Woke up with an aching body, but a soaring mind. My fingers are so swollen I'm not sure I'll be able to grip a beer tonight. That would be tragic.
We made it to Venice around 9:30 this morning and paddled about a half mile off the main channel into Cypress Cove. It was a beautiful area. There were houses lined up around the cove much like houses around a cul-de-sac. The only difference being that instead of having garages with driveways and cars there were boats and boat houses and lifts.
We tied up our canoe next to all the big, ocean bound boats and walked down the dock towards the marina. We got some snacks and chatted with the employees to get an idea as to our best course of action. Again, it was to ask somebody at the marina for a ride back up or to take our chances on finding somebody once we got down there. There was a map of the United States with pins marking where people traveled from. It was incredible to see the route we had taken from Northern Minnesota all the way down to Venice, Louisiana. I put a pin near where Rush City, MN would be and we ventured outside to ask strangers for a ride.
The first couple of people we asked could not help us out. We did end up talking to them for awhile though. Most of them were very interesting and easy to talk to. They were also very interested in our adventure and many said they would love to help out, but couldn't because they had clients to cater to.
We came to a boat and Anders had to knock on the window to get the attention of the crew. Two men came out and I could tell they were immediately interested in our trip and helping us out. They seemed very apprehensive, but I could tell they were going to have a hard time saying no. They were exchanging glances back and forth trying to read each other's thoughts when I said, "I'll give you the canoe as payment." They laughed. I wasn't joking. Earlier in the day I was trying to figure out what to do with it when we finished. It was a thought I hadn't given much attention to previously, because I was contemplating staying in Venice. That morning I decided I should go home and since then I had been on the look out for places to ditch it in the weeds.
One of the men looked at the other and asked, "Should we help them out?"
The other replied, "Yeah, let's do it."
WE HAD A RIDE BACK FROM THE GULF!!!!!!
We were incredibly happy. Smiles as big as ocean tankers spanned our faces. We both thanked them thoroughly and then answered any questions they had for us. Turns out, one of them has thought about paddling the Mississippi himself. The other has done some paddling near Lafayette, LA. I again offered my canoe as payment. The one who paddled a bit in Lafayette accepted and said, "I've always wanted a canoe." It made me happy to know she was going to a man who would appreciate her.
Venice was about 10 miles from mile zero, the "end" of the river, and the Gulf was another 8 or so miles from that. They agreed to meet us in the Gulf in three hours.
The river branches out into three main passes from mile zero. Pretty much everyone we talked to said to take the South Pass as it was free of barge and tanker traffic, was the main pass used by fishing boats, and was the shortest of the passes. We hugged the left shore as instructed and then paddled across the mouth of the eastern most pass, straight towards the South Pass. All along the way there were small openings in the river in which we could see massive expanses of water. The ocean was so close! We continued on, however, down the pass towards our designated meeting place just South of Port Eads, a docking and refueling area as well as a resort of sorts.
It was a very hot day and we were short on water. We also hadn't eaten enough. We did so well this whole trip on making sure we were fueled efficiently, but the excitement of finishing caused us to forget to eat or fill waters. A part of this is that we thought it would only take three hours to finish. It ended up taking five. The current was weak and so were we.
As we passed Port Eads we saw the boat that was picking us up. At least they had a place to hang out while waiting for us to crawl across the finish line.
Shortly after Port Eads we reached a point in which all we could see was massive expanses of water: the Gulf of Mexico. Although weak and malnourished, I felt incredible; the most alive I had ever felt. I let out the loudest victory cry of my life.
We took pictures, tried to take it all in, and waited for our ride to meet us. They soon arrived and one of them gave us a victory fist pump. A small gesture, but one that sent chills through me. We loaded our gear into their boat, strapped the canoe in, and took off for Venice. One of them asked if I thought the canoe was strapped in efficiently. I said, "I think so. If not, it's not my canoe anymore. So I'm not too worried about it." He smiled.
What took five hours in a canoe took 40 minutes in a boat with a 150 horsepower motor. We may have chosen the wrong form of transportation. During these 40 minutes we talked to our new friends. They had been given free beer while waiting for us at Port Eads. It is partly because of them that Port Eads is so busy and successful. They survey the ocean for navigation hazards and allow the channel to remain safe and busy. We were asked many questions and gladly answered all of them. We were flying pretty high with the realization of our journey's completion. We kept thanking them for helping us and they kept saying they were just happy to be a part of such an awesome accomplishment.
Shortly after unloading our gear, loading the canoe onto the surveyors truck, and saying our goodbyes, Jarred, Anders' brother, arrived in Venice. It was unbelievable how well it worked out. He drove 18 hours non-stop and arrived within 15 minutes of us getting back to Venice.
We got food at Cypress Cove. Fried alligator, catfish po boy, fried catfish, and... a cheeseburger? Real nice choice, Anders. A man overheard our conversation and we started talking to him. He was a casual fisherman in the area for the tournament that was going on. Although we only chatted for a brief time, he sneakily bought our dinner. Thank you, sir.
Our body odor pungently filling the car (sorry Jarred) we made the short drive to the city that would host our victory celebration; New Orleans. The drive back up allowed for a lot of reflection. An idea that formed in my head four years prior had come to culmination. I planned a lot and gave up a lot in order to get to this point. I saved enough money to pay for the trip as well as continue paying student loans, spent hours reading blogs and websites, studied furiously over supplies to pack, lost a girlfriend, quit a full-time job, and left an area in which I had many friends and connections. Not to mention the 50 some odd days spent paddling 2,552 miles.
I also gained a lot. New friends, incredible experiences, wonderful memories, exposure to places I had never been before, and a new appreciation for my paddling partner, Anders Carlson. We had our arguments and we both exercised a lot of self control in not strangling each other, but when it was all said and done our friendship was still very much intact. Thank you Ders.
As I walked down Bourbon Street, my body still aching, mind still soaring, beer (thankfully) fitting snuggly between my still swollen fingers, I thought about all of these things. The things I gave up can again be found. The things I gained can never be lost. I smiled. The journey was complete.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Day 53: New Orleans, We'll be Back Soon
We paddled through New Orleans early today. It was exciting to get a glimpse of the city that will host our victory party..
It was another tough day of paddling. About 75 miles. Luckily, the last 20 or 30 were much less infected by industry. The river was actually peaceful again.
The sunset was absolutely beautiful tonight. Anders had to point it out to me as I was much too tired at first to appreciate it. It was the purest shade of orange I had ever seen the sun and it lit up the entire sky. We were lucky for this as we were still paddling and the pure orange light was allowing us to scout campsites.
We found a small landing and made camp on a small flat spot made up of dirt and pea rocks. It'll do just fine for our last night on the river. Tomorrow we'll witness the sunset in a car on our way up to New Orleans. It's a crazy feeling.
One last obstacle: finding a ride back up from the Gulf to Venice. We made a bunch of phone calls today to try and arrange it beforehand, but we either got outlandish quotes ($500) or were told to ask random people at the marina. We were also told that we could probably wave somebody down for a ride once we hit the Gulf, but we don't really want to rely on chance. We'll paddle into Venice tomorrow and ask around.
It was another tough day of paddling. About 75 miles. Luckily, the last 20 or 30 were much less infected by industry. The river was actually peaceful again.
The sunset was absolutely beautiful tonight. Anders had to point it out to me as I was much too tired at first to appreciate it. It was the purest shade of orange I had ever seen the sun and it lit up the entire sky. We were lucky for this as we were still paddling and the pure orange light was allowing us to scout campsites.
We found a small landing and made camp on a small flat spot made up of dirt and pea rocks. It'll do just fine for our last night on the river. Tomorrow we'll witness the sunset in a car on our way up to New Orleans. It's a crazy feeling.
One last obstacle: finding a ride back up from the Gulf to Venice. We made a bunch of phone calls today to try and arrange it beforehand, but we either got outlandish quotes ($500) or were told to ask random people at the marina. We were also told that we could probably wave somebody down for a ride once we hit the Gulf, but we don't really want to rely on chance. We'll paddle into Venice tomorrow and ask around.
Day 52: All Day Industry
We had to deal with boat traffic all day long. Literally, the entire day. We didn't go a single second without a barge, tug, or tanker in our view. That made for constant waves and guessing at their route in order to stay out of their way. The latter is harder to do than you would think. They can turn on a dime and around here for some reason a couple have been floating completely perpendicular to the river, giving us no clues as to the direction they want to go. Then we get honked at or yelled at. You would think they would know we can't hear what they're yelling at as over their obnoxious engines.
