If you look at a map of the Mississippi after Grand Rapids you’ll notice I’ve begun a particularly meandering and remote 100+ mile section.
The River is much larger now though. Therefore the turns don’t feel as tight as the meandering west of Bemidji the first few days.
With the increased volume of water comes a bit more speed than I have been used to this point. I was able to cover 38 miles today, a new record for me.
These are remote miles. I did not have cell phone service today. I might not have cell service tomorrow, or even the next day. But I did see three pairs of fishermen. And I was able to start and finish an excellent James Michener book called “Journey” (an 8 hour audio book).
“Journey” is a fictional account of a hypothetical group of adventure seeking men that would have left from Edmonton, Canada in late summer 1897 in search of gold at the newly reported Dawson Creek gold strike.
Michener does his best to blur the line between historical accuracy and compelling narrative. With the telling of this story I became aware of a very real part of history: false hope and real tragedy on Canada’s western frontier, all in the pursuit of gold.
Without giving anything away Michener himself wrote a reflection about what inspired him to write this book. What was it? A photo from August 1897 of a 30ish year old woman from Fresno, California who was about to embark from Edmonton, Canada on an impossible overland journey to Dawson’s Creek in search of gold.
I often wonder, where did the men and women with this spirit go? Where are they now? What do they do for a living?
