Conover / Reber Canoe Trip

Over a 48-day period during the fall of 1949, Stuart Conover and former camp staff member Laurel "Lefty" Reber took a 1,500-mile canoe trip from Camp Lowden to New Orleans. They paddled down the Mississippi River through giant locks along with some of the largest barges and water craft. Their Scouting skills were put to the test on many occasions, including combating hunger, fatigue, the cold, the wind, waves, etc. Camping in the wilds along the river and cooked their canned food over an open fire was one of the easiest parts of the trip.

The "fickle" winds played with them more often than not, swamping the canoe on more than one occasion. Below Saint Louis the wind whipped the river into whitecaps, causing water to pour into the canoe faster than they could bail it out. They made for shore, built fires, dried out, and were on their way again in two hours.

But here were several beautiful days and moonlit nights and good people along the whole route. The lockkeepers were particularly friendly, even when the canoe was the only watercraft moving through the locks. The great Mississippi "sorta" breeds kindness. These are the things one remembers.

The fewest miles traveled in a single day was 11, while the most was 50. Because of charts provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Stu and Lefty knew to the mile just how far they traveled each day.

On December 16, 1949 they arrived in New Orleans and the voyage ended. What a ride!