Fed up with the constant waves, we decided to try something new. Near shore there was a line of barges parked either because they were retired or they were waiting to be used. There was a gap between the parked barges and shore about 20 feet wide. We decided to try paddling in this gap as long as it allowed. It was a huge relief. The barges blocked the waves from the boats in the main channel and, although there was not much current, it was much easier to paddle. Unfortunately this trick didn't work too long. The barge line would end or the channel would get cut off. We picked it back up when we could though to avoid the mayhem of the main channel.
It's weird paddling down here, because the levee blocks your view of anything but the river. You get the feeling that you're paddling through an unpopulated area. This was the feeling I had all day. However, when we stopped to camp and climbed over the levee there was a sprawling city in front of us. It made us nervous to camp there, but it was near sundown and we would be up and out right near sunrise.
One upside of traveling alongside boats of industry all day is the people that actually seem to know/are excited about what we are doing. A couple of people working on tugs and barges took videos of us. One tug honked, waved at us, and then gave us a loud, excited howl. Others just look up, nod, and point to us in a gesture of recognition. These small acts are great moral boosters.
We're around mile marker 104 tonight. It's Wednesday July, 23rd. Tomorrow we'll get as near to Venice as possible and on Friday we should finish.
Fed up with the constant waves, we decided to try something new. Near shore there was a line of barges parked either because they were retired or they were waiting to be used. There was a gap between the parked barges and shore about 20 feet wide. We decided to try paddling in this gap as long as it allowed. It was a huge relief. The barges blocked the waves from the boats in the main channel and, although there was not much current, it was much easier to paddle. Unfortunately this trick didn't work too long. The barge line would end or the channel would get cut off. We picked it back up when we could though to avoid the mayhem of the main channel.
It's weird paddling down here, because the levee blocks your view of anything but the river. You get the feeling that you're paddling through an unpopulated area. This was the feeling I had all day. However, when we stopped to camp and climbed over the levee there was a sprawling city in front of us. It made us nervous to camp there, but it was near sundown and we would be up and out right near sunrise.
One upside of traveling alongside boats of industry all day is the people that actually seem to know/are excited about what we are doing. A couple of people working on tugs and barges took videos of us. One tug honked, waved at us, and then gave us a loud, excited howl. Others just look up, nod, and point to us in a gesture of recognition. These small acts are great moral boosters.
We're around mile marker 104 tonight. It's Wednesday July, 23rd. Tomorrow we'll get as near to Venice as possible and on Friday we should finish.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Day 51: Forever Changing Plans
I don't even know why we try to plan when we'll finish. The plan changes every single day. More like every single hour. Today is July, 22nd. We wanted to be in Venice by the 24th so we would have time to set up a ride and enjoy the end of our journey. Now it's looking like we'll be there the 25th and we'll have to scramble to make everything work out.
I cut my finger pretty deep opening a can of pears today. I took the band aid and duct tape off 6 hours later and it was still bleeding. The river water can't be good for it. It's impossible to keep it out.
We saw our first tanker today. They're HUGE boats. They come from all over the world. Just today we saw tankers from Asia and the Netherlands. Its pretty cool to think that they came from that far away and are now sharing a river with a canoe from Minnesota.
I cut my finger pretty deep opening a can of pears today. I took the band aid and duct tape off 6 hours later and it was still bleeding. The river water can't be good for it. It's impossible to keep it out.
We saw our first tanker today. They're HUGE boats. They come from all over the world. Just today we saw tankers from Asia and the Netherlands. Its pretty cool to think that they came from that far away and are now sharing a river with a canoe from Minnesota.
Day 50: One State Left
80 miles done today. 75 yesterday. We're making very good time. It's been absolutely awful sitting in the canoe so long though. We've only been getting out once a day, for lunch.
We put Mississippi in our rearview mirror today, leaving Louisiana as the only state left to complete. It's pretty hard to fathom.
It's very hot down here. I hear it's a pretty mild summer, but still, it's hot. The sun goes down a lot earlier than up North. We have to start looking for a campsite around 7:00 as the sun starts to go down around 8:00 and its completely dark by 8:30.
We put Mississippi in our rearview mirror today, leaving Louisiana as the only state left to complete. It's pretty hard to fathom.
It's very hot down here. I hear it's a pretty mild summer, but still, it's hot. The sun goes down a lot earlier than up North. We have to start looking for a campsite around 7:00 as the sun starts to go down around 8:00 and its completely dark by 8:30.
Day 49: $7 of Ambivalence
We woke up a little sore and with very little motivation to get back in the canoe. I wonder why?
We took it a bit easier today and didn't push quite so hard. We stopped around 11:30 in Natchez, MS with the hopes of getting lunch. We pulled up to a boat landing and chatted with some people who suggested a diner right near the boat landing. They also told us about a casino buffet but were unsure as to the price. We walked to the casino to inquire about the price, fully thinking we would turn around and head back to the diner. When the man at the entrance told us the price, however, our minds were instantly made up to gorge ourselves on crummy casino food. Seven Dollars!
After three plates full of chicken, potatoes, rolls, gravy, beef tips, rice, shrimp, asparagus, zucchini, and more, I went back up for a slice of pie and ice cream. It was incredible. And it was also terrible. I loved it and I hated it. I felt instantly stronger but at the same time never wanted a nap so bad in my life. I was proud of myself for eating so much but also disgusted that all of that could fit in my belly.
Thus the ambivalence.
The rest of the day was spent trying to stay awake while paddling and trying to decide if I should ever step foot in a buffet again. The answer is probably no.
We finally got back out of the boat around 7:30 to set up camp. My legs are fully atrophied. Dinner was very light. Seven Freaking Dollars...
We took it a bit easier today and didn't push quite so hard. We stopped around 11:30 in Natchez, MS with the hopes of getting lunch. We pulled up to a boat landing and chatted with some people who suggested a diner right near the boat landing. They also told us about a casino buffet but were unsure as to the price. We walked to the casino to inquire about the price, fully thinking we would turn around and head back to the diner. When the man at the entrance told us the price, however, our minds were instantly made up to gorge ourselves on crummy casino food. Seven Dollars!
After three plates full of chicken, potatoes, rolls, gravy, beef tips, rice, shrimp, asparagus, zucchini, and more, I went back up for a slice of pie and ice cream. It was incredible. And it was also terrible. I loved it and I hated it. I felt instantly stronger but at the same time never wanted a nap so bad in my life. I was proud of myself for eating so much but also disgusted that all of that could fit in my belly.
Thus the ambivalence.
The rest of the day was spent trying to stay awake while paddling and trying to decide if I should ever step foot in a buffet again. The answer is probably no.
We finally got back out of the boat around 7:30 to set up camp. My legs are fully atrophied. Dinner was very light. Seven Freaking Dollars...
Day 48: 103 Miles!
Today is July, 19th. My 25th birthday! Better make it memorable, right?
We woke up at 4:30 as planned. What wasn't planned was that it would be too dark to get on the water until 5:45. While we waited I made coffee. It was delicious.
I wasn't totally sold on the idea of making 100 miles. I was up for giving it a shot and I thought it would be a memorable way to spend my 25th birthday, but the current hadn't been very favorable lately and our previous high mile day was 79. How were we going to squeak in an extra 21 miles? That was the equivalent of about three extra hours on the water. The first mile marker we saw was about 20 minutes downriver and was 495.8 so we knew we started around 497. Our goal was set at mile marker 397.
It wasn't until lunch that I really thought it was possible. We had kicked out 42 miles and the day was not yet half way over. Close, but not quite. We ate a large meal in anticipation of being in the boat the rest of the day and set back out.
After lunch every single paddle stroke I took I consciously put everything I had behind it. It was tough, but I knew the feeling of 100 miles completed would be worth it.
Being that it was my birthday, we stopped in Vicksburg briefly to get beer. Anders went and came back with Miller Light. For real, Ders? That's the best you could do? Despite not being excited for my victory/birthday beer I continued to push hard with each paddle stroke.
The sun went down and we had yet to hit the century mark. We knew we were close, having seen a mile marker indicating 96 or so miles awhile back. We set our course for a blinking red light, a mile marker on the Eastern shore of the river. Paddling by flashlight and headlamp we landed at the mile marker, hopped out, and read the mileage: 393.8! Although the area under the mile marker was not ideal to pitch a tent, we did so anyways. We were exhausted and didn't want to paddle blindly in hopes of finding a better spot.
Physically, it was obviously a very trying day. But what was even harder was just how mentally strong we had to be to accomplish this feat. We could have easily called it quits many times. Each paddle stroke past about 6:00 was difficult to make myself perform.
