Trip Log of Robert Youens

[Youens-sister]

Answer to Judy’s Question for the Day 56: The Mississippi River and its tributaries supply drinking water for more than 18 million people in central U.S. Source: Center for Global Environmental Education

[Youens-sister]

Post Monday 11-10, Day 57
From Robert: If anybody was worried, because they couldn’t get a tracker reading – I took the GPS unit inside the Hotel in New Madrid. Hope nobody thought I was lost.

Yesterday, I paddled 36 miles through heavy barge traffic. Set up the tent in a heavy fog – expecting a low of 27 degrees. The fog turned into what looked like sno-cone ice – ½ inch of it over everything.

Today, the barge traffic continues to be very heavy. My Marine Band radio has become important. I warn the towboats of my presence and they appreciate knowing where I am – I’m known to them simply as “the canoe”. Today 29 miles – tomorrow will be a day off to visit the New Madrid Earthquake Museum. I promise some interesting info tomorrow.

[Lee Schneidermann]

Robert,
You're my hero! Stopping to watch Cedar Rapids native Kurt Warner play Monday Night Football! Kurt will be honored
I thought about you these past few days, knowing how cold it's getting. Be careful! Cold water kills.

Lee Schneidermann

"There are three kinds of people in this world.
Those who can do math,
And those who can't"

[kbowden]

Robert:

I'm really enjoying reading your log. Congratulations on a very interesting thread. Although you may occasionally be eager to reach the end, I doubt your readers want the log to end. Good job!

[Youens-sister]

Answer to Judy’s Question for the Day 57: I’ll start my answer with a disclaimer. In looking for information for my “Questions for the Day”, I have found that every small town along the river has a “claim to fame”. This one is interesting.
The oldest American city west of the Mississippi is New Madrid. (Source – the New Madrid Phone Book) There were a number of communities along the Mississippi in 1803, the time of the Louisiana Purchase, including New Madrid (they were not American cities). New Madrid became a city after the purchase, making it the oldest American city, west of the Mississippi

[Youens-sister]

Robert called about 8:30 am, 11-12, Day 59
I want to send out some Thanks, before I start moving.
Ella LaVelle – Manager of the New Madrid Museum
Mildred Henry – the 94 year old mother of my host. She was born on the river. Her Grandparents came down the Ohio River and took care of her when her parents died in the 1918 influenza epidemic. She washed clothes in the river and endured all the hardships of the early pioneers.
Bill French, with the museum and Frank “Buddy” Hashem

A special THANK YOU to Bud Henry. Bud invited me to spend my second night at his home. He grew up on the river and farmed an island in the river with mules. He even built his own water skis and skied in the river. I hope to come back and visit Bud – Even though he went to college and traveled in Europe, he is a true "man of the river".

[Youens-sister]

11-12 (again)
Robert called back just after I finished the last post.

As he was about to leave, Bud Henry said “see those towboats up ahead? They belong to my neighbor”. You can guess what happened next. Never missing an opportunity – Robert said “do you think you could get me on one?”. He got a tour and some great pictures on the towboat "Dorothy".

Robert called again this evening - said he wanted to check in because, it looks like he will have poor cell coverage for a couple of days.
It was raining hard all day. After making about 12 miles, he set up his tent in a driving rain. For those who checked the google map and found him in the middle of the river – he assures us that he is on a sand bar.

Answer to Judy’s Question for the Day 58: The interesting twists in the Mississippi River near New Madrid are caused by the “New Madrid Seismic Zone”. Three major earthquakes occurred in 1811 and 1812 near New Madrid, MO. They are among the Great earthquakes of known history, affecting the topography more than any other earthquake on the North American continent. Judging from their effects, they were of a magnitude of 8.0 or higher on the Richter Scale. Many houses at New Madrid were thrown down. "Houses, gardens, and fields were swallowed up" one source notes. But fatalities and damage were low, because the area was sparsely settled then.

[Youens-sister]

Post 11-13, Day 60
Robert tried to call this morning. I was only able to hear a few words – this is what I got.

The fog is so thick – zero visibility.

When you told me I was in the middle of the river, I checked my charts and found that my camping spot would normally be 300 yards into the river. That’s how low the river is now.

