Title: Canoeing the Great Plains : a Missouri River summer /
Authors: Dobson, Patrick,
Year: 2015
Subjects: Dobson, Patrick Travel Missouri River.; Dobson, Patrick Travel Great Plains.; TRAVEL / United States / Midwest / West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD); TRAVEL / United States / West / Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, UT, WY); Canoes and canoeing Missouri River.; River life Missouri River.; Self-actualization (Psychology); BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs.; Missouri River Description and travel.; Great Plains Description and travel.
Abstract: "Tired of an unfulfilling life in Kansas City, Missouri, Patrick Dobson left his job and set off on foot across the Great Plains. After two and a half months, 1,450 miles, and numerous encounters with the people of the heartland, Dobson arrived in Helena, Montana. He then set a canoe on the Missouri and asked the river to carry him safely back to Kansas City, hoping this enigmatic watercourse would help reconnect him with his life. In Canoeing the Great Plains, Dobson recounts his journey on the Missouri, the country's longest river. Dobson, a novice canoeist when he begins his trip, faces the Missouri at a time of dangerous flooding and must learn to trust himself to the powerful flows of the river and its stark and serenely beautiful countryside. He meets a cast of characters along the river who assist him both with the mundane tasks of canoeing--portaging around dams and reservoirs and finding campsites--and with his own personal transformation. Mishaps, mistakes, and misadventures plague his trip, but over time the river shifts from being a frightening adversary to a welcome companion. As the miles float by and the distinctions blur between himself and what he formerly called nature, Dobson comes to grips with his past, his fears, and his life beyond the river"--
Contents: Prologue -- Doomed -- Drunkenness, Fear, and Determination -- Your Friend, the River -- Life Preserver -- Carless -- Medicine River -- A Speck in the Landscape -- Spirits of the Dead -- Cheap Cigars -- Oaths and Vulgarities -- Staying in Motion -- Owl Headdress -- Doris -- A Startling Leap -- Rather Be Fishing -- The Toughest Part -- Home but not Home -- Epilogue.