We wanted nothing to do with the beer. We were too tired and were more interested in eating a large dinner to replace all the calories we burnt. Still, we toasted to a successful day and slowly struggled through a warm Miller Light.
A quarter century old and a century paddled. It felt good.
We woke up at 4:30 as planned. What wasn't planned was that it would be too dark to get on the water until 5:45. While we waited I made coffee. It was delicious.
I wasn't totally sold on the idea of making 100 miles. I was up for giving it a shot and I thought it would be a memorable way to spend my 25th birthday, but the current hadn't been very favorable lately and our previous high mile day was 79. How were we going to squeak in an extra 21 miles? That was the equivalent of about three extra hours on the water. The first mile marker we saw was about 20 minutes downriver and was 495.8 so we knew we started around 497. Our goal was set at mile marker 397.
It wasn't until lunch that I really thought it was possible. We had kicked out 42 miles and the day was not yet half way over. Close, but not quite. We ate a large meal in anticipation of being in the boat the rest of the day and set back out.
After lunch every single paddle stroke I took I consciously put everything I had behind it. It was tough, but I knew the feeling of 100 miles completed would be worth it.
Being that it was my birthday, we stopped in Vicksburg briefly to get beer. Anders went and came back with Miller Light. For real, Ders? That's the best you could do? Despite not being excited for my victory/birthday beer I continued to push hard with each paddle stroke.
The sun went down and we had yet to hit the century mark. We knew we were close, having seen a mile marker indicating 96 or so miles awhile back. We set our course for a blinking red light, a mile marker on the Eastern shore of the river. Paddling by flashlight and headlamp we landed at the mile marker, hopped out, and read the mileage: 393.8! Although the area under the mile marker was not ideal to pitch a tent, we did so anyways. We were exhausted and didn't want to paddle blindly in hopes of finding a better spot.
Physically, it was obviously a very trying day. But what was even harder was just how mentally strong we had to be to accomplish this feat. We could have easily called it quits many times. Each paddle stroke past about 6:00 was difficult to make myself perform.
We wanted nothing to do with the beer. We were too tired and were more interested in eating a large dinner to replace all the calories we burnt. Still, we toasted to a successful day and slowly struggled through a warm Miller Light.
A quarter century old and a century paddled. It felt good.
Day 47: On Our Own Again
David brought us back to our boats and it was pouring rain. We could barely see 10 feet ahead of us. We decided to wait it out a bit at the grain bin. We chatted with Alan, the operator, and then made a break for it when the weather appeared it was going to lighten up. Despite dumping our boats out when we got there, they were again full of water. It was a straight downpour.
Last night we told Aleks and Josh we were going to separate from them. They were O.K. with that decision and understood the reasoning. It just didn't feel like our trip anymore. Separating turned out to be harder than we thought, however, due to the weather. Our boat couldn't cut through the waves thrown up by the wind as well as theirs and so we were slowly drifting further back from them. They pulled off to the side to wait out the weather and we did as well to reassess the situation. They were going to wait awhile. We decided to keep going, but to stay near shore where the waves weren't nearly as rambunctious.
It was tough, cold paddling and it continued like that on and off until about 4:30. We paddled until 7:00, only making 55 miles. While we were setting up camp our tent blew away. We chased after it, had a laugh, and staked it down.
Despite separating early in the day, we figured we were only about one mile downriver from Josh and Aleks after exchanging some texts.
Anders has been talking about a century day (100 miles) since Minneapolis. Aleks and Josh did it near the confluence of the Ohio. We decided to wake up early tomorrow, 4:30, to try and accomplish it.
Last night we told Aleks and Josh we were going to separate from them. They were O.K. with that decision and understood the reasoning. It just didn't feel like our trip anymore. Separating turned out to be harder than we thought, however, due to the weather. Our boat couldn't cut through the waves thrown up by the wind as well as theirs and so we were slowly drifting further back from them. They pulled off to the side to wait out the weather and we did as well to reassess the situation. They were going to wait awhile. We decided to keep going, but to stay near shore where the waves weren't nearly as rambunctious.
It was tough, cold paddling and it continued like that on and off until about 4:30. We paddled until 7:00, only making 55 miles. While we were setting up camp our tent blew away. We chased after it, had a laugh, and staked it down.
Despite separating early in the day, we figured we were only about one mile downriver from Josh and Aleks after exchanging some texts.
Anders has been talking about a century day (100 miles) since Minneapolis. Aleks and Josh did it near the confluence of the Ohio. We decided to wake up early tomorrow, 4:30, to try and accomplish it.
Day 46: David Barham
We paddled and floated a lot today. Me and Anders have begun to toss around the idea of departing from Josh and Aleks. We enjoy the company, but the floating doesn't feel right and it has started to feel like we're piggy backing on their trip. It's a hard decision to make though. Especially after Josh introduced us to David Barham.
After a short 47 miles we pulled up to a grain bin and were met by a man with coolers full of water, Gatorade, and (you guessed it) beer. Josh met David in St. Louis during a speech about PTSD and David invited him to stay in Arkansas City on his way through. We were allowed to leave our boats at the grain bin and went to chat with the operator and some of the employees. They were all very nice people and were pretty intrigued about our trip. We exchanged stories for awhile while happily drinking beer and then made our way to wal-mart to restock.
After wal-mart, we went to David's to shower, change, and start laundry. Then off to Hoot's, the local BBQ joint. Dinner was delicious. David even picked up the bill. We met quite a few people in this little town of Arkansas City/McGhee and all of them were nice and very easy to talk to.
It's hard to put into words on a blog the gratitude I feel towards everybody that helps us along the way. David especially. He didn't know any of us very well and probably wasn't even expecting Anders and I. Regardless, he took the time to take care of us and help out any way he could.
After a short 47 miles we pulled up to a grain bin and were met by a man with coolers full of water, Gatorade, and (you guessed it) beer. Josh met David in St. Louis during a speech about PTSD and David invited him to stay in Arkansas City on his way through. We were allowed to leave our boats at the grain bin and went to chat with the operator and some of the employees. They were all very nice people and were pretty intrigued about our trip. We exchanged stories for awhile while happily drinking beer and then made our way to wal-mart to restock.
After wal-mart, we went to David's to shower, change, and start laundry. Then off to Hoot's, the local BBQ joint. Dinner was delicious. David even picked up the bill. We met quite a few people in this little town of Arkansas City/McGhee and all of them were nice and very easy to talk to.
It's hard to put into words on a blog the gratitude I feel towards everybody that helps us along the way. David especially. He didn't know any of us very well and probably wasn't even expecting Anders and I. Regardless, he took the time to take care of us and help out any way he could.
Day 45: Pros and Cons
Traveling in a group has its pros and cons.
Pros: We had been cutting through large bends in the river, cutting off distance, but also leaving the swift current of the main channel. Josh and Aleks always stayed in the channel which seemed to be the right move. More people to talk to. They insist on very rarely getting out of the boat, because you're still moving if you just float. Also, it takes a long time to get to shore or an island when the river is this wide and the current so strong. It makes sense and we definitely covered some ground today: 79 miles.
Cons: They take about a half hour longer than us to pack up camp. My legs go insane sitting in the boat for so long. Today we got out twice over a twelve hour period. It starts to feel less like OUR trip.
The floating is very peaceful, but it's hard to just sit there. Today I felt like it was O.K. for the most part. It was a beautiful day. Very little wind and perfect temperature. There was a point today in which you couldn't see as far as the river went, it was that straight for that long.
There are moments of complete bliss on this trip where I realize all that I gave up and all that I am getting in return. In these moments a big goofy smile materializes on my face. It happened twice today.
Pros: We had been cutting through large bends in the river, cutting off distance, but also leaving the swift current of the main channel. Josh and Aleks always stayed in the channel which seemed to be the right move. More people to talk to. They insist on very rarely getting out of the boat, because you're still moving if you just float. Also, it takes a long time to get to shore or an island when the river is this wide and the current so strong. It makes sense and we definitely covered some ground today: 79 miles.
Cons: They take about a half hour longer than us to pack up camp. My legs go insane sitting in the boat for so long. Today we got out twice over a twelve hour period. It starts to feel less like OUR trip.
The floating is very peaceful, but it's hard to just sit there. Today I felt like it was O.K. for the most part. It was a beautiful day. Very little wind and perfect temperature. There was a point today in which you couldn't see as far as the river went, it was that straight for that long.
There are moments of complete bliss on this trip where I realize all that I gave up and all that I am getting in return. In these moments a big goofy smile materializes on my face. It happened twice today.
