Page 71 - "Mississippi in the 1st Person" - Michael James Stone (Demo/Free)

Whenever I looked at horizons that I could see this time of year, it appeared that most of the
land was flat with a few rare rises that had evergreens on them. Getting the lay of the land I

knew would help more than my maps and I kept trying to get a feel for the terrain around me.

I admit it was not at all like I expected and later I would record this area as being a giant flat
lake with a few shore line points filled with dead standing forests of bulrushes hiding in it’s

thickness the fact that no land was near and the only trail thru was a water path called Missis-
sippi Creek.

It was exciting NOT knowing the land or the river yet and feeling like an explorer. I know
many other kayakers had detailed maps, plans and agendas that traveling this was just more

items to cross off.

But for me it was all new. New venue: Water Sports. New area: Midwest. New Histories: River
States. New people. Certainly this would be different than my mountain man preferences, but

I figured maybe I could handle being a flat lander for a little while.

The Funny thing is, it didn’t feel all that much like Flat lands I had lived in before.