In a 10-foot, apple green kayak, Kelly Thompson set off for the Gulf of Mexico Thursday.
“I've always been kind of a traveler and I just wanted a big trip before the summer ended,” Thompson said.
Thompson has been kayaking almost every day since getting his kayak in May. That’s what gave him the idea for the trip, but this trip will be much longer than any other he has taken.
Thompson started the more than 1,500-mile trip at the “Desert.” Friends went down the Missouri River with him as far as Hazelton. He will be on his own as he makes his way into the Mississippi River and then down to the Gulf, camping in a one-man tent as he makes his way south.
Thompson said he does not have a goal on how many miles to travel per day but hopes to finish in about two months.
“I’ll take it by how it comes at me,” he said.
Thompson said he’s taking a week’s worth of food then stopping at river towns along the way to restock. He has researched where the dams are along the route so he knows when to get out and portage around them. He’s also taking a camera, a journal and a cellphone for emergencies.
“I just want to keep it an adventure and explore along the way,” he said. “I feel that I'm good enough that can make it down these.”
Though the goal is to go the whole way, Thompson also said he won’t be disappointed if he doesn’t make it to the Gulf.
“If things get too tough I’ll just pack up, get on a bus and come back,” he said. “ It’s more the journey down there than the destination.
Phil Sheffield, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers natural resources manager at Lake Oahe, said there are usually one or two canoers or kayakers that make the trip each year.
“The big thing on the big lakes is the weather,” Sheffield said. “You can get some big waves.”
Sheffield also said it is important for rowers to pay attention to discharges from dams because they affect how the river flows.
Thompson said further south the biggest the threat is probably the barges and the other boats on the water. Sheffield said those as well as bridges and eddies could cause problems for a novice canoer. They are avoidable, however, and most barge traffic doesn’t start until below Sioux City, Iowa.
“This last week I've been getting more and more nervous,” Thompson said. “I don't think you'd be normal if you weren't a little nervous about this.”
Thompson said he has done a lot of traveling but nothing as extreme as this trip. Last year he traveled the West Coast by car. He drove along U.S. Route 101 and slept in a tent along the way.
“That is one of the coolest highways I've ever seen,” he said. On one side of the road was mountains and on the other side was the ocean.
The rivers and mountains in Oregon also were some of Thompson’s favorites,
“It's just kind of the exploring,” he said. “I love seeing new places I haven't seen before and meeting new people all the time.”
In Oregon, he met one man who let him camp on his property in exchange for helping set up for a music festival.
Thompson said he chose this trip for the solitude.
“It’s so hard nowadays to be off on your own with cellphones and computers,” he said. “It’ll be nice just me out on the river and Mother Nature.”
Reach reporter Jessica Holdman at 250-8261or jessica.holdman@bismarcktribune.com.
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