Day 44: Nine Hours of Sitting
Woke up with a bit of a headache today. Good job, Memphis.
We got breakfast at the hotel which was included in the stay. Even though we told the waiter that we weren't included and would pay separate, he comp'd ours as well. Turns out the waiter had a brother in the service and knew who Josh was so he figured we were deserving of free breakfast since we were with him. The perks of traveling with a celebrity.
We left Memphis around 10:30 and then paddled/floated until 7:30. We didn't get out of our boats once. It was awful. Is this how Aleks and Josh had been traveling? I hoped not, and after asking them they said no, this was a different type of day. The current picked back up again and despite floating quite a bit, we managed 57 miles. It's nice to have some company.
We got breakfast at the hotel which was included in the stay. Even though we told the waiter that we weren't included and would pay separate, he comp'd ours as well. Turns out the waiter had a brother in the service and knew who Josh was so he figured we were deserving of free breakfast since we were with him. The perks of traveling with a celebrity.
We left Memphis around 10:30 and then paddled/floated until 7:30. We didn't get out of our boats once. It was awful. Is this how Aleks and Josh had been traveling? I hoped not, and after asking them they said no, this was a different type of day. The current picked back up again and despite floating quite a bit, we managed 57 miles. It's nice to have some company.
Day 43: After 10 days, A Shower
We had been in contact with Josh and Aleks (two guys we paddled with briefly just north of MPLS) the past couple days to see where they were at and if we could meet up again. They were in Memphis for two days so Josh could do some interviews for his PTSD awareness cause. We didn't think we would stop in Memphis because our plans had us averaging 65 miles a day to finish by July 25th. This changed after a somewhat tough, windy day, some persuading by Josh and Aleks, and the promise of a hotel and place to stash our boat. Also, we had been on the river for 10 days with no shower and very little civilization. It was time for a much needed cleaning and short break from river life.
We got some food at Beale St. Landing, met the man donating a hotel to Josh and Aleks (and also us for the night) and then paddled over to the marina that their boats were at. Aleks and his friend from college who now lives in Memphis, Dawn, met us at the landing and drove us to the hotel to clean up. I'm surprised Dawn even let us in her car. We showered at the hotel and then attempted to wash some clothes in the bath tub. The water turned black. Our clothes were filthy.
As Josh was going to be doing interviews for awhile, Ders, Aleks, Dawn, and I went to a bar for $3 beers. It was called the Flying Saucer and it was pretty great. A Loras grad who lives in Memphis, Erika Hansen, randomly met us there. It was fun to be somewhere so far from home with people that weren't complete strangers. We then ventured to Beale St. and, although it was a Monday night, it was pretty busy and exciting. Live music thumped out of almost every bar entrance. We listened to one group who played Citizen Cope's "Sun's Gonna Rise," which is an awesome song. We then got food and called it a night around midnight.
We got some food at Beale St. Landing, met the man donating a hotel to Josh and Aleks (and also us for the night) and then paddled over to the marina that their boats were at. Aleks and his friend from college who now lives in Memphis, Dawn, met us at the landing and drove us to the hotel to clean up. I'm surprised Dawn even let us in her car. We showered at the hotel and then attempted to wash some clothes in the bath tub. The water turned black. Our clothes were filthy.
As Josh was going to be doing interviews for awhile, Ders, Aleks, Dawn, and I went to a bar for $3 beers. It was called the Flying Saucer and it was pretty great. A Loras grad who lives in Memphis, Erika Hansen, randomly met us there. It was fun to be somewhere so far from home with people that weren't complete strangers. We then ventured to Beale St. and, although it was a Monday night, it was pretty busy and exciting. Live music thumped out of almost every bar entrance. We listened to one group who played Citizen Cope's "Sun's Gonna Rise," which is an awesome song. We then got food and called it a night around midnight.
Day 42: Osceola, AR
The current has slowed down drastically. We were doing nearly 9 MPH a few days ago and now we're slowed to about 6. The width is the main reason. Ever since the confluence of the Ohio it has been much much wider. We thought the extra water would strengthen the current, but it really just widened the river.
Today was the final of the World Cup. We wanted to catch the game somewhere, but we couldn't find any towns on the river. This area is pretty void of civilization. The one town we did stop in was Osceola, Arkansas. It was very poverty stricken and run down. Oddly enough, this town was very interesting to me. People were occupying houses that nobody would think of occupying in Rush City, MN. I've seen pictures of houses like this and pieces on athletes who grew up in areas like this, but it was something else entirely to see it in person.
Only 59 miles today, unfortunately.
Today was the final of the World Cup. We wanted to catch the game somewhere, but we couldn't find any towns on the river. This area is pretty void of civilization. The one town we did stop in was Osceola, Arkansas. It was very poverty stricken and run down. Oddly enough, this town was very interesting to me. People were occupying houses that nobody would think of occupying in Rush City, MN. I've seen pictures of houses like this and pieces on athletes who grew up in areas like this, but it was something else entirely to see it in person.
Only 59 miles today, unfortunately.
Day 41: Southern Hospitality
The days blend together like crazy. It seems like ages ago that we capsized and was just yesterday.
We stopped in New Madrid today for Ders to get sunglasses (they're pretty essential). While waiting for him I chatted with the town pastor and his wife. They gave me their phone number in case we ran into trouble further South. At first I took it just to be polite, but upon talking with them further I realized they actually would be able to help us if necessary. They organized a place to stay for a group of girls doing a similar trip a few years back when they ran into hurricane forecasts in New Orleans. Apparently pastors are pretty well connected.
We set back out and were in Caruthersville by 6:00. As soon as we landed a man offered us a ride to fill up water. He was unable to work due to health reasons and made ends meet by buying and selling fruit as well as fixing up and selling things like bikes and couches. As a parting gift he gave us two cantaloupe. He also offered me marijuana while in his truck (not the first time we've been offered on this trip). I politely declined.
We decided to charge phones and cook dinner at the boat landing and then paddle to the first habitable spot we saw. While cooking a man and woman drove up and chatted with us. They had seen us on the river. They gave us each a beer which tasted amazing after a long day on the water and told us there was a wal-mart about a half mile away. In need of propane we decided one of us should make the trek. I went and it turned to be closer to two miles than a half mile, but oh well, we really needed propane.
When I got back, Anders was talking to a man that had a really nice camera. He was waiting to take pictures of the moon which was supposed to be spectacular that night. He took a couple pictures of us and said he was going to try and get us in their paper. He also took Anders' email address and sent him the pictures of us and the moon. Anders then told me about two men that appeared to be sizing up our outfit for theft. He was above the river in the park area and two guys were walking around our boat suspiciously. He walked down there and said something to them and they barely acknowledged him. He claims to have heard one say, "We can't steal anything anymore." Sadly, a day that saw so much hospitality and good will (I only touched on the many great conversations of the day with random people) ended with two men contemplating a heist of our gear.
We got back on the water a little later than planned and ended up setting up camp in the dark on a sloped sand bar. Not the greatest sleeping arrangements, but we really couldn't complain after such a good day.
We stopped in New Madrid today for Ders to get sunglasses (they're pretty essential). While waiting for him I chatted with the town pastor and his wife. They gave me their phone number in case we ran into trouble further South. At first I took it just to be polite, but upon talking with them further I realized they actually would be able to help us if necessary. They organized a place to stay for a group of girls doing a similar trip a few years back when they ran into hurricane forecasts in New Orleans. Apparently pastors are pretty well connected.
We set back out and were in Caruthersville by 6:00. As soon as we landed a man offered us a ride to fill up water. He was unable to work due to health reasons and made ends meet by buying and selling fruit as well as fixing up and selling things like bikes and couches. As a parting gift he gave us two cantaloupe. He also offered me marijuana while in his truck (not the first time we've been offered on this trip). I politely declined.
We decided to charge phones and cook dinner at the boat landing and then paddle to the first habitable spot we saw. While cooking a man and woman drove up and chatted with us. They had seen us on the river. They gave us each a beer which tasted amazing after a long day on the water and told us there was a wal-mart about a half mile away. In need of propane we decided one of us should make the trek. I went and it turned to be closer to two miles than a half mile, but oh well, we really needed propane.
When I got back, Anders was talking to a man that had a really nice camera. He was waiting to take pictures of the moon which was supposed to be spectacular that night. He took a couple pictures of us and said he was going to try and get us in their paper. He also took Anders' email address and sent him the pictures of us and the moon. Anders then told me about two men that appeared to be sizing up our outfit for theft. He was above the river in the park area and two guys were walking around our boat suspiciously. He walked down there and said something to them and they barely acknowledged him. He claims to have heard one say, "We can't steal anything anymore." Sadly, a day that saw so much hospitality and good will (I only touched on the many great conversations of the day with random people) ended with two men contemplating a heist of our gear.
