303: Canoeing the Entire Mississippi River to Shatter Barriers (Cory Maria Dack, Canoe guide and inclusivity advocate)

Have you ever felt compelled to tackle a big journey outside? Big is always relative, but for this podcast guest it was really, really big -- canoeing the Mississippi River from source to sea for over 130 days.

An indigenous Latina who was born in Ecuador, Cory Maria Dack worked with a pair of other women paddlers to make the journey and highlight the need to bridge equity gaps in the outdoors for women broadly, and women of color specifically. 

In this episode Cory Maria tells us about her adventure, what she learned on the journey, and why canoeing and spending time on the water is a meaningful and effective way to build equity in the outdoors. Listen now!

Connect with this episode:

Follow Cory Maria Dack on Instagram
Visit Cory’s website, Women on the Water
Learn about Canoemobile
Join the Humans Outside Challenge
Follow Humans Outside on Instagram
Follow Humans Outside on Facebook

Some of the good stuff:

[2:43] Cory Maria Dack’s favorite outdoor space
[3:30] How she became someone who likes to go outside
[5:04] Going from not outdoorsy to canoeing queen
[8:20] The power of people who believe in you
[11:38] Why the Mississippi trip
[15:30] Do not “conquer” the Mississippi River
[17:00] What she expected and what she got
[21:00] What happened when it got really, really cold
[25:04] What it’s like to finish that kind of journey (hint: it’s emotional)
[31:29] Why canoeing and water are great for inclusivity work
[37:47] How you can get involved
[39:36] Cory Maria’s favorite outdoor moment