The Great Mississippi River Adventure

Day 23

The river is mine!

Stats

36.2 miles traveled in 9:47 hours

River mile start:610

River mile end:574

River mile today: 36

River mile total:767

% complete: 32.3

Average 3.7 mph ( lock, breaks, lunch)

Burned 2046 calories

Kayak: Y&H Quest 

Temp at launch 49 degree, at recovery 65 degree

Reporting on the camp set up...everything worked as designed. Cold was not an issue, everything stayed dry, and when it rained in the morning I was able to pack up everything dry. I  even cooked and ate breakfast out of the rain.

Camping advice: After dark, after you've been asleep for an hour or so, when you hear the sound of somebody throwing logs I to the water, don't panic. Sit back and wait for the deep slow croak of a large bull frog. Do t go for a firearm, don't go running around trying to find a drunk college kid, just wait. 

For the first 4 hours I owned the Mississippi River. There were no other boats on the river. The picture above shows what I saw for 4 hours. Just before lunch everyone woke up and started boating, including the Coast Guard bouy tender.

As I finished lunch a barge passed. A 15 barge conglomeration. At 5 miles to the next lock he should have been through the lock. Due to my superior physical fitness I was able to keep up with the 6100 horsepower tow boat. I arrived 15 minutes after the boat. Long angering story shortened dramatically...I waited an hour and a half while the hapless crew moved the barges through the lock. I should have carried around the lock. After they finally cleared I was able to lock through. I quickly paddled to the intersection of Wisconsin Iowa and Illinois.

From there I caught up with the barge as he was negotiating a sharp turn under a bridge. From there it took the barge 3 miles to catch me and pass me mainly because the wind picked up. 

On the cool side I saw a river boat moving along.

Also, for the 23rd day in a row my eagles continued their overwatch.