Friends share canoe, experiences in trip down the Mississippi

A copy of Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi" in one hand and a canoe paddle in the other, recent Greencastle High School graduate Chase Hubbard traveled 2000 miles down the Mississippi River in a canoe with his best friend Mark Tremblay this summer.

On June 2, the two friends started the journey that took a year to plan 50 miles north of Minneapolis on the Elk River.

Hubbard, who is quick to describe his best friend as an "adventurous free spirit," agreed to Tremblay's plan to "get out of town and do something exciting" immediately after high school graduation. Even though he had no canoeing experience beforehand.

Hubbard said that when he first told his mother, Dee Morrisey, about the plan to canoe down the Mississippi to New Orleans, she was supportive but skeptical as to whether or not the young men were going to follow through with such a feat.

Hubbard said once they started the trip, his parents worried about him. But long-distance phone calls "from the river" helped ease their minds. Overall, Hubbard feels his parents maintained a "positive attitude" about the graduates' shot at "being adventurous."

He and Tremblay would start paddling around nine every morning, Hubbard explained. Paddling steady all day resulted in approximately 50 miles down the river a day; whereas floating with the current carried them 25 miles.

Making sure to stay clear of other boats, the two paddled all day with only each other's company and their own thoughts to help pass the time. "It gives you time to reflect on things," Hubbard said of the many hours in the canoe without even a radio.

When they were tired or done for the day, Hubbard and Tremblay camped on sand bars and cooked with a small grill or over an open fire. Or when they got too hot in the canoe, they took breaks in the shade. Hubbard considers the constant battle with the sun and hot temperatures to be his least favorite part of the trip.

"We drank a lot of water," he said of combating the heat.

When they ran out of food and fresh water, Hubbard and Tremblay would hike into the nearest towns to refuel and take in the sights. Hubbard said that everyone they met during the trip was extremely friendly and willing to give them food and cold drinks. He said of people they met who lived on the river, "Once you show interest in it (the Mississippi River), they want to be your friend."

Now a firm believer in Southern Hospitality, Hubbard told stories about some of the characters he met along the way. Hubbard and Tremblay got invited to a fish fry in Memphis, and ended up spending the night on a houseboat. They also met a man in New Orleans named Macon who had made the same canoe trip in 1994.

Hubbard admitted that once he got pretty nervous while canoeing. The two hit a nasty storm in Qunicy, Ill. Aside from that one storm, he commented that he got comfortable, even acclimated, to living out in nature.

"I'd recommend it," Hubbard said of canoeing 2000 miles down the Mississippi River. His advice to anyone up to the challenge: "Stick to it. It's worth it in the end."

Hubbard is considering another outdoor adventure in the future. But next time, no canoes. He adds that any future adventures will certainly turn heads and have people asking, "You must be crazy." And, like the canoeing adventure, he'll play the next one "by ear."

When asked how he views the writing of Mark Twain now, Hubbard said that he though it was "neat" to recognize the "same bends in the river" he read about in the author's book during the trip.

Hubbard and Tremblay arrived in New Orleans, the final destination of the journey, on Aug. 2. After spending five days there, they flew home.

Tremblay recently left Putnam County to attend the University of New Mexico.

Hubbard plans to study culinary arts in the future ... perhaps down South. For now, he is content with the life lessons he learned on the river: How to be independent and survive.