How Three College Pals Stayed Close — and Took on the Mississippi

Deb Lenox White, Anne Sherve-Ose and Deb Stephens Knutson all graduated from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and stayed in touch as they navigated marriage, kids and careers. Then White proposed a short vacation that turned into an epic quest — and a way for the friends to get even closer. Here’s the story, in their own words.

Deb Lenox White: Anne and I were college roommates, and we’ve stayed close. One day in 2004, I called her to say, “Let’s canoe down the Mississippi River for a couple of weeks.” I knew she liked the outdoors, and I couldn’t think of anybody else crazy enough to just walk away and do that. My intention was to paddle the whole river — not all in one stint, mind you, because we were still working — and eventually make it to the Gulf of Mexico.

Anne Sherve-Ose: At first, I didn’t know about the long-term plan. But I was all in. Deb invited another friend to come along, and I invited another Deb: my St. Olaf College buddy Deb Knutson.

Deb Stephens Knutson: Anne and I were softball teammates. I didn’t know Deb [White], but when we got on the river, we were all compatible. It was a brave, brazen adventure.

White: Being together this way really deepened our friendships. We got to argue things out, to ponder whatever was happening in the world.

Sherve-Ose: We all have the same sense of humor and quirky lack of dignity, which helps when you’re out on the water for a week or two at a time.

White: There were four of us for the first four years, and other friends joined along the way, but we three were the only ones who stuck with it the whole time. A recurring trip on the Mississippi doesn’t fit into everyone’s schedule. But I always came off the river really looking forward to the next year.

Sherve-Ose: We took our time reaching New Orleans. We finally made it in 2016, though there was one section of river near Minneapolis that we hadn’t gotten to: the Minnesota River, the connecting link between Lake Traverse and the Mississippi. We decided to head north, following Eric Sevareid’s book Canoeing with the Cree into Canada to Hudson Bay.

(From left) Deb Knutson, Deb White and Anne Sherve-Ose launched their epic canoe journey about 20 years ago.

Photo by Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber

White: Last July, we started the third leg of that journey. We were planning to end up in Hudson Bay, near the Arctic Ocean. You go from an area with brown and black bears, to one with grizzly bears, to one with polar bears.

Sherve-Ose: We were shooting some rapids on the Hayes River in the pelting rain. And then we hit a rock.