By mail: Send a check for $17.95 to Mighty Miss Press, Box 122, Chanhassen, MN 55317
Call: 952-470-8440
By Taylor Kollitz
In the summer of 1976, Gary Hoffman said to his wife, Jacqui, "Someday, someday, I'll do that."
In 2002, Hoffman and his son, Darrin, did it.
What they accomplished was something fewer than five people complete every year, Hoffman said.
They canoed all 2,552 miles of the Mississippi River, from its source in Lake Itasca to its mouth in New Orleans.
"I can remember going up to the headwaters when I was a boy," Hoffman said. "I think the boy in me inspired [the trip]."
Hoffman, who lives in Chanhassen, has been guiding canoe trips for more than 40 years.
As a result of accomplishing one dream, Hoffman was able to fulfill another: He wrote a book called "Mighty Miss" about the journey.
"Mighty Miss" highlights the trials and tribulations of his trip in a 20-foot Kevlar canoe. He writes about the strained relationship between father and son to surviving 6 foot waves on Lake Winnibigoshish.
"I can remember getting off [Lake] Winni and crying because I knew I shouldn't be alive," Hoffman said.
That's not to say that the journey was without simple beauty.
"I never realized I would just kind of fall in love with the nature on the Mississippi," Hoffman said. "We were close to civilization but it didn't always feel that way."
Extreme opposites were present throughout the trip.
When the pair began the trip, a layer of ice formed every night on their water, Hoffman said. By the end, they were battling temperatures of more than 100 degrees.
Some portions of the trip were relaxing and safe. At other times, father and son played "chicken" with towboat operators.
Certain parts of the river were so clean Hoffman said it appeared they had never been touched by man. Other parts were so polluted that the duo would immediately stop to clean up if water splashed on their faces.
A diary that Hoffman kept throughout the expedition would later help in the writing of "Mighty Miss," although that was not his original intention, Hoffman said.
"We ran into so many good people; so many generous people," Hoffman said. "They left me with the feeling of wanting to be a better person."
The inspiration from the kindness of strangers led to the novel, he said.
So, would Hoffman paddle the Mississippi again?
"My plan is to do it solo and to be able to take as much time as I want," Hoffman said. "I regret that we couldn't have spent more time talking to the wonderful people on the river."
