Be on the lookout for a crew of performers called the Unseen Ghost Brigade heading down the river on their home-made boat called the Riff Raft. They are filming their adventure and are stopping in cities along the way to perform at bars and clubs. They stopped in Hastings, Minn., on Thursday, June 24.

Aaron Drendel and Jake Mullins from Batavia, Ill., are canoeing the Mississippi to raise funds for breast cancer. They left Lake Itasca on May 29 and hope to complete the trip in 60 days. You can keep up with their progress and donate to the cure through their blog.

Ryan Jeanes and Phillip Hullquist kayaked down the river in 2009, and this summer you can see their "The River Is Life" movie. They'll be taking the 11Visions movie on tour starting in August. More Info • River is Life website

Norwegian Eddy Ferreira and friend Jan Bronnich are planning a trip down the Mississippi in late July or early August. They will ship a a faering (a four-oared boat) to Chicago or Duluth, then have it transported to Bemidji, Minn., where they will start the trip. The boat is a replica of an old Norwegian fishing boat, 17 feet long, and approx. 400 lbs.

They'll be grateful for any good advice, so send Eddy an email if you have any.

Paddle for the Planet: A solar & human powered educational trip down the Minnesota section of the Mississippi River to "study and reveal the connections between ourselves, the river and the planet... We will travel over 800 kilometers (500 miles) in canoes from Lake Itasca to St. Paul." They plan to begin the journey on April 27.

Floatzilla August 21, 2010. The first Quad Cities Paddlesports Festival and a sanctioned Guinness World Records attempt to amass the world's largest raft of canoes and kayaks. Sponsored by River Action, Floatzilla needs to beat the 2008 record of 1,104 boats. Register early.

Update! 1,800 is the number to beat now - Pittsburgh raises the bar

Mississippi River Challenge 2010   Paddle the Twin Cities on July 24 and 25. Organized by Friends of the Mississippi River to raise money for a cleaner, healthier river.

Great River Rumble 2010 This year the trip will take paddlers on the Mississippi from Dubuque to Muscatine, Iowa, from July 31 to August 7.

Urban Boatbuilders is a youth service agency in St. Paul that uses wooden boatbuilding as a means to support positive youth development. Every summer they take an 80-mile trip on the Mississippi.

Paul Schneider and his son kayaked 105 miles from below St. Louis to Cape Girardeau in June of 2009 in rising water. You can read his story Peacefully Adrift as the Mississippi River Just Rolls Along in the New York Times. "We hadn’t come to the Mississippi to prove or conquer anything. We just came to see what the most storied river in America had to offer a couple of supplicants with plastic boats and a week and a half with which to play." And, "As soon as you are in the water, you know immediately that you belong to the river. It commands every sense. There’s the sound a truly big river makes — not loud, but nonetheless vast and soothing, more like a wind over grasses than a waterfall." A good read.

Texan Brian Righi kayaked down the Mississippi from Lake Itasca in late summer 2009. You can read about his adventures, including a hit-and-run by a powerboat near St. Louis, in these news articles. Watch for his book about the trip in late 2010 . Sept. 2, 2009 • Aug. 9, 2009

Old Man River project - Sailed down the river in a 32-foot wooden York Boat, Annie, to support the Lower Mississippi Riverkeepers.

Eve Beglarian's River Project - Follow musician Eve Beglarian as she kayaked down the river, looking for Mississippi River music. (She loves churches too.)

From her blog:
I have developed an obsession with the Mississippi River: especially the impact of the river on the development of American culture. I am interested in how our relationship to the nature, geography, and ecology of the river is manifested in music, literature, and all the arts. Just as the Mississippi River is one of the defining natural features of the North American continent, so it has also been one of the defining features in the development of American culture: and of music in particular.

At this particular moment in American history, I have decided that I need to spend a year traveling the whole length of the Mississippi River starting from its source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota, meeting and interviewing people I find along the way, recording the sounds of the river, writing music as I travel, performing with and for members of the communities I find. more

Read about her in the New York Times, Sept. 2, 2009

Photos from Lori Gum, who joined Eve for four days brom Bellevue, Iowa, to the Quad Cities: The Magical Mississippi Tour

Mary Kay Rafferty accompanied Eve from the Twin Cities to Winona, Minn., and then took the Empire Builder to Chicago. Read about her adventures on her blog.

