Miss River Overnighter

[russ]

Memphis Whitewater and friends will launch on the Miss Sat. morning at Duvall's Landing North of Memphis.Camp on a sandbar 3/4 mile upstream of Shelby Forest Sat. night,finish at the North end of Mud Island on Sun.If interested the info is on the touring forum at Memphis Whitewater.com.

[seark]

If the overnighter sounds intriguing, consider this: The Quapaw Canoe Company in Helena is leading a 3 week low water float down the Lower Mississippi during December - if only I could get off work. (May you can - You don't have to do all three weeks.) See their website for contact info: http://www.island63.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; See below for the description of the trip. Between Outdoors Inc in Memphis, The Quapaw Canoe Club and the Phatwater Canoe & Kayak Race, the Lower Mississippi is really becoming a paddling destination.

December
Join us for 3 weeks of winter paddling through the wildest sections of the Lower Mississippi River, the 300 miles of meandering river located in between Memphis Tennessee and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Big rivers, big islands, black bears & fantastic birding. Rain or shine. Wetsuits required. Divided into three sections. Paddle one, paddle them all. Call or write for reservations and more information.
1-5 – Delta Blues & River Museums: Beale Street to Helena Arkansas to Clarksdale, Mississippi: Leave Beale Street with a visit to the scale model of the Lower Mississippi River at Mud Island. Visit Tunica’s Riverpark Museum and Helena’s Delta Cultural Center arrival by canoe. Friday & Saturday nights celebrate your hundred miles of hard paddling at Clarksdale juke joint with some live blues! (note: the only gambling we’ll do on this section is with the weather and prevailing winds) (98 river miles)
8-12 - “Muddy Water Wilderness:” Rosedale to Greenville the Arkansas/White River confluence: big forests, big islands, and long winding back channels to explore. High concentration of Louisiana Black Bear, White Pelicans and Wild Boar. The largest contiguous forests of the Lower Mississippi, including White River Wildlife Refuge. The best star gazing in the mid-south, the closest city is over 100 miles away! Friday & Saturday in the jukes of Greenville. (101 river miles)
15-19 The Lower Delta: Greenville to Vicksburg the further you get away from Memphis, the cleaner the river gets. Paddle underneath the new Hwy 82 bridge and descend into the Lower Delta -- some of the best birding in the nation, long remote sections of river to get lost in -- and then found! Clean islands & sandbars. Gravel bars, fossils & rocks. Great tracking. Beautiful camping. (100 river miles)
20 Tenth Anniversary Celebration of Quapaw Canoe Company
January, 2009
2-4 New Years Fast & Sweat Lodge
TBA: Canoe Building Class: stripper method
TBA: Dugout Canoe Building Class
February, 2009
16-27 Big Sunflower River Expedition: the last segment of a 4-year expedition paddling & documenting the length of the Sunflower River. Start: Anguilla Bridge. The first 9 days we will be paddling through & exploring the big woods of Delta National Forest, the largest bottomland hardwood forest in the nation, including forays into the Little Sunflower River, Silver Creek and Panther Creek. Passing through or near Holly Bluff, Spanish Fort, Ryans L’Argent, Deer Creek Confluence, Big Sunflower Diversion Canal, Steele Bayou Confluence, the gates of the Big Sunflower, and the Confluence with the Yazoo River. Ends in Vicksburg Friday, Feb 27th with a Big Sunflower Exposition & Celebration featuring a slide show from the river, river paintings, river music and dugout canoes.