Page 39 - kayaksession54_flipbook

photo: Norman Miller
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PW: Where did the idea of the 7 Rivers 7 Continents project come from?
MK: I mostly blame my girlfriend. After completing a source to sea descent of the Amazon River in 2008, I walked alone across the entire Islamic Republic of Iran from north to south. No paddling involved but an absolutely amazing experience. Upon my return I was tossing around ideas of what expedition to undertake next. All of them were interesting but fairly disparate and not all were paddling focused. My girlfriend suggested a long-term project whose elements were connected to one another. Why not source to sea descents of the longest river on each continent? Why not indeed.The completed Amazon River, as the longest river in South America, would provide an excellent base from which to begin. The more I researched the idea, the more it appealed to me. Now it has kind of taken over my life.
To just charge down a river from source to sea without stopping and exploring, to me personally, is a huge waste.
PW: What are the seven rivers?
MK: Amazon River (South America) – 6680 km (4150 miles) – completed 2008
Missouri – Mississippi River (North America) – 6080 km (3780 miles) - completed 2012
Volga River (Europe) – 3645 km (2266 miles) - completed 2014 Nile River (Africa) – 6650 km (4132 miles)
Yangtze River (Asia) – 6300 km (3916 miles)
Murray-Darling River (Australia) – 3370 km (2904 miles)
Onyx River (Antarctica) – 40 km (25 miles) *All distances are very, very approximate
PW: What’s your paddling and expedition background?
MK: I suppose I come primarily from a guiding background both in regards to paddling and expeditions. I started working on commercial river trips about 15 years ago in South Africa and in between began sea kayak guiding back home in Australia. I also led trekking groups in the Himalayas and many times
on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Little adventures on my own and with friends grew into big adventures from there. I am deinitely not the best technical paddler around, but hopefully by now I am a decent expedition paddler.
PW: You have honed your expedition paddling over three expeditions so far. Which rivers and how long did each one take?
MK: The source to sea descent of the Amazon River in South America took 153 days. I did the irst source to sea descent of the Missouri-Mississippi River in North America, which took 117 days, and the irst solo source to sea descent of the Volga River in Russia, the longest river in Europe, which took 71 days. Both the North American and European descents were made alone.
PW: What is involved in preparing for the trips?
MK: These days, all of my descents start from the comfort of the sofa in front of my laptop. I use predominantly Google Earth in the irst instance to get a really broad view of the entire river and its surroundings. Often I move on to the online mapping resources of the Perry-Castañeda Library at the University of Texas -- a fantastic resource with some really interesting maps available to view. If the region has good paper maps or charts available I will go on to source these as well. There is something particularly special about making notations and scribbling with a pencil on traditional maps.
After all this dreaming I then have to move on to the practicalities of the descent. What craft to paddle, go alone or in a small team, what time of year can I put in and so on.All of my trips have been unsupported and I would kind of like to keep it that way. I like to run these rivers in a kind of “alpine style.” That is, alone or in a small team, few resources, not too much equipment and inconspicuous.
I try not to over-plan my descents. I do not necessarily want to know what is around that next bend. I actually want to make decisions on the ly and be massively lexible as to how my journey evolves. It’s more fun that way.
PW: You take time off in between rivers trips, right? What determines when you have done (or plan to do) each river?
MK: I do take time off between trips. I have a partner as well as 3 little ones under 5 years of age who I leave each time I set off on one of my journeys. Being apart from them is by far the most dificult aspect of this project. After all, these descents, while often quite demanding, are honestly just extended paddling holidays for me.
The frequency and timing of when I get back on a big river comes down to family, inance, preparation and water levels or season. Lining up all those things can take some doing. So far I have managed to get out on a big descent every 2 years, which is ine with me.
In 2012, Mark made the irst ever source-to-sea descent of the Missouri-Mississippi River in North America. The Missouri oficially takes its name when the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers meet in Three Forks, Montana.
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