We got back on the water a little later than planned and ended up setting up camp in the dark on a sloped sand bar. Not the greatest sleeping arrangements, but we really couldn't complain after such a good day.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Day 40: Unfortunate Excitement
Two things I was a little worried about on the trip got taken care of today. Not spending any time in Kentucky (it only makes up about 50 miles of the river) and not having a whole lot of hardship to push through.
We capsized. When we set up camp last night we pulled into the channel side of the island. Without even thinking about it, we set back out this morning on the channel side. It usually isn't a big deal to paddle in a channel briefly. The only downside is the wing dams that try to direct water into the main channel. This particular wing dam in this channel created a weird rapid. It came together in a "V" shape and usually the tip of the "V," or the tongue, is the best place to hit the rapid safely. Is this instance, however, the right side was pushing really hard to the left and the left side was curling and crashing. As we approached the tongue we were being pushed hard to the left which amplified the effect of the wave hitting us on our left side. We tilted slightly to the right and the quick current coming from that direction swept the bottom of the boat out from under us. As soon as I came up I grabbed the canoe and could see my rain jacket floating in a swirl. I wanted to swim for it, but I didn't want to let go of the canoe. Also, my lifejacket was up near my nose. I forgot to clip it when I got in the boat. Adding to this confusion was the fact that Anders wasn't above water yet. I yelled for him and an image of me taking off my lifejacket and having to dive for him flashed through my mind. After what seemed like 30 seconds but was probably more like 3, he popped up, gasping for air. He had hit his head on the canoe on his first attempt to surface and it took him a second to come back up again. I finally managed to clip my lifejacket while Anders regained his composure.
We flipped the boat right side up and tried to swim it to shore. This wasn't going to work. I squirmed in to the back of the canoe and began slowly paddling to shore. The entire back half was under water. It's amazing that it still was floating. I had been told it would, but it was still crazy to experience. We got to shore and began unloading our gear to dry it off and flip the canoe. We then surveyed the situation. We lost some sunscreen, two water jugs, both our hats, both of our rain jackets, and Anders' sunglasses (Although mine were on my face they somehow managed to stay on). I was pretty bummed about the hat and rain jacket, but overall it wasn't too bad. The camera was soaked as well so we put it in some rice. It would be a huge bummer if that doesn't work. My pride was hurt a little bit. I really wanted to make the entire trip without capsizing. But the fact that we lost so little and so quickly remedied the situation felt really good.
We set back out and quickly met the confluence of the Ohio River. We quickly paddled over to the Kentucky shore to refill and buy more water as well as sunglasses for Anders. We talked to some shipping yard workers and Anders asked if there was a Wal-Mart nearby. They replied, "You must not know where you are. This is Wickliffe." Apparently Wickliffe is small. They told us of a Dollar General store in town and we started walking towards it. We again had to ask where it was after the original time estimation had elapsed and we still couldn't see it. The gentlemen we asked looked at us funny for a second, judging our Northern accents we believed, and then directed us up the street. We finally found the store, bought our needed supplies as well as headbands to substitute for hats and made our way back to the boat. On our way back, we saw a nice diner. Having gone through such a traumatic experience we decided we deserved a good, hardy meal. It was called the Hillbilly Café and if you ever find yourself in Wickliffe, KY I strongly suggest you go there and order the Hillbilly Omelet. While deciding what to order, I asked our server what was on it. She said so many words that I stopped listening. When she was finally done I gladly ordered it. It was delicious. Very possibly the best omelet of my life.
By the time we got back to paddling it was about 11:30. We took off the water at 6:00 because we thought our stuff would need time to dry. Turns out we packed even better than we thought! Anders' clothes were a tiny bit wet, but the tent and everything else was pretty dry.
Only 48 miles today. Hopefully we'll make up some mileage tomorrow.
The camera still works!
We capsized. When we set up camp last night we pulled into the channel side of the island. Without even thinking about it, we set back out this morning on the channel side. It usually isn't a big deal to paddle in a channel briefly. The only downside is the wing dams that try to direct water into the main channel. This particular wing dam in this channel created a weird rapid. It came together in a "V" shape and usually the tip of the "V," or the tongue, is the best place to hit the rapid safely. Is this instance, however, the right side was pushing really hard to the left and the left side was curling and crashing. As we approached the tongue we were being pushed hard to the left which amplified the effect of the wave hitting us on our left side. We tilted slightly to the right and the quick current coming from that direction swept the bottom of the boat out from under us. As soon as I came up I grabbed the canoe and could see my rain jacket floating in a swirl. I wanted to swim for it, but I didn't want to let go of the canoe. Also, my lifejacket was up near my nose. I forgot to clip it when I got in the boat. Adding to this confusion was the fact that Anders wasn't above water yet. I yelled for him and an image of me taking off my lifejacket and having to dive for him flashed through my mind. After what seemed like 30 seconds but was probably more like 3, he popped up, gasping for air. He had hit his head on the canoe on his first attempt to surface and it took him a second to come back up again. I finally managed to clip my lifejacket while Anders regained his composure.
We flipped the boat right side up and tried to swim it to shore. This wasn't going to work. I squirmed in to the back of the canoe and began slowly paddling to shore. The entire back half was under water. It's amazing that it still was floating. I had been told it would, but it was still crazy to experience. We got to shore and began unloading our gear to dry it off and flip the canoe. We then surveyed the situation. We lost some sunscreen, two water jugs, both our hats, both of our rain jackets, and Anders' sunglasses (Although mine were on my face they somehow managed to stay on). I was pretty bummed about the hat and rain jacket, but overall it wasn't too bad. The camera was soaked as well so we put it in some rice. It would be a huge bummer if that doesn't work. My pride was hurt a little bit. I really wanted to make the entire trip without capsizing. But the fact that we lost so little and so quickly remedied the situation felt really good.
We set back out and quickly met the confluence of the Ohio River. We quickly paddled over to the Kentucky shore to refill and buy more water as well as sunglasses for Anders. We talked to some shipping yard workers and Anders asked if there was a Wal-Mart nearby. They replied, "You must not know where you are. This is Wickliffe." Apparently Wickliffe is small. They told us of a Dollar General store in town and we started walking towards it. We again had to ask where it was after the original time estimation had elapsed and we still couldn't see it. The gentlemen we asked looked at us funny for a second, judging our Northern accents we believed, and then directed us up the street. We finally found the store, bought our needed supplies as well as headbands to substitute for hats and made our way back to the boat. On our way back, we saw a nice diner. Having gone through such a traumatic experience we decided we deserved a good, hardy meal. It was called the Hillbilly Café and if you ever find yourself in Wickliffe, KY I strongly suggest you go there and order the Hillbilly Omelet. While deciding what to order, I asked our server what was on it. She said so many words that I stopped listening. When she was finally done I gladly ordered it. It was delicious. Very possibly the best omelet of my life.
By the time we got back to paddling it was about 11:30. We took off the water at 6:00 because we thought our stuff would need time to dry. Turns out we packed even better than we thought! Anders' clothes were a tiny bit wet, but the tent and everything else was pretty dry.
Only 48 miles today. Hopefully we'll make up some mileage tomorrow.
The camera still works!
Day 39: Carp-pedo
We should really think about carrying more water. We're already running low again after just two days. We're also probably pretty close to running out of propane. We stopped in Cape Gerardeau around noon with the hope of securing these two necessities. It was very neat town with a lot of shops just behind the levee. It would be cool to visit sometime. We ended up getting water, groceries, and Subway (Yaaaaaayyyyy, non-canned food!) but couldn't find propane.
Around 4:00 P.M. we made for an island to take a quick break. As it got more shallow we started seeing carp swimming all over the place. They made bumps of water the way a torpedo does as it travels towards it's target. Apparently, we were the target of one of the carp as it slammed head first into the side of our canoe. There was a loud thud, we tilted to the side, water sprayed up into the canoe, and then it was over. It was crazy to see.
We covered 78 miles and pulled into camp around 8:00 P.M. My body is feeling pretty rough.
Around 4:00 P.M. we made for an island to take a quick break. As it got more shallow we started seeing carp swimming all over the place. They made bumps of water the way a torpedo does as it travels towards it's target. Apparently, we were the target of one of the carp as it slammed head first into the side of our canoe. There was a loud thud, we tilted to the side, water sprayed up into the canoe, and then it was over. It was crazy to see.
