Testimonials
Get a sense of what paddlers think of the Mississippi River Challenge! Here is some of the feedback we heard from 2009 event, some in response to our survey, other comments were emailed to us by paddlers.
Q: If you have paddled the Mississippi River Challenge before
how did your experience this year compare to past years?
I've had a great time both years! Love the event, keep up the good work!
Well run event year in and year out.
This was the first year I was able to do the full trip because the first year was the year the bridge collapsed and last year I was sick for part of the weekend, so having beautiful weather and such an incredible, well-supported event on a river I really care about made for a tremendous weekend - I can't wait to come back next year! Also, I really liked the new lunch stop on Day 2 and the addition of Chipotle and the design of this year's shirts was very good. I also thought the We-no-nah canoe and life jackets from Hoigaards that we rented through FMR were in excellent condition and made for a great paddle.
Of the 6 years I've paddled the challenge, this seemed to be the easiest paddling (due to the weather), and the staff and volunteers were excellent, as always! I also liked the change in food options, and the fact that we did not have to eat lunch at Pigs Eye. The new Sunday lunch spot was much better, and I heard the same comment from many return paddlers.
The event was terrific, great organization, great volunteers!
Q: Overall, how would you rate your 2009 Mississippi River Challenge experience?
It was more of a challenge than I expected, and I am glad for that. It was a challenge, and a ton of fun, and I felt supported; next year, I'll do it more for supporting FMR than for the physical challenge or opportunity to paddle the Mississippi, also thankful to see all the paddling ops along the river and put in and take out points. Thank you for the opportunity in so many ways. Glad to see about fmr projects and volunteer ops and glad I could share with friends, coworkers, and fellow facebookers, neighbors, and strangers along the way. I value what fmr is doing, I'm gun ho to support! Glad for the education this paddle. :)
I loved every second of it! VERY organized. I will definitely do it again!!! Thank you!
I loved being on the "entity" for which I was raising funds. I met wonderful people. The food was plentiful (would like more vegan options). I love to paddle 22 miles per day. I love seeing the various characteristics of the Mississippi. I like being able to be in a group of paddlers as well as being on my own, all in the same trip. I loved the enthusiasm of the staff and volunteers.
Of course Mother Nature kicked in a great tail wind to make the paddling easier! Loved both lunch meals. Enjoyed the new variety of food options at the dinner Sat, plus the new location made a lot of sense. Much more space. Great idea to have paddlers bring their own water bottles.
Well organized, well supported, well executed. Loved the rest stops, lunches, and night at the Fort!!
This was one if the best weekends of my life. I paddled with my father and we now have memories we can share together for a lifetime. This event not only gave us a chance to spend quality time together, but it also gave us a chance to give back and show our appreciation of the Mississippi. The staff, volunteers, food, facilities, and other paddlers were phenomenal. We can't wait for next year!
FMR staff really do a GREAT job!!!
Event was well organized, other paddlers were interesting characters, food was GREAT, rest stops were welcome and well supported, volunteers were very helpful and friendly, sleeping in a tent in a real fort was cool, music was fun, beer was cold and delicious, root beer float was nice treat, National Forest Service officers were very informative, Lock workers were friendly and helpful.
The organization, volunteers that were there to help and the food FAR exceeded my expectations. I knew that it would be a challenge, all of YOUR efforts made it much more achievable.
Fantastic staff and volunteers, as usual! They were very supportive and friendly. Operations seemed to run smooth. And again, we couldn't have asked for better paddling conditions!
The weather was fantastic, especially the wind from the North. The event was really well organized, and we were very pleasantly surprised at the end that there were volunteers and a trailer at Fort Snelling to haul our kayaks. Everyone (from the safety people to the volunteers to the paddlers) were friendly and fun and made sure we had a wonderful experience. I have been raving to my friends and co-workers about what a wonderful and well-organized event this was.
I've paddled every year and this year was definitely my favorite both with the weather and the organizational aspect. Great job!
I had such a great time and the event went off without a single hitch, from my perspective. It was absolutely humbling.
Q: How would you rate your Night at the Fort experience?
Loved sleeping in a tent in a real fort, GREAT food, cold and delicious beer, tasty root beer float, good music, plenty of places to sit and relax, volunteers and staff were very friendly and helpful, great weather, hot coffee.
Dinner, people, Summit, music, etc. were all A+.
Q: Overall, how would you rate your experience with Friends of the Mississippi River?