[Youens-sister]

Answer to Judy’s Question for the Day 59: The Highest point along the Mississippi is in Tennessee, at 6643 feet above sea level. Source: Center for Global Environmental Education

[Youens-sister]

Post 11-13, Day 60

Robert called tonight:

Wednesday night I heard the river slapping at my canoe after I set up camp. I pulled the canoe up, but I was still a little nervous about the water rising. The heavy rains not only wet most of my belongings, but they also fed the river. I slept dry, thanks to my extra plastic garbage bags.

I made 40 miles today – then it was time for a campfire. I don’t normally take time for a fire, but I desperately needed to dry things out. Looking for better weather tomorrow.

[Youens-sister]

Answer to Judy’s Question for the Day 60: The Missouri Bootheel is the southeasternmost part of the state of Missouri and called the "Bootheel" due to the shape of its boundaries. (from Judy: I may be biased, but it looks like a donkey hoof to me). When Missouri was added to the Union, its original border proposal was to be an extension of the 36°30' parallel north that formed the border between Kentucky and Tennessee which would have excluded the Bootheel. However John Hardeman Walker, a pioneer planter in what is now Pemiscot County argued that the area had more in common with the Mississippi River towns of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri and St. Louis, Missouri than with its proposed location in Arkansas Territory. The border was then dropped about 50 miles to the 36th parallel north. It follows the parallel about 30 miles until it intersects the St. Francis River which forms the toe of the boot back up to about the 36°30' parallel just west of Campbell, Missouri. Source: Missouri State Archives

[Lee Schneidermann]

Robert,
I was struck by your comment of not "taking the time" for a fire. Is there a personal reason for this?
I've found the restorative qualities of a camp fire have always outweighed any inconvenience in building one.
Maybe my survival training in Alaska has given me a bias for one?
Can you give the rest of us your insight?

Lee

[Youens-sister]

Post Sat. 11-15, Day 62
I had a list of questions for Robert this afternoon:

For Lee; I don’t build very many fires because I simply don’t seem to have the time. I have a small propane stove that I cook on. By the time I set up camp, do a little paperwork and eat, I’ ready to go to sleep. I still had some wet things so I did build another fire tonight to dry things out. This brings to mind one of my problems. I can’t seem to consume enough food. I don’t want to lose any more weight, so I’m eating more than I want.

From Judy; I had questions about what we see on the google maps. It looked like he camped near a loading facilities for barges. He said “yes, its harvest time and the barges are busy loading grain. Of course they are carrying all sorts of things – petro-chemical to scrap metal.

I asked about the barges passing him. He had expressed some concern – I wanted details. Picture this “Now that I am in the lower Mississippi the towboats are commonly pushing 6 x 6 or 5 x 7 rafts of barges. A barge is 35’ X 200' that means that those rafts are almost 6 acres. Try to imagine a towboat pushing a 6 acre plot of land, passing another towboat. Many rafts are larger – up to 60 barges.

I also asked about the wing dams. That brought a rather scary story. Robert: The rain stopped early, so even though the wind was very heavy, kicking up waves – It was a tailwind so I took off a little after 8:00am. I was determined to put in some miles today, so I hung close to the shore and paddled. As I came into a straight away about 7 miles long, where the river was ¼ to ½ mile wide, the wind must have hit 35 MPH. The waves were 3 to 3 ½ feet and I had very little control of the canoe. It was blowing me sideways I was able to think the situation through – I knew I couldn’t let myself be blown into the wing dams. I needed to find a lee (an area away from the wind). As I passed the last wing dam, I headed for the shore. It was definitely time to stop and set up camp.

[Youens-sister]

Answer to Judy’s Question for the Day 61: The name Tennessee comes from Tanasie, the name of a Cherokee village in the region.

[Youens-sister]

Post 11-17, Day 64

From Robert: Sunday morning it was 32 degrees. I was on the river shortly after 7:00am. A direct headwind made paddling hard – no floating along for lunch. I stopped and topped lunch off with more ibuprophen. There is still lots of barge traffic – keeps you on your toes.

I made 41 miles today and set up camp overlooking Memphis. After some paperwork, I can see the end of the trek. I have approximately 643 river miles to go, to reach New Orleans. That doesn’t sound like too much when compared to the 1,550 plus river miles paddled so far. I’m guessing I will arrive in New Orleans between December 3 – 8.
From Judy: Lee, my email is judy44p@hughes.net, if you would like to send contact information for Robert.
Anyone else out there is welcome to send contact information for Robert. He enjoys sharing what he has learned.