We covered 78 miles and pulled into camp around 8:00 P.M. My body is feeling pretty rough.
Day 38: Happy Birthday, Shannon!
July 9th. My sister turned 28 today. She's old. Love you Shannon!
We woke up and filled all of our water which was very necessary. On the water by 6:45 and didn't get out until 10:45. There really wasn't anywhere to stop. The river is pretty barren in this stretch except for barges which have gotten bigger (7 long X 3 wide). I'm sure they will continue to get even bigger. When the waves hit us as we go over wing dams it can get pretty scary. Huge boils pop up and look like they could sink us. We have yet to hit one, luckily.
The wind never picked up and we had a very successful day mile wise. We estimate we kept about an 8 mile per hour pace, covering 77 miles. We would have gotten even further, but we took a long lunch on a sand bar. I even got a nap in! It felt amazing to just lie there and take in the sun.
We woke up and filled all of our water which was very necessary. On the water by 6:45 and didn't get out until 10:45. There really wasn't anywhere to stop. The river is pretty barren in this stretch except for barges which have gotten bigger (7 long X 3 wide). I'm sure they will continue to get even bigger. When the waves hit us as we go over wing dams it can get pretty scary. Huge boils pop up and look like they could sink us. We have yet to hit one, luckily.
The wind never picked up and we had a very successful day mile wise. We estimate we kept about an 8 mile per hour pace, covering 77 miles. We would have gotten even further, but we took a long lunch on a sand bar. I even got a nap in! It felt amazing to just lie there and take in the sun.
Day 37: The Arch
While we were packing up in the morning a man yelled to us from his boat if we wanted coffee. Having weathered the storm the night before I accepted gratefully. We paddled over to his slip and ended up chatting for about a half hour. His name was Russell and the boat he was staying on was his friend Shawn's. Shawn and his daughter showed up shortly after we arrived. He grew up in Mississippi and said we would love it down South. Hopefully he's right. It was apparent that Russell was living on the boat (which didn't currently work). He didn't take very good care of it, but it looked very peaceful and I bet it was a lot easier to sleep in than a tent last night.
We locked through the Alton Dam and chatted with the lock workers. They told us to take the chain of rocks which would bypass the last lock, 27. It is only navigable in high water, which it is, and wouldn't have any barge traffic. As we didn't have any maps of the area we relied on our phones. We should have known better. There was a channel on the East side of the river labeled "Chain of Rocks Channel" which I decided was what the lock workers were talking about. Turns out, that's the channel that boats take to avoid the chain of rocks. So, rather than staying in the current and avoiding barge traffic we were paddling in dead water with all the normal barge traffic of a busy city. It was only mildly frustrating until it took us 20 minutes to lock through lock 27.
We pulled up to the Arch in St. Louis around 2:00 P.M. and got out to see the sites and find a restroom. We were also hoping for something quick to eat, but the St. Louis riverfront is severely lacking. There was a helicopter tour launch pad, two small food vendors, and the Arch. Otherwise it was just a lot of industry. We spent about an hour walking around the Arch, finding restrooms, and taking a lot of pictures. I really thought the Arch was cool. It was extremely difficult to get the whole thing in one picture. Anders was not very impressed though.
The rest of the day was pretty tough. Moderate winds, high waves, and lots of barges. We skipped lunch and also ran out of water so neither of us was feeling too great. Adding to this was the fact that there really wasn't anywhere to stop and camp. When we finally found a possible site, a pump station, we jumped out and quickly asked if we could stay there. The man agreed and told us where we could get water. He even allowed us to use the restroom at the pump station. It was a relief to find a solid site with facilities.
Ohhhh... I would paddle 1,150 miles
And I would paddle 1,150 more
Just to be the man that paddled 2,300 miles to wind up at your door
Dahda da duh duh!
Dahda da duh duh!
...We're about halfway done! I know the Arch was built to symbolize Westward expansion, but I like to think it was put in St. Louis to tell river travelers they were at the midway point. We're at the top of the Arch. It's all downhill from here. Is that a good or bad thing?
We locked through the Alton Dam and chatted with the lock workers. They told us to take the chain of rocks which would bypass the last lock, 27. It is only navigable in high water, which it is, and wouldn't have any barge traffic. As we didn't have any maps of the area we relied on our phones. We should have known better. There was a channel on the East side of the river labeled "Chain of Rocks Channel" which I decided was what the lock workers were talking about. Turns out, that's the channel that boats take to avoid the chain of rocks. So, rather than staying in the current and avoiding barge traffic we were paddling in dead water with all the normal barge traffic of a busy city. It was only mildly frustrating until it took us 20 minutes to lock through lock 27.
We pulled up to the Arch in St. Louis around 2:00 P.M. and got out to see the sites and find a restroom. We were also hoping for something quick to eat, but the St. Louis riverfront is severely lacking. There was a helicopter tour launch pad, two small food vendors, and the Arch. Otherwise it was just a lot of industry. We spent about an hour walking around the Arch, finding restrooms, and taking a lot of pictures. I really thought the Arch was cool. It was extremely difficult to get the whole thing in one picture. Anders was not very impressed though.
The rest of the day was pretty tough. Moderate winds, high waves, and lots of barges. We skipped lunch and also ran out of water so neither of us was feeling too great. Adding to this was the fact that there really wasn't anywhere to stop and camp. When we finally found a possible site, a pump station, we jumped out and quickly asked if we could stay there. The man agreed and told us where we could get water. He even allowed us to use the restroom at the pump station. It was a relief to find a solid site with facilities.
Ohhhh... I would paddle 1,150 miles
And I would paddle 1,150 more
Just to be the man that paddled 2,300 miles to wind up at your door
Dahda da duh duh!
Dahda da duh duh!
...We're about halfway done! I know the Arch was built to symbolize Westward expansion, but I like to think it was put in St. Louis to tell river travelers they were at the midway point. We're at the top of the Arch. It's all downhill from here. Is that a good or bad thing?
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Day 36: Storm
I got hit by another carp today. It slammed into my arm and leg as I ducked to avoid it. I had fish slime on my shorts all day and didn't notice until camp that night.
We did 61 miles in about 11 hours. We think 70 mile days will be possible now. It's pretty exciting.
We camped on the lawn of a marina in Portage Des Sioux. There were lots of big, nice boats. Some of them looked like people lived in them.
We knew storms were in the forecast and we got rained on while cooking and eating dinner. We went to bed hoping nothing too serious would pop up in the middle of the night. Still, we left the weather radio on so we could be warned if anything severe started. Sure enough, we awoke to the annoying sound of the radio making that screeching weather warning sound. Shortly thereafter the wind started and rain began pelting our tent. Soon enough we were sitting upright holding the corner poles of our tent to give it a little extra strength. Every once in awhile a gust would come and I was sure one of the poles was going to give way. The trusty Eureka held up though, and eventually the winds (supposedly 60 mph gusts) started to die down.
It was a stressful night. I past out almost immediately after the wind died down. According to Anders though it picked back up and he stayed awake another half hour holding the corner poles. I must have been pretty beat to sleep through a second round of that.
We did 61 miles in about 11 hours. We think 70 mile days will be possible now. It's pretty exciting.
We camped on the lawn of a marina in Portage Des Sioux. There were lots of big, nice boats. Some of them looked like people lived in them.
We knew storms were in the forecast and we got rained on while cooking and eating dinner. We went to bed hoping nothing too serious would pop up in the middle of the night. Still, we left the weather radio on so we could be warned if anything severe started. Sure enough, we awoke to the annoying sound of the radio making that screeching weather warning sound. Shortly thereafter the wind started and rain began pelting our tent. Soon enough we were sitting upright holding the corner poles of our tent to give it a little extra strength. Every once in awhile a gust would come and I was sure one of the poles was going to give way. The trusty Eureka held up though, and eventually the winds (supposedly 60 mph gusts) started to die down.
It was a stressful night. I past out almost immediately after the wind died down. According to Anders though it picked back up and he stayed awake another half hour holding the corner poles. I must have been pretty beat to sleep through a second round of that.
Day 35: Gazebo Camping
We said goodbye to Tad's parents and then were brought to the levy by Tad, Holly, and Amy. After snapping a few pictures they were off to church and we were back on the water. As soon as we got the gear to the top of the levy we noticed just how much the river had risen in our time off. Where before we had to portage the canoe from the train tracks to the levy we could now put in the water right at the base of the levy and paddle straight to the river. The entire riverfront was now underwater. It made for an easier launch though, so we were grateful.