The staff and volunteers did a fantastic job. All was well organized, clean, planned well and just a great event.
Staff and volunteers were very enthusiastic, organized, astute to paddlers needs and helpful.
The organization's mission is vital to all of our health and the staff and volunteers accomplish that mission with professional and enjoyable programming and member information. I have worked with the staff on riverfront development issues and hold them in high regard.
FMR staff was friendly and fun to talk to, liked the information tables and fun facts about the Mississippi watershed and animal and plant life, FMR seems like a focused and purposeful group.
All the staff and volunteers were awesome: friendly and helpful! Great, easy going, attentive, and approachable people. Great representation of the FMR organization.
You folks are doing a great job with the River Challenge, and your day to day work is something I can be proud to be associated with.
Q: How does the Mississippi River Challenge compare to other pledge events you've participated in?
Very well organized, and overall, the food and volunteer support was outstanding! I also appreciated the safety captains, esp. Rich Wahls and his ever-present smile and sense of humor!
logistical organization was impressive, route was thrilling, gathered group was engaging
Q: What was your most memorable and/or favorite moment of this year's Mississippi River Challenge?
Fort overnight, and helpful and friendly volunteers. The whole thing was great, drummers at the beginning, the falls at the CRdam, the meals, the Voyageur canoe cadence, the last float through scenic canal at last stretch of paddle. The rope swing and actually getting INTO the water was wonderful!!! Like cleansing in the Mississippi after a long, arduous paddle, to immerse myself in the water, clean myself of the hard, and remember only the good. Just being a part of the river for a few moments, was sooooooo good.
So many! I think seeing the river and the variety of areas of it from industrial to natural, gorge to woods. Camping in the fort.
I really enjoyed the beauty of the second day, I saw many eagles, herons and egrets- I really had no idea how beautiful the Mississippi river is. A beautiful gem flowing through our cities!
Paddling through the backwater stretch of the river just after the leaving the final rest stop. The trees were growing out over the river, it was quiet but for the sound of chirping birds. It was such an enchanting stretch of the river!
The whole experience was fantastic and each bend in the river brought something new, but I think my favorite moment may have been launching from the Fort on the morning of Day 2 with the sunrising and the water perfectly calm and paddling towards Harriet Island with the other paddlers, egrets and a passing barge. It really represented the beauty of the river and the importance of the weekend to help preserve that!
Too many to choose from! Possibly the energy and friendliness of everyone involved.
Seeing the industrial / recycling section of the river. It really put in perspective what we put in / do to our drinking water and overall ecology. It really hits home when you are on the same level as the water.
The whole damn thing.
Please share any comments or suggestions you have for making
next year's Mississippi River Challenge even better.
You do a great job: the support, the food, timing of stops, care of paddlers, all of it.
None. A wonderfully run event.
I would like to thank all of the staff and volunteers who assisted with the event. I have to believe it takes a lot of coordination and effort to put this on and it was done well. Having someone help with the boats at each of the stops was great!! I think talking about what we will see along the route and how different things impact the river would be beneficial and help us to be better ambassadors.
I really enjoyed the 2009 event. I look forward to it next year. Maybe I'll paddle both days next year. It was a very smoothly run event. Thank you!
Please provide a new second day lunch stop with SHADE!!!! Loved everyplace else. Also, I think you splurge too much on us (too many chairs, too nice food, too much beer) when that money could go to the river. We can rough it more.
For my daughter and I, the MRC was a very fun and memorable event. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! One suggestion: More early morning hot coffee at the fort.
Really, I couldn't have asked for a better event to have participated in.
Email comments:
Thank you very much and thank you for another fantastic event this year! I had the best time this weekend and want to thank all the staff and volunteers that made it all possible!
First of all thank you all for another well-planned and –operated event. This was my sixth year paddling the Challenge, and as a safety captain for five of those, I've had the privilege of listening in on the radio chatter from time to time. It has been interesting to note over the years how the operation has smoothed out, as experience was gained. ... My grateful thanks too, to the many sponsors for the event that all help in so many ways to make it such an enjoyable - and now traditional - part of my summer! ... See you for the seventh iteration!
I think the sleep catch-up will take at least two weeks. If it's any comfort, just think of how phenomenally well it went, and be excited that at least when you sleep now, you're not waking in the middle of the night thinking about something that has to be taken care of.
I really appreciated your responsiveness - prompt, friendly, helpful, every time I emailed a question.