Another blog, this one by Mac, a fellow traveler with Eve.

Charles Dillon canoed down the river to raise awareness of hunger in America. Charles is the founder of Carpenter's House in New Orleans. He started his trip at Lake Itasca on Sept. 8 and arrived in New Orleans on Nov. 7, stopping in 50 cities and towns on the river. You can read about his trip, watch a video and pledge support on his website.

Citizen journalist for CNN Neal Moore paddled down the river and posted online. He left Minnesota in July and finished the trip in December in New Orleans. Read and watch at flashriversafari.com. 

From the Quincy Herald-Whig:

"In his 16-foot Old Town Charles River canoe, Moore encountered one fascinating story after another. He camped on river islands and learned to adjust on the fly — his planned four-day stop at sustainable farm in Iowa turned into a 2 1/2-week adventure where he filed six stories."

Mississippi Float: Follow Ryan Jeanes and 11 Visions as they kayaked down the river from Minnesota to the Gulf. Here's a newspaper article from Quincy, Ill. And another from the Minneapolis Trib.

What About Blue: Kayaking down the river to raise awareness about water issues. You can listen to reports, join the team, donate and track their progress. Take a peak at their very active website.

Floridians Tommy Owen and Charles Vaught kayaked from Winona, Minn., to Louisiana in 53 days. See the article in the Naples, Fla., News

June 26: Veruschka and Zelda Xox had some trouble starting out on their trip down the river on their homemade houseboat, the Velvet Glove Cast in Iron. First engine trouble, then…well, read all about it here in the Minneapolis Tribune. Their boat is impounded and their chickens are off to a chicken farm. But Veruschka and Zelda have a dream. They may try again next year.

Raft the Mississippi: Ben Monson and Matt Folkedahl rafted the Mississippi from Minneapolis to New Orleans on a homemade pontoon-style raft. Starting on July 11, they expected to make the trip in 40 days and planned to propel their raft with electrical, solar, human and wind power. They raised money for the Special Olympics as well as the Lance Armstrong foundation.

Bigriverraft: Charlie Q. and his brother-in-law took a raft trip from Stillwater, Minn., to Memphis, Tenn. They floated down the river on the Miss Helen J, named after Charlie's aunt. You can email Charlie. He is always happy to talk about rivers and raft trips.

Raft the Mississippi River:Tom Haynie from North Carolina went down the river on the Free Bird. Track the Free Bird

New Orleans or Bust: Phil and Tom (the Hucksters) canoed down the river. They completed the trip on July 28, taking 66 days from Lake Nameakagen, Wis., to New Orleans.

Kristian Gustavson, a Bloomington, Ill. resident, and his father, William, relived the adventure two of Kristian’s uncles had on the Mississippi 42 years ago. They followed the same route from Cairo, Ill., in the same canoe (a 17-foot Grumman) taken by Kristian's uncles – Bob and Greg Gustavson. Read stories in the Clarksdale Press Register and the Stuttgart (Ark.) Daily Leader

Kristian is the cofounder and midwest contact of Below the Surface, a California water group, a "Coast To Coast Exploration of America's Waterways," working on water conservation and improving water quality in rivers and oceans.

Tom Malkowicz and Karl Palazzolo planned to canoe from the Mississippi headwaters to the Gulf, starting in September 2008. They made it 420 miles to St. Cloud, Minn. You can follow their trip in words, pictures and videos on their website. Here's "A Man, A Camcorder, and A Very Long River" from the St. Louis RiverFront Times.

Robert Youens from Austin, Texas, paddled down the Mississippi River in the fall. His canoe, the Lone Star, carried a satellite transponder. You can track him at iboattrack.com and read about his trip - and send messages to him - on his discussion page.

Two U of Northern Colorado students, Nate Oligmueller and Dave Brandsma, drifted down the river on their homemade raft, the Bear Naked.

Update: Nate and Dave left the river just upstream from Louisiana and pulled the boat back to Colorado. From their website:

"All in all Nate and Dave had an incredible life experience floating down the Mighty Mississippi on the record flood of 2008. We met a ton of great people that we will never forget, saw things that most will never see, and experienced things that only we can fully appreciate. The best way we can sum it up is, "Those six weeks were the best year of our lives".

