Around the bend: Dave Hardesty and Danny Rees teamed up to kayak the Mississippi River

Dave Hardesty and Danny Rees barely knew each other the day they pushed their florescent orange kayaks into the Mississippi River in September 2007. They had met by chance in 2005, shortly before Hardesty trekked north to the river's source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota. His goal was to kayak the Mississippi back to Cape Girardeau and, eventually, all the way to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico. Hardesty and Rees quickly discovered a mutual love for outdoor adventure and kayaking. "I'll give you a call when I get back," said Hardesty. He could use some company for the second leg of his trip.

"A lot of people ask, 'Why do it?' I got asked that from Minnesota all the way down," says Hardesty. "I say it's fun to discover it myself. Yeah, everyone knows where the Mississippi starts and where it ends, and there's nothing there that hasn't been discovered already -- but I haven't seen it. And you know what they say about people in Missouri: You have to 'show us.'"

Says Rees, "I'd wanted to do it since I was little bitty ... I grew up fishing with my dad on the Mississippi River and met people who had done it and I always knew someday I would do it."

So it was lucky he ran into Hardesty and his "dream machine" of a kayak. Hardesty kayaked the first 1,295 miles in 41 days; his letters home were printed in the Southeast Missourian. Together, Hardesty and Rees tackled Cape Girardeau to Memphis, Tenn., in September 2007; Memphis to Vicksburg, Miss., in October 2008; and Vicksburg to mile zero in September 2009. They spent a total of 23 days kayaking the river, camping on the riverbanks, walking to nearby cities and fielding a number of interesting adventures, challenges and characters. Hardesty documented their experiences in his journal, and in upcoming months, the Southeast Missourian will chronicle the rest of his trip in TBY.

"It's a physical challenge but it's a very simple way of life," says Hardesty. "Paddle, sleep, eat. Paddle sleep, eat. Everyday. Enjoy the scenery and meet people."

Dave Hardesty and Danny Ree

Like Jim Dyehouse, a man in his 70s who works through the winter and has made at least nine summer kayak trips down the Mississppi River. Or Elvira, the duck Hardesty and Rees rescued from a whirlpool in Mississippi and who stood guard on Hardesty's kayak all the way to mile zero. Or the many locals and river workers who offered rides, advice and even hot showers.

Not to mention getting to know each other.

Once strangers, Hardesty and Rees now consider themselves brothers and lifelong friends. Their trips included plenty of deep conversations and challenges in teamwork, and they say they learned everything about each other after only the first trip. By the end of their last trip, they were ready to head down the river all over again.

"We're the classic tortoise and the hare," says Hardesty, explaining that he slowed the pace so they could enjoy the scenery, and Rees sped them up so they could make their destination on time. "At any time I could have tied my kayak to his, kicked back my feet and just floated along," he says.

"He's the brains and I'm the brawn," adds Rees. "Dave has his stuff together. He's got maps, goals -- he's the lifeline, the captain. If it were just me, I'd go out there with just a six-pack of water and some Cheerios, and I'd get out whenever I got tired."

Dave Hardesty and Danny Ree

But what the two have in common is determination and passion for experience and adventure.

"There are people a lot more adventurous than us," says Rees. "After the first year I understood the people who climb Mount Everest. It's not about what you see when you get there ... There's so much story in three weeks of walking and kayaking and being cold and working superhard."

A big part of that story involved finding ways to make themselves comfortable in adverse conditions and less-than-cozy campsites.

"You learn to think outside the box, to do without something and to use something for a purpose it's not intended for," says Hardesty. "It's like when you're a kid and you use your imagination to make things be what they aren't. It carries over. You have to imagine ways to use things differently." When Hardesty's lips burned and swelled until he looked like actress Angelina Jolie, he mixed sunscreen and lip balm, spread it on his lips and covered up with a handkerchief. He created a lumbar support pillow from foam rubber, then reshaped it to keep his feet warm on a cold night.

"It's curiosity. You never know what's around the next bend. It's about the journey, not the destination," says Hardesty.

Dave Hardesty and Danny Ree

Stay tuned for Hardesty's day-by-day account of the trip, to be printed in future issues of TBY.

TBY is a monthly magazine published by Rust Communications, owners of the Southeast Missourian.