2,000-mile canoe trip becomes journey of aid

In January, Ben Swartz got a phone call from his cousin Jon Detwiler inviting him to embark on an adventure of a lifetime.

“He said, ‘Hey, you want to canoe to the Gulf of Mexico with me?’?” recalled Mr. Swartz, of Botkins, Ohio.

It was an exciting prospect to paddle almost 2,000 miles from central Ohio to the southern tip of Louisiana, Mr. Swartz said, but he needed time to mull it over.

“We both love the outdoors, but as far as being an avid canoer, I had never done anything more than the average family vacation canoe trip of 7 to 10 miles,” he said.

After discussing the idea further with Mr. Detwiler, and deciding that their journey, if they chose to undertake it, would be a fund-raiser for African orphans and pastors, Mr. Swartz eventually made up his mind.

“A few months later I called Jon and said, ‘Let’s do it,’?” he said.

On Aug. 14, Mr. Swartz, 22, and Mr. Detwiler, also 22, lowered their plastic canoe into the water of Sugar Creek, about a mile from Mr. Detwiler’s home in Dalton, Ohio (near Wooster in the northeast corner of the state), and began paddling to the Tuscarawas River, then on to the Muskingum, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers.

The cousins arrived in Venice, La., about 90 miles south of New Orleans, on Nov. 1. Mr. Swartz’s family drove down to meet them and hauled Mr. Swartz and the pair’s gear back home. The adventure took a total of 11 weeks, spanning more than 1,950 miles, and the duo raised $20,000 for orphans and pastors in Africa.

It wasn’t a luxury trip by any stretch.

The toughest part was the first 21 miles on Sugar Creek.

“That was such a small creek that if a tree fell over it would cross the whole creek,” Mr. Swartz said. “The first few days of the trip were frustrating, having to pull the canoe up and carry it around all the fallen trees and debris in the creek.”

The second night on the creek they were pelted by heavy rains.

The trip got easier after they entered the larger rivers, he said, although they were intimidated at first by the barges and tugboats that towered over their little canoe.

He said paddling a canoe alongside freighters and barges on the Mississippi was like riding a bicycle along an interstate highway. Surprisingly, their canoe never tipped over the entire trip and they only saw one alligator, lazing on a riverbank.

The cousins camped on the riverbank most nights.

“When the sun was about to set we would just look for a good camping spot 10 to 20 feet from the river. We’d just pitch a tent, make dinner for the night, and we were usually so tired we could go right to sleep,” Mr. Swartz said.

The menu typically consisted of rice and beans, dehydrated fruits, granola bars, and nuts.

The best part about the trip was the people they met, Mr. Swartz said.

“Jon definitely would agree with me that the people were the highlight. They were just so supportive and actually excited to help us out with what we were doing. We were able to meet complete strangers who accepted us like family, like we were their sons,” he said.

Mr. Swartz said his canoe adventure reaffirmed his faith in God and in the American people.

“It definitely showed me the awesomeness of creation and just sometimes when you’re in your own little town and your own little area for a while you forget the vastness of America and the awesome nation we do have,” he said.

“If we stay in our community our whole lives and don’t get out to see the rest of the world we can have a cynical view. But Americans are good at heart and it was just great to experience the provision of the Lord on a trip like that.”

More information on Ben Swartz’s and Jon Detwiler’s canoe adventure is available online at Sugar2Salt.com.