The Mississippi River Project : Lindseyp and Hannahb pedaled a pontooned raft, the HMR C. Bernadette Able, down the river. Surviving poison ivy, meeting Winona's boathouse folks, it's all on their blog. They finished in St. Charles, Mo., in December. If you are thinking or dreaming about a river trip, read their account. "We did an amazing thing and I have changed forever because of it."

Images from Iowa and LaCrosse, Wis.

Dominik Rauber walked the Mississippi starting July 1, 2008, in Minneapolis. Rauber, a native of Switzerland, planned to take 90 days for the trip. Follow his footsteps on his website. RSS blog link (.) Update: Dominik added a bicycle for transportation, arrived in New Orleans in August, and made his last blog entry on Aug. 14.

Mississippi Summer: Starting June 1, 2008, Justus McLarty pedaled his houseboat, the Big Getter, down the Mississippi from Minneapolis/St. Paul to the Gulf of Mexico. You can follow his adventure: www.biggetter.cocm

Update: Justus made it to New Orleans at the end of August 2008 on day 82 of his trip.

The Big River Show  Minneapolis to New Orleans. Bill Bowles from San Franscisco and Max Livingstone from Berkeley are blogging & videotaping their progress downriver on Evangeline, a pontoon houseboat.

Update: Bill and Max arrived in New Orleans ("New Orlins, Nawlans or New Oieans but never New Orleens") in August 2008. Check out their wrap-up video and their jambalaya recipe on their blog.

Just Added: Gary and Darrin Hoffman from Chanhasen, Minn., canoed from Lake Itasca to New Orleans in a 20-foot Kevlar canoe in 2002. Gary just published a book, Mighty Miss, about the journey. He says in a story in the Lakeshore Weekly News:

""I never realized I would just kind of fall in love with the nature on the Mississippi. We were close to civilization but it didn't always feel that way." He wants to do it again, solo, to be able to take as much time as he wants. "I regret that we couldn't have spent more time talking to the wonderful people on the river."

Jacob van der Merwe, the Crazy Kayaker, spent 59 days in 2007 kayaking the river.

Joe and Ben Palmquist - Brothers for the River - Started canoeing in Lake Itasca on August 27, 2006, to raise awareness of environmental issues facing the Mississippi. On November 9, the brothers pulled their canoe from the river in New Madrid, Mo., after canoeing over 1,300 miles of the river. Blog website

The Miss Rockaway Armada - Artists and the raft they built. They started in Minneapolis on August 9, 2006, performing their way down the river. The raft wintered in Andalusia, Ill., and the trip resumed in 2007, making it to St. Louis. blog

In 2006, Matt Bullard, Cap'n Bully, piloted his homemade boat down the Mississippi. In October, it got swamped and sunk in St. Louis. Read his account

Mississippi River Quest - Adam Brooks kayaked down the river in 2006, and dedicated the trip to his father.

Source to Sea Paddling the Mississippi River to benefit the Audubon Society. (May 14 to July 27, 2005)

In September 2005, author Mary Morris traveled down the river on a houseboat after her father died suddenly. He left a note describing an island that he visited as a boyand she starts this journey to explore the river and find this island. See Big River's review of her book, The River Queen, A Memoir.

During the summer of 2004, Nancy Scheibe and Heather Jeske paddled from Lake Itasca to Red Wing, Minn. Nancy's book, Water-Women-Wisdom -- Voices From the Upper Mississippi tells the story of their trip and the meetings with women along the way. In 2007, Nancy resumed the trip downriver, from Red Wing, Minn., to St. Louis.

Mississippi River Canoe Trip Journal, August 20-28, 2004, Brainerd to Elk River, Minn.

Corrado Filipponi's journey (2002)

Alaskan Bruce Nelson's canoe trip, Lake Itasca to the Gulf (2001)

The Floating Neutrinos on the Vilma B (2000)

Guy Haglund's 101 Days on the Mississippi (1992)

In 1991, Nick Lichter canoed the Mississippi from Lake Itasca to New Orleans. The Road of Souls is his book about the trip, as well as a historical account of the river.

Down the Great River Joe and Isaac Angert from St. Louis paddle and pontoon the river. Lots to read, lots of pictures.

Also on this site - excerpts from river hitchiker Chris Markham's book Mississippi Odyssey.

Billy Curmano, "Swimmin' the Mississippi"