In June 1997, Bill, Cate, Jen, Donna, Geoff, Diva, and Gypsy set out to canoe and kayak the length of the Missouri River, from its headwaters near Three Forks, Montana, to the Mississippi at St. Louis, and finish again in the Gulf of Mexico.
We are not scientists, or accountants, or film makers. While Bill is a former television news anchor, Cate presents seminars (how could we get along on a river trip without a seminar presenter?); Donna is in the information technologies field (won't she have her work cut out for her on a river trip!); Geoff, an MBA major, will be our financial advisor, and Jen keeps the group energized - from her training as an outdoor education professional and chef.
There is a theme to this unique trip. Named, oxymoronically, "A YEAR WITHOUT TIME...the expedition," we're traveling without watches or clocks, canoeing the 4,000 miles of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. We call it unique because of the disparity of our ages (80, 52, 30, 36 and 19) and that we propose to make the trip without timepieces of any sort.
Dramatic possibilities are inherent: Three generations, man and woman, the family, with Time, its presence and passage, shown in the river's meandering.
One statement we are making is that adventures are to be enjoyed by people of any age.
We are also saying that there are still physical exploits to be experienced here in the U.S., that it is not necessary to go to Siberia or New Guinea or Nepal to find one's adventure. As we travel through the wild lands of the Missouri/Mississippi Basin, we will uphold the Leave No Trace ethic - taking only pictures and crystal memories of the expedition, and leaving no trace of our passing.
We have little idea of what lies in our path, or in the path of the river, other than that its every bend will nearly always present a new vista, possibly a new hazard. The unforeseeable has its appeal. We predict enough of the unpredictable for everyone. |
