with Mississippi River Expeditions
One of two canoes in our group
I was hosted on a 3-day familiarization trip to Memphis, Tennessee. My group of writers were hosted on 30-foot Voyageur canoes, guided by two experienced rivermen, Matthew Burdine owner/head guide being one of them. Mississippi River Expeditions says that you don’t need any previous experience in paddling, for which I’m grateful because we were all novices.
Matthew is the modern day Huck Finn. He grew up in the Mississippi Delta and has solo-canoed the entire length of the Mississippi, some 2400 miles. It took him six months to tip to toe. Before starting this company, he spent 10 years white water river guiding in Colorado and other western states. He loves the wilderness and grand canyons, but seeing Memphis from the river gives him a new appreciation and love of the city.
Once they got us all into two boats, and we glided into the river, we noticed a huge barge bearing down on us. “Paddle,” shouted our guide. “Paddle hard. We need to cross the river in front of this barge.” Never have you seen a bunch of middle-aged women and one young spry man paddle for their lives! Fortunately for us novice canoers, the Mississippi River is really low.
Thankfully we were able to get across before the barge had to do some fancy maneuvers.
We meandered along the river’s edge until we got to Loosahatchie sandbar for Mimosas and snacks. Looking across the river at the pyramid and walking along the river bed was a nice respite from our rowing.
After enjoying a snack- because we had paddled for about a ½ hour- we recrossed the river, and went under the famous Hernando de Soto Bridge ending at the Mud Island Marina.
I felt so comfortable with our guide and am thankful that they say “Leave the outfitting, guiding, cooking and shuttle up to us. All you have to do is arrive with your personal items and be ready to paddle.”
They offer the experience of a lifetime! They offer half day and full day trips as well as overnight and multi-day trips. They camp on remote islands, cook meals over a fire and enter into “river time”.