While calling ahead for lock and dam 22 we were informed they were closed. They told us we could shoot over the spillway which I was pretty sure they weren't supposed to do. However, since they suggested it, it seemed safe and we decided to do it. It was no more discerning than a wing dam really. The rest of the day was pretty basic until lock and dam 24. That too was closed, but this time the lockmaster was not very supportive of going over the spillway. I believe his exact words were, "I mean, if you want to try it I can't stop you. But I also am not going to come get you if you capsize." If he was apprehensive about it, then we were apprehensive about it. We decided to make the long portage. And I mean long. So long that it forced us to be a little creative in our portaging. We used straps to make a backpack to haul the tent and sleeping pads in and also looped straps underneath the canoe and up over a shoulder to make the canoe a bit easier. Even with these innovations it was pretty brutal. My back was pretty beat up from the slip n slide still. Still worth it.
After the portage we searched for high ground. None. Everything was either under water, almost under water, or private property. People were sand bagging right up to the main street business doors. The only area that looked like it would withstand any rise in water level was a gazebo. So we paddled over to it, pulled the canoe up the walkway, and set up camp. We got some weird looks from the sand baggers.
While calling ahead for lock and dam 22 we were informed they were closed. They told us we could shoot over the spillway which I was pretty sure they weren't supposed to do. However, since they suggested it, it seemed safe and we decided to do it. It was no more discerning than a wing dam really. The rest of the day was pretty basic until lock and dam 24. That too was closed, but this time the lockmaster was not very supportive of going over the spillway. I believe his exact words were, "I mean, if you want to try it I can't stop you. But I also am not going to come get you if you capsize." If he was apprehensive about it, then we were apprehensive about it. We decided to make the long portage. And I mean long. So long that it forced us to be a little creative in our portaging. We used straps to make a backpack to haul the tent and sleeping pads in and also looped straps underneath the canoe and up over a shoulder to make the canoe a bit easier. Even with these innovations it was pretty brutal. My back was pretty beat up from the slip n slide still. Still worth it.
After the portage we searched for high ground. None. Everything was either under water, almost under water, or private property. People were sand bagging right up to the main street business doors. The only area that looked like it would withstand any rise in water level was a gazebo. So we paddled over to it, pulled the canoe up the walkway, and set up camp. We got some weird looks from the sand baggers.
Day 34: Mark Twain Everything
We woke up feeling great (sarcasm)! As I slowly trudged up the hill past the slip n slide I recollected all the great times we had together. Then a sharp pain shot through my leg and I cursed the slippery plastic. It's a love hate relationship. Mostly love though.
We ate breakfast and were planning on getting back on the water, but we've learned that when great hospitality presents itself to not hurry away from it too quickly. We were convinced (easily) to stay another night. I'm glad we did, because we were able to see a bit more of Hannibal. Everything in the town is named after Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, or some other character from one of his books. We helped clean up from the party a little bit, ate at fiddlesticks, watched more mud volleyball, got a few beers from Mark Twain Brewing, and then spent the night listening to Frank Sinatra Radio on Pandora at one of Tad's friend's house. The music definitely fit the atmosphere. Everything was very classy and it was stacked full of conversation pieces.
It was another awesome night in Hannibal. Thank you to all who treated us so wonderfully.
We ate breakfast and were planning on getting back on the water, but we've learned that when great hospitality presents itself to not hurry away from it too quickly. We were convinced (easily) to stay another night. I'm glad we did, because we were able to see a bit more of Hannibal. Everything in the town is named after Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, or some other character from one of his books. We helped clean up from the party a little bit, ate at fiddlesticks, watched more mud volleyball, got a few beers from Mark Twain Brewing, and then spent the night listening to Frank Sinatra Radio on Pandora at one of Tad's friend's house. The music definitely fit the atmosphere. Everything was very classy and it was stacked full of conversation pieces.
It was another awesome night in Hannibal. Thank you to all who treated us so wonderfully.
Day 33: Happy 4th of July!
America's birthday. A great day to spend in the hometown of perhaps America's best author, Mark Twain. We had camped about 15 miles North of Hannibal, MO the night before and the plan was to meet up with Anders' friend, Tad, and stay the night there. We pulled in around 9:00 AM and the town looked desolate. Was this a joke? Tad had said the town would be hustling and bustling, putting on one of the best 4th of July parties (Tom Sawyer Days) we would ever witness. We pulled the canoe out of the water, waded through the flooded park/marina, and climbed over the levy. Tad was right. People were everywhere and despite it being fairly early there were three separate games of mud volleyball going on. The reason everything looked so empty from the river was because of the high water. Even the concrete flood walls were closed, obstructing any views of the river from town and vice versa.
After Tad's game we went to his parent's house and started meeting people. So many people. All of them were very nice and most were pretty interested in our trip. It's always a treat to talk to people who appreciate the adventure. The night was filled with chatting, great food, drinks, volleyball, beersby, fireworks, a bonfire, and most importantly a slip n slide. Oh how I love slip n slides. I had been excited ever since Anders told me they were going to have one. Every once in awhile on the river, when there was a long period of silence, I would say, "You know what Anders? I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE SLIP N SLIDE!" It didn't disappoint. I slid down that thing so many times I somehow hurt my back and ended up with an abnormally concentrated welt on my hip. It hurt to walk the next day and I had to lift my right leg up with my arms to get into a vehicle. Worth it.
A few takeaways from the mud volleyball tournament: People dive all over the place and get extremely muddy, Tad included. There were people that ended the game without mud above their knees. Were they that good or just really lazy? Everybody was required to duct tape their shorts on. Apparently heavy mud and jumping isn't conducive to keeping your shorts on your waist. A girl was wearing hoop earrings. She is one who came away from each game clean. I severely question her effort. This was the 35th year of the tournament. It's capped at 65 (I believe) teams which is extremely impressive.
A special thank you to Tad, Debra and Henry Wasowicz. You folks sure know how to throw a party. Thank you for letting us be a part of it and for letting us turn your yard into our campsite!
After Tad's game we went to his parent's house and started meeting people. So many people. All of them were very nice and most were pretty interested in our trip. It's always a treat to talk to people who appreciate the adventure. The night was filled with chatting, great food, drinks, volleyball, beersby, fireworks, a bonfire, and most importantly a slip n slide. Oh how I love slip n slides. I had been excited ever since Anders told me they were going to have one. Every once in awhile on the river, when there was a long period of silence, I would say, "You know what Anders? I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE SLIP N SLIDE!" It didn't disappoint. I slid down that thing so many times I somehow hurt my back and ended up with an abnormally concentrated welt on my hip. It hurt to walk the next day and I had to lift my right leg up with my arms to get into a vehicle. Worth it.
A few takeaways from the mud volleyball tournament: People dive all over the place and get extremely muddy, Tad included. There were people that ended the game without mud above their knees. Were they that good or just really lazy? Everybody was required to duct tape their shorts on. Apparently heavy mud and jumping isn't conducive to keeping your shorts on your waist. A girl was wearing hoop earrings. She is one who came away from each game clean. I severely question her effort. This was the 35th year of the tournament. It's capped at 65 (I believe) teams which is extremely impressive.
A special thank you to Tad, Debra and Henry Wasowicz. You folks sure know how to throw a party. Thank you for letting us be a part of it and for letting us turn your yard into our campsite!
Monday, August 11, 2014
Day 32: Asian Carp
We left John's and paddled a bit to what we thought was a boat landing with restrooms. Turns out it was an old Mormon settlement and now historical site. We were exactly where Brigham Young set up a camp of Mormons 11,000 strong. It was, surprisingly, very interesting and beautiful. There were vast open fields of pure, green grass with small houses and other buildings scattered throughout. Apparently it was rebuilt to look how it did when the settlement was actually occupied. Now it's a tourist destination with people dressed in old timey garb giving tours. It was very neat. We wandered around a bit, used the restroom (cleanest restroom I have ever seen), and made it back to the boat around 8:40. It made for a pretty slow morning, but it was a very interesting little break.
From Nauvoo we paddled to lock and dam 19 which was by far our biggest drop of the trip, about 20 feet. As we paddled out of the chamber it was like entering a whole new world. Everything was 20 feet lower. There was a park right after the lock that was only about 2-3 feet flooded, whereas parks above lock 19 were completely under water. It was almost as if the Army Corps wanted to punish all the towns above the lock and dam and save the ones below it. It was crazy to think how much power that dam had over the livelihood of all the towns around it. Let more water out and you relieve the flood stress to the North, but also begin the flood stress to the South. It seemed to me they could let more water out and even it up a little bit, but I'm no engineer.
