I will give you some brief background about myself before we embark on this journey together. I am 37 years old and have lived most of my life in the Jackson Mississippi area. As a child, my supportive parents enrolled me in all manner of sports, baseball, basketball, football, soccer, swimming but being out in untamed nature was always what I loved the most. As I grew into my teenage years Boy Scouts became my primary focus and my parents always found a way to support the many trips I wanted to make. A few of the places I was blessed to travel included the Grand Canyon, Minnesota Boundary Waters, Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, and a host of other state and federal parks and lands. Life after high school included a brief stint in college followed by host of different jobs including but not limited to farm hand, shrimp boat deck hand, construction, bartender and finally Combat Infantrymen In Iraq. After completing my time in the Army I returned home to Jackson to earn my college degree. I have worked the last 12 years as a manager in the restaurant business.
In early 2016 after the Blues club I was managing closed, I placed my all belongings into storage and set out to hike the 2189 mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. It was a wonderful 6 month trip that reawakened a long buried wonderlust inside me. Towards the end of my Appalachian Trail journey the idea of the canoeing the entire Mississippi River wormed its way into my mind.
When I returned home I discovered that a popular local fishing area and park, The Spillway at Ross Barnett Reservoir, was going to be closed due to the large amounts of trash that were being left by visitors. I was surprised and encouraged by the out pouring of support for clean up efforts. Facebook groups like Ross Barnett Spillway Fishing Group and local non-profits like Keep the Rez Beautiful joined with countless volunteers to clean the area up. Over the last year a small army of loosely connected volunteers have taken the time to go by the area continually cleaning up litter and speaking with visitors about properly disposing of all trash.
With the start of spring came beautiful weather and large crowds who wished to use the clean park only problem being was the litter they left. During this time I was busily planning my Mississippi River adventure, working and making regular trip to the spillway and other parks located along the Rez to try and keep the litter down and the parks open. In the last few weeks before I was to leave for the Mississippi River the spring time litter reached a peak level and the threat of closure again became real. The excitement I felt about my adventure was suddenly dampened by the thought of not being around to help keep the parks open.
I am currently working to find a non profit that works to clean up and preserve waterways. I hope to be able to use this trip as a way to give back to the river some of the good I will receive from it. I hope you will enjoy my blog and will donate towards the organization I partner with.
