundred miler paddle to Rainbow Bridge and back on the Colorado River.

They are going on the Louisiana Loop as my arrival seems to be between two storms I may encounter as I get started Feb 1 on the Miss in Baton Rouge.

IGLOO is when you put one of these umbrellas on one side of you and the other on the other so that the legs cross each other and you sit in the middle holding them. Wind is blocked from both sides and rain from all sides including above.

I demo'ed that to my wife and we had to use it for windy rain storms that hit fast and wet a couple of times on the lake.

On the Mississippi River in a much smaller kayak then the Sea Eagle 420x Moon River featured here, I used two "golf umbrellas" one fore and aft in the kayak and tossed a tarp over both making my first "temp" kayak tent.

It worked phenomenally well...........

People can spend hundreds of dollars for something you can 'jury rig' or DIY.

My motto is

"If necessity is the mother of invention, then poverty is it's brainchild."

Vacuum Bags are water proof and Dew

This is dictated so if it is miss spelled then you’ll just have to deal with that until it is able to be edited later........

One of the benefits of using vacuum seal bags from something like the $.99 store or a Dollar General is that you can seal all your electronics in it all you have to do is simply place your electronics inside the bag and then basically without using a pump you can just suck the air out of the bag yourself it’s that easy and a freat way to save money and technically it only cost about $.99 per bag.

Because I’m heading to Louisiana down in the south where there’s a high humidity every night I’ll be placing my electronics to keep them safe and keep them dry because one of the things that you find pretty quickly about re-charging or charging your cell phone or even having a cell phone down in the south is that you do have to deal with humidity whether you realize it or not.

Most Modern Electronics are water resistant and many water proof, but some recharge batteries are not and Dew can form where Air is so even inside "protected" areas, high humidity and dew point can produce hazards for electronics.

Louisiana Loop Day -3 and counting.... "Do or Die"

"DO or DIE"

Most People have options to "bail" "change their mind" "rent a motel room" " purchase a round trip ticket"

Baby it's a one way ticket for me 

Do or Die

Now I don't want to overplay the drama here, but the fact remains, I don't have a way back home until at least 30 or more days from when I arrive because "transport costs" for "self supportive" adventurers like me  just ARE too expensive. 

When you live far away from your starting point, just getting there can eat your savings.

Don't get me wrong. I am used to this and my wife and I do plan on these trips and save, but, any long distance paddling that may have started out as a week maybe, usually gets turned into a long distance great american adventure adventure as a One Way Ticket till monies can be saved.

It does put hair on my chest and I already have plenty.

Still it adds an aura of excitements and nerves others don't necessarily experience and is why often i look like I am moving when I kayak/camp. Mainly because for a few months I am.

That also means for the first few weeks there is a Do or Die type of necessity that makes creativity and mentality of a survivalist crucial. Anyone COULD bail at anytime and get help of some kind, but when you get old enough people expect you to "do for" yourself as much as you can.

This isn't that far from "street people" in the city or homeless in your neighborhood that often operate on the fringes of society. While I would not "panhandle" all kayakers are DEEPLY appreciative of any help or offerings they are given, especially food though drink so follows that and a hot shower is a gift from heaven.

So as I anticipate "my adventure" my immediate concerns thrust me back to the joy of soloing. The Weather/Water/Shelter big three's that mandate my routines on the River and in Camp.

Weather doesn't normally stop me too long, but twice on the Mississippi nearly killed me so it does need to be honored.

Water is both water you paddle on and water to drank because the one you paddle can get real serious real fast there ARE other vessels about.

The one you drink is always a "fill er up" where ever you and however you can because filtering is good, but unless your using commercial grade filtering, it takes valuable time an energy on personal filters.

Shelter. Every day tent goes up and tent goes down and when you don't you do so at your own level of experience. Since I prefer a BIG TENT it becomes a little more involved.

So the first few days returning back to the routine of being on the river..........really.........is just surviving and realizing............there no lights to turn on or thermostat to turn up and home is long ways away and at least 30 or more days to got to even get there if I wanted to.

 

Louisiana Loop -4 days counting

One of the things that it’s become a stable with kayaking down any river or in lakes and streams that I have gone is Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo has gone with us everywhere I’ve gone in a kayak not that he wanted to but just in case I needed saving I figured since he knows how to  dog paddle I would bring him along so that he could be my rescue were if ever I found myself tipped over or needing to be taken to shore.

Louisiana Loop Test