JA Boys Camp: A Wet Wild Weekend

River Time: The Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 846

~~~~~~~~~ Friday, Sept 24, 2021 ~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~ Quapaw Canoe Company ~~~~~~~~
Clarksdale, MS ~ Memphis, TN ~ Vicksburg, MS

Last weekend 14 sixth grade boys and several adult leaders paddled 17 miles of the biggest river in North America…

….through repeated bands of heavy rain storms generated by Tropical Storm Nicholas.

This did not dent the ingrained spirit of adventure & exploration bubbling up in all boys (Harvest Full Moon rising over distant storms).

We discovered strange, poofy, sap-green bushes looked like bean bag chairs…. the boys of course had to try them out.

Closer inspection revealed — a tumbleweed — what it looks like when it’s green! (later on this fall, when tumbleweed dries out and turns brown, it makes excellent fire starter)

Jackson Academy has been sending groups of kids on Mississippi River overnights since 2015. It has become one of their annual outdoor activities. 90% of their current high school enrollment has been on the Mississippi River with us.

For many this is their first time camping. For some, it is their first time in a canoe. Some kids are experiencing their first night away from home. We teach essential survival skills like fire, shelter, swimming, way-finding and nature ID. So many lessons being learned all at once!

Making a fire in a downpour — and keeping it going to make cocoa, and cook breakfast: bacon and eggs

We continued, spirits undaunted, through three days of downpours. I didn't hear any complaints. The boys got cold at times, and everything was drenched and soaking wet. But for the boys, it was pure adventure, and endless fun.

We paddled past an upstream steamboat on Day 2

In between storms we explored the giant Mississippi River Islands, and discovered enchanting objects amongst the expanse…. such as this buoy washed up in high water.

Surprising beauty amongst the mud & sand: these trumpet flower were glistening with fresh-fallen raindrops.

Some boys swam, while others played in the sand, or made river art.

We entered rain soaked back channels, and found beavers, turtles, and banks of collapsing chunks of blue and green and brown mud.

The canoe journey is timeless and unifying.

We all put aside our personal differences for the good of the whole.

In the big canoe, we are a team, we are a family. The best qualities of democracy are exercised.

Next weekend: JA girls camp!

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All photos and writing (c) Johnnie Driftwood (John Ruskey), chief of many hats at Quapaw Canoe Company. Feel free to share, but also please credit appropriately. Thank you!