Hello friends,
It’s now been one month since I landed at the Gulf of Mexico on the last day of my journey down the Mississippi River. I have thought about that River every day since then, and the magnificent journey I had this summer exploring its entire length.
For the new people who have joined since I completed, welcome. You can go through the entire archive and re-live the adventure. You can also click the links in this post, which will take you to that day’s posting.
Today’s post is the best photos of each day of the trip. Some days, there were too many good ones, so I included two. This is a long post, so feel free to take your time and break it up into a few days!
Tomorrow’s will be stats, what’s next, and more.
Cheers!
J-C
Day 1 - What Makes a Headwaters?
Days 2 & 3 - Wetlands Galore
Day 2 - My campsite at Iron Bridge Day 3 - My view most of the time in the early goings
Day 4 - First Lake on the Mississippi River: Lake Bemidji
The glistening rapids immediately after the Power Dam portage
Day 5 - Loons in the Mist
Loon sighting on a foggy Wolf Lake
Day 6 - Crossing Cass Lake
Day 7 - Winnibigoshish
Paddling Lake Winnibigoshish under the full moon
Day 8 - Paddling with the Birds
Bald Eagle near Schoolcraft State Park
Day 9 - A Two Portage Kind of Day
Urban portage through Grand Rapids, MN
Days 10 & 11 - A New Kind of River
Day 10 - Stark erosion on a cut bank Day 11 - A prominent meander on a bluff at Jacobson, MN
Day 12 - Blustery River Bends & Solange’s Departure
Solange and I near Jacobson, MN
Day 13 - Coffee-Colored Water
It sure didn’t taste like coffee
Days 14 & 15: Ospreys, Softshells, and Cedar Tea!
Day 14 - Brewing cedar tea Day 15 - The lone rock in a very muddy area
Day 16 - Crow Wing River Confluence
Welp. There go 30 of my 1475 feet from Lake Itasca to the Gulf. I had to put two photos for today because this heron was too good!
Day 17 - The Zero Day
Sunrise at Crow Wing Island
Day 18 - Soggy Paddling to Blanchard Dam
Shoal waters near the Pipe Islands
Days 19 and 20: River Otters and Shooting the Sauk Rapids
Day 19 - Blanchard Dam tailwaters Day 19 - Bonus river otters
Day 21 - The River Works its Magic
Sandhill Crane near Elk River, MN
Day 22 - Approaching Civilization
Uncle Brad joining me for a day on the water! (Photo credit to Grisha)
Day 23 - Arrival in Minneapolis
The longest portage of the Mississippi River, through downtown Minneapolis
Days 24 & 25 - Rest and Recovery
Day 26 - A River Transformed
Day 27 - Hello Wisconsin!
Spare U.S. Coast Guard buoys
Day 28 - A Frothy and Furious Lake Pepin Monster
The first ~1/4 of Lake Pepin
Days 29 & 30 - Finishing Lake Pepin
Day 29 - Lake Pepin at dawn Day 30 - A rest day after two gnarly days of Lake Pepin. Visiting the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN.
Day 31 - A Two Lock Kind of Day
The bullnose of Lock #5. A place where many barges have scraped.
Days 32 & 33: Farewell Minnesota!
Day 32 - A misty, mechanical, morning Day 32 - Locking through Lock #6. (Photo courtesy of Jeremy and son and dog) Day 33 - Reaching the tri state border
Days 34 & 35 - Paddling Under the Supermoon
Day 34 - Supermoon paddling with Marquette, Iowa, in the background Day 35 - A rude awakening at my campsite Day 35 - A 15-barge tow locking through Lock #10
Days 36 & 37 - Into Illinois
Day 36 - Heading into Lock #10. (Photo credit to River Angel Dan) Day 37 - My first expansive sandbar of the trip. I could get used to this!
Day 38 - A Linear River
I’ll stick to the main chanel.
Days 39 & 40 - Paddling with Friends
Day 39 - Hanging out at Blair Island Day 40 - Solange in Lock #14
Days 41 & 42 - Much Needed Rest
Day 41 - The three musketeers in the Quad Cities
Days 43 & 44 - Camping on an Active Dredge Operation
Day 43 - The dredging operation stakes their claim on the island Day 44 - A dredge operation with heavy equipment on board
Days 45 & 46 - The Longest Pool
Day 45 - White pelicans at Lock #18 Day 46 - Near Fort Madison, Iowa
Days 47 & 48 - The Halfway Point?
Day 47 - Lock #19, the largest drop of all 26 locks I went through on the Upper Mississippi: 44 million gallons of water were displaced to lower my canoe by 37 feet
Days 49 & 50 - Hannibal and Headwinds
Day 49 - A rest day in Hannibal, MO Day 50 - A barge container being loaded with cargo
Day 51 - A Nero Day
The Viking Mississippi passing my campsite on her maiden voyage upstream. The largest cruise ship on the Upper Mississippi.
Days 52 & 53 - Confluences
Day 52 - My favorite camping meal on this trip Day 53 - Legendary river guide Big Muddy Mike meets me in Alton, IL, for a resupply. Thanks, Mike!
Days 54 & 55 - Milestones
Day 54 - Chain of Rocks in St. Louis. I am the white smudge on the left. Day 55 - Campsite on Fort Chartres Island
Day 56 - A Free-Flowing River
Sunset on the Free-Flowing Mississippi
Day 57 - Storming into Cape Girardeau
The bizarre rock formation known as Tower Rock Storming into Cape Girardeau
Day 58 - Soggy Days and Petroglyphs
The expansive landscape at Dogtooth Bar
Day 59 - Onward to the Ohio!
Looking downstream from Fort Defiance. Mississippi River on right, Ohio River on left.
