120 days in May, why two kayaks.
When I first started investigating going down the Mississippi River I noticed that there were a lot of people and a wealth of information by people who traveled in and loved and enjoyed their canoe.
Most of these canoes were rather large or long and carry lots of cargo.
Then as I continue to read about people who have gone down the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico they called it the source to the sea.
Of course there were some purists who said that the lake itself was not the source so they would considerate more so if people actually went to the river above the small lakes.
But so many people had already done it from Lake Itasca and there was so much popularity of it being the source that anyone who actually goes from Lake Itasca all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico either by one headwaters or mouth of the river or the other at chick-fil-a a mouth of the river both were considered to have gone from the source to the sea
Frankly I didn't care.
As I began my research I began to discover that the all paddlers have a certain amount of congeniality towards each other and care and concern and certainly the Mississippi River has a lot of support people who are called River angels for anyone going that far I also discovered that there is a little bit of jealousy between canoes and kayaks
You could say old school vs new school but there's not anyone in a canoe that's going to argue about a kayak going to whitewater that a canoe would not dare try.
But the Mississippi River is not normally rated for a whitewater kayak but rather for another group of people that seem to have their own little click or their own stick so to speak and that is sea kayakers.
Naot sea kayakers usually have a kayak that is enclosed that average is about 17 feet which is awesome to look at beautiful to behold but really is designed to go in a straight line.
While it can turn to the right of the left its not going to turn right or left very fast and I dare say a canoe will turn faster to the left or right then most of the sea kayaks I have seen
And of course a little whitewater kayak turns sharpest of all.
But who in their right mind would take two kayaks instead of one and why.
Two of the main reasons are 1i already stated above which is I don't care about what it looks like or what people think and to I'm not here just for kayaking or canoeing or to be going in a straight line I'm actually here to camp to take pictures to write journals to record videos to enjoy good company and good friends to have campfires to paddle to stand up in my kayak and use a pole to have fun and to enjoy 120 days in May that I'll be traveling down the Mississippi River doing the things that I enjoy to do weather here or in Alaska or in Oregon or any of the states that are located along the Mississippi River.
I guess you could say the reason why I'm taking two kayaks is because I want to all puns intended, because if the truth be told it is more so because I am carrying my home with me so to speak some people would say my tabernacle but since I'm going to be on the river for 120 days and I'm not in a hurry I think of going down the Mississippi River as I'll be living on the river for 120 days.
4 months out of the year is not a short period of time that's one third of a year so to put it bluntly I'm getting free rent so to speak as I travel down the river.
So maybe you could say that I'm taking two kayaks because I like traveling in style when I set up camp no I did not bring my big base camp tent this time I did bring two tents and a sunshade and quite a bit of gear so that I could enjoy myself rather than stress myself over hurrying rushing striving to get somewhere too fast and stopping at almost every truck stop crosswalk city or modern convenience that might be along the river because really if I had my druthers I would probably just as soon have no cities exist along the river and just go down it for the ride.
Of course that's also why I carry extra cargo in two kayaks so that I don't have to stop where I don't want to and that might be the most honest reason of all of why I have two kayaks instead of one.
