In the fall of 1996 Jim and Carol Otremba took a three month leave from their jobs to canoe the Mississippi river. All of it, from Lake Itasca to the delta at New Orleans, through rain and sun and twenty eight locks and dams. Their journey was covered in the St. Cloud Times, and the couple have now compiled their journals into the privately published Mississippi River Canoe Adventure.
As the title suggests, this slim volume is little more than a journal, and it will take some patience on the reader’s part to navigate it. Our authors are, I’m sure, excellent canoeists, but they are not travel writers. While Jonathan Carver or Mark Twain described the history of this river, the way the people worked and talked, and filled pages with imagery and personal feeling, the Otrembas tell us which way the wind blew each day, how many miles were canoed, and where the tent was pitched. Yet that very quality—the book’s unwavering focus on the river itself—becomes strangely compelling after fifty or sixty pages. These little, factual diary entries slowly build up a waterside view of the Mississippi, much like Arthur Young’s innocuous agriculturalist notes in Travels in France in the Years 1787, 1788, and 1789 capture the French Revolution. And as a practical guide for canoeing the mighty Miss, it gives valuable insights—for example, how to avoid tugs and other ships that ply the river. From an entry near Donaldsonville, Louisiana:
On one stretch of river, we had an unforgettable experience. Jim looked to the west bank to see if a ship was in the vicinity. He did not see a well-camouflaged black ship cruising along the black background of the wharf. A few minutes later, I had that familiar feeling that something wasn’t right. I turned around and coming silently behind us was a huge ship. I yelled, and Jim quickly turned the canoe left and out of its path.
I won’t give away the ending, but I will just mention that the canoe adventure had a rendezvous with a biegnet (a square French donut). Overall, this book is sure to please canoe enthusiasts, and others who live or work along the river. I’m not sure if the Ontrembas plan to write another book, but I’d really enjoy reading An Amazon River Canoe Adventure. There may be a few poison dart frogs to contend with, but they wouldn’t have to dodge as many tugs.
- Joel Van Valin