Day 60 - Foggy Wild Miles
The Mississippi River disappears into fog as I enter the Wild Miles
Days 61 & 62 - New Madrid, Caruthersville, and FAQs
Day 61 - A buoy with massive sandbar behind Day 62 - Meeting up with the “A-Team” at Island No. 20 Day 62 - Sunset at Island No. 20
Days 63 & 64 - Throttling Back
Day 63 - Home sweet home, with a view! Day 64 - Turtle shell found at Ashport Golddust Island
Day 65 & 66 - Making it to Memphis!
Day 65 - Camping on a steep cut bank Day 66 - Arrival in the Mud Island Harbor, Memphis, TN
Days 67 & 68 - Memphis and Dismal Point
Day 67 - New River Angel friends, Leslie and Bill Day 68 - Departing Memphis, TN. (Photo by River Angel Bill)
Day 69 - Mississippi on my Left
Our campsite on Pickett Island. The first campsite in Mississippi.
Days 70 & 71 - Water Shortage
Day 70 - Taco night on the trail Day 71 - Doe Island at sunset. Near Helena, AR. Day 71 - Beaver activity on Doe Island
Days 72 & 73 - A Montezuma Picnic
(A guest post by Solange)
Day 72 - Drone footage near Helena, AR Day 72 - Drone footage with the Helena Bridge. (We are in this photo, center left) Day 72 - Arrival at Montezuma and greeting by John Ruskey Day 73 - Island 62 Campsite Day 73 - Photo taken on the shortest paddling day of the trip: 1 mile
Days 74 & 75 - Catching up with Clarksdale
Day 74 - In the Quapaw Canoe Shop with chief guide Mark River Day 75 - In the park with the one and only “Sunflower Matthew”
Day 76 - Dodging Barges
A half-mile of sand between me and Island No. 64 Campsite at the old mouth of the White River
Day 77 - The Mounds Landing Crevasse
What I look like to a towboat pilot What I look like to a towboat pilot
Days 78 & 79 - The Last Heatwave
Day 78 - A floating lunch on a 52-mile day Day 78 - The humble abode. A small hidey-hole near Lake Providence, LA. Day 79 - Feeling victorious with my arrival in Vicksburg, MS
Day 80 - Zero Day in Vicksburg
A favorite part of the day, visiting the Vicksburg Riverfront Murals Me and River Angel Layne! My good friend and brother who has made my stay in Vicksburg comfortable, interesting, and insightful.
Day 81 - 30,000 Paddle Strokes
Next to the American Jazz in the Vicksburg Harbor. (Photo credit goes to Layne)
Day 82 - Riding the Wind to Natchez
Beautiful view from atop the Natchez loess bluffs
Days 83 & 84 - Passing the Atchafalaya, and into Louisiana
Day 83 - A 16-foot canoe next to the largest cruise ship on the Mississippi. (Photo by River Angel Peggy) Day 84 - First alligator seen on the Mississippi River
Days 85 & 86 - To Baton Rouge!
Day 85 - A picturesque sandbar before the chaos of the Chemical Corridor Day 86 - The traffic jam that is the Port of Baton Rouge Day 86 - River Angel Mike in Baton Rouge
Day 87 - Slowing… Down…
The first ocean vessels of the trip Gorgeous campsite at Manchac Point
Day 88 - Gator Paradise
Passing a “chemical flare” at Dow Chemical. I’m truly in the Cancer Alley now! The “tsunami effect” in action
Days 89 & 90 - Less sand, more industry.
Day 89 - At Poché Park. MN and LA to celebrate the beginning and end of the Mighty Mississippi River! Day 90 - Sunrise at Grandview Bridge Day 90 - Sludge water from an oil refinery near the Bonnet Carré Spillway Day 90 - My most industrial campsite on the trip
Day 91 - A River Rat’s Dream
Life inside the levee. Visiting a friend who lives in a house on stilts right on the River. A house on the batture, and a passing ship out of the front window
Day 92 - Well, Hello New Orleans!
Campsite at Algiers Point with the New Orleans French Quarter in the background Day 90 - Beautiful Sunset at the end of a windy day
Day 93 - Back into the Woods
Day 93 - Row upon row of anchored ships
Day 94 - Bohemia Beach
Nature creeps back in south of New Orleans
Days 95 & 96 - The Southernmost Point of Louisiana
Day 95 - Night paddling at 3:30 a.m. Day 95 - Picnic Island, ~5 miles north of Venice, LA Day 96 - Refueling after a grueling 4 days
Day 97 - The Open Ocean
The crew for the final day: Joe, Leland, and me. The view from Mile Marker 0. South Pass (which I took) on the left, Southwest Pass on the right. Looking down at Joe and Leland
Day 98 (The return trip)
Jumping off of Mile Marker 0 
Hey, JC: my daughter, Samantha, and I completed our S2S in the summer of 2021 and THOROUGHLY enjoyed following your journey this year. Congratulations, sir! Did you get a chance to sign Dale Sanders' "Paddler's Wall" in Memphis. I think you both were on the river at the same time, but for sure, you'll be welcome to stop by to see him and add your name; it IS the MSR's equivalent of the Hall of Fame!
Have a favor to ask -- Sammi and I are writing a book about our trip and I wondered if I could have your permission to use the photos you included in this photo montage from Day 35 (the 15-barge tow locking through" and Day 77 (How I look to a tow pilot). If anything comes of the book, we'd, of course, give you full attribution - along with the dates of your trip. What do you think?
Love, love the photo recap. Bravo to you!! I especially like “Day 53 - Legendary river guide Big Muddy Mike meets me in Alton, IL for a resupply. Thanks, Mike!” That’s our boat, Surface Interval, behind you in this photo. Can’t wait to see your next adventure!