I’m writing early bc I wont have service until rosedale which could be tomorrow night or early the next day, idk.

I stopped here in Helena to meet the famed adventureist, John Ruskey. A friend of mine, Mike Waterford paddled the Mississippi last year and met John–who has a haven setup for paddlers here in Helena, the Quapaw Canoe Co. They will see to whatever your needs are–food, water, shelter, convo, advice.

Since i just left memphis yesterday and am well stocked, i was only in search of knowledge. I wanted tips in regard to the new wildlife I’d encounter omw down and wanted to know of some cool places to visit.

Ruskey himself was not here. He is on Vancouver Island right now in BC so he sent out the Quapaw Canoe Company facility manager, John “Mad Dog” Fewkes. Mad Dog is his river name and is the exact opposite of his personality. He’s very much into Zen Buddhism and we talked more about philosophy than anything else. He took me to a Mexican restaurant–I was having severe withdrawals. Then he showed me some of the historic places of Helena, lot of blues history here…it is also the point where thousands of years ago the Ohio river met the Mississippi. But I had a nice afternoon hanging with Mad Dog and am about to climb back on the river.

IMG_2014-07-26_13-45-08IMG_2014-07-26_13-11-58IMG_2014-07-26_13-11-50IMG_2014-07-26_13-07-34IMG_2014-07-26_13-45-18

Quapaw really set me up though, as they have satellite facilities in Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge…so I will likely have a night off the river when I get down there as well as be able to restock.

So, another good day. Getting toasty this weekend with heat indices of 102 today and 105 tomorrow. But we’ll manage.