We decided to paddle over to the park right after the lock to get a quick snack and stretch our legs. As we paddled, a large fish jumped out of the water pretty close to us; an Asian Carp. Then another one even closer. Then, even closer. Before I could get over from being startled by the last one, another one jumped and slammed into my arm, leaving me quite perplexed as to what just happened. After a brief second of shock and awe, I burst out laughing. Then I looked over to shore and there was a family, also chuckling quite heavily. They saw the whole thing so of course they got out of their car and came to chat with us when we pulled up to the park. I was glad somebody else saw it happen, because I wasn't sure myself it had even happened. We laughed and joked about it and they gave me grief for not catching it out of mid-air to eat for supper. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to eat any carp.
Later that day we arrived at lock and dam 20 and I realized why 19 was holding so much water back. 20 was completely under water. The lock walls that the engineers usually walk on 10 feet above us as we lock through had 10 inches of water rushing over them. It made for an easy portage though. We walked the canoe along the flooded walls past the lock chamber. From there the engineers helped us pick up the canoe and drop it over the rail back into the river. They asked us what the craziest part of the trip has been so I mentioned Sauk Rapids. Then I told them about the carp and they laughed and told us that wouldn't be the last we saw of them. They were right. We saw about five more that day.
A couple miles after the dam we saw a doe and a fawn swimming across the river. It was about a mile wide and the current was really fast, but they didn't seem to be drifting down river too much. Deer must be really good swimmers. We watched until they made it to shore and then continued on our way.
Right before Quincy, IL we saw a nice sandbar to camp on so we paddled over and pulled the canoe up. Before we set up camp though, we decided we better call lock and dam 21 to make sure they weren't closing soon. We didn't want to have to portage tomorrow if we could lock through tonight. Sure enough they were planning on closing at about 9:00 tonight. We tossed the boat back in the water and slogged on down the river. As soon as we locked through we rounded the corner of the lock walls and set up camp on the Army Corps lawn.
52 miles today. Finished Iowa. Lots of excitement. America's birthday tomorrow in Hannibal, MO.
From Nauvoo we paddled to lock and dam 19 which was by far our biggest drop of the trip, about 20 feet. As we paddled out of the chamber it was like entering a whole new world. Everything was 20 feet lower. There was a park right after the lock that was only about 2-3 feet flooded, whereas parks above lock 19 were completely under water. It was almost as if the Army Corps wanted to punish all the towns above the lock and dam and save the ones below it. It was crazy to think how much power that dam had over the livelihood of all the towns around it. Let more water out and you relieve the flood stress to the North, but also begin the flood stress to the South. It seemed to me they could let more water out and even it up a little bit, but I'm no engineer.
We decided to paddle over to the park right after the lock to get a quick snack and stretch our legs. As we paddled, a large fish jumped out of the water pretty close to us; an Asian Carp. Then another one even closer. Then, even closer. Before I could get over from being startled by the last one, another one jumped and slammed into my arm, leaving me quite perplexed as to what just happened. After a brief second of shock and awe, I burst out laughing. Then I looked over to shore and there was a family, also chuckling quite heavily. They saw the whole thing so of course they got out of their car and came to chat with us when we pulled up to the park. I was glad somebody else saw it happen, because I wasn't sure myself it had even happened. We laughed and joked about it and they gave me grief for not catching it out of mid-air to eat for supper. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to eat any carp.
Later that day we arrived at lock and dam 20 and I realized why 19 was holding so much water back. 20 was completely under water. The lock walls that the engineers usually walk on 10 feet above us as we lock through had 10 inches of water rushing over them. It made for an easy portage though. We walked the canoe along the flooded walls past the lock chamber. From there the engineers helped us pick up the canoe and drop it over the rail back into the river. They asked us what the craziest part of the trip has been so I mentioned Sauk Rapids. Then I told them about the carp and they laughed and told us that wouldn't be the last we saw of them. They were right. We saw about five more that day.
A couple miles after the dam we saw a doe and a fawn swimming across the river. It was about a mile wide and the current was really fast, but they didn't seem to be drifting down river too much. Deer must be really good swimmers. We watched until they made it to shore and then continued on our way.
Right before Quincy, IL we saw a nice sandbar to camp on so we paddled over and pulled the canoe up. Before we set up camp though, we decided we better call lock and dam 21 to make sure they weren't closing soon. We didn't want to have to portage tomorrow if we could lock through tonight. Sure enough they were planning on closing at about 9:00 tonight. We tossed the boat back in the water and slogged on down the river. As soon as we locked through we rounded the corner of the lock walls and set up camp on the Army Corps lawn.
52 miles today. Finished Iowa. Lots of excitement. America's birthday tomorrow in Hannibal, MO.
Day 31: The River is Ours
We have the river almost completely to ourselves. There are no barges as the locks in the area are all closed and there are no pleasure boats because people think the water is too high. The water is pretty high, but so far we haven't noticed much of a difference as far as safety. The only boats we see are either mill workers going to and leaving work or barge workers who are keeping an eye on their stranded vessels. It's pretty surreal. We don't have to worry about barge traffic. We just cruise along in the main channel and let the current help us along.
There has been one issue with high water; lock closures. Which means portages. We thought we were done portaging when we left northern Minnesota, but we've had to do two more already in the lock and dam system.
We lunched in Burlington, IA on a half submerged picnic table. I used the seat as my walkway and sat on the table top as I heated mac & cheese and beans (sound delicious right?). After lunch we paddled between shore and a large sea of lily pads. It was raining and you could see water collect on the pads then slide off harmlessly into the river when enough rain drops accumulated. I figure lily pads would make great rain gear.
We were shooting for a boat ramp in Nauvoo, IL to set up camp because we figured most everything would be underwater. Before we could get there, however, a man from shore yelled to us that we could camp in his yard if we wanted to. As we weren't positive of the accommodations of the boat ramp and we weren't that far North of where we wanted to get for the day, we accepted. The man's name was John and he loved the river, especially steamboats. He grew up in Quincy, IL and was very easy to talk to, keeping us up way past our normal bedtime. It was O.K. though; he made us gimlets and sandwiches which were much appreciated.
There has been one issue with high water; lock closures. Which means portages. We thought we were done portaging when we left northern Minnesota, but we've had to do two more already in the lock and dam system.
We lunched in Burlington, IA on a half submerged picnic table. I used the seat as my walkway and sat on the table top as I heated mac & cheese and beans (sound delicious right?). After lunch we paddled between shore and a large sea of lily pads. It was raining and you could see water collect on the pads then slide off harmlessly into the river when enough rain drops accumulated. I figure lily pads would make great rain gear.
We were shooting for a boat ramp in Nauvoo, IL to set up camp because we figured most everything would be underwater. Before we could get there, however, a man from shore yelled to us that we could camp in his yard if we wanted to. As we weren't positive of the accommodations of the boat ramp and we weren't that far North of where we wanted to get for the day, we accepted. The man's name was John and he loved the river, especially steamboats. He grew up in Quincy, IL and was very easy to talk to, keeping us up way past our normal bedtime. It was O.K. though; he made us gimlets and sandwiches which were much appreciated.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Day 30: Weather Delay
We got into Muscatine Thursday night and only planned on staying until Sunday. Nothing goes as planned, however, and we ended up staying until Tuesday due to weather. We tried getting on the water Monday, but as we were putting the boat in and hauling gear a man yelled to us that there was a tornado warning. When we started hauling there was only a storm warning, but sure enough in the time it took us to haul all our gear to the water it upgraded to a tornado. I wasn't happy to be on land for an extra day, but for some reason I didn't think our tent would hold up too well in tornado strength winds. Thanks for putting up with us Ben and Sam!
A tornado never did come about, but it rained pretty heavily for a long time causing a flash flood. It was probably a good decision to stay one more night.
We made it to Muscatine on a day with a USA soccer game and we left Muscatine on a day with a USA soccer game. We stopped in New Boston, IL to watch the Yanks take on Belgium. What an exciting game! 0-0 after regulation and then three goals in extra time with all three having substitutes play a huge role. We lost 2-1 and our World Cup was over, but it was extremely exciting. Julian Green became the youngest ever US player to score in a World Cup and Tim Howard had the most saves by any keeper in the past 50 years.
The water continues to boil up around the wing dams and looks like it could swallow the boat. We haven't felt too unstable yet though. We just get spun around a bit. After the flash flood we could definitely tell the water rose a lot. We'll continue to move pretty quickly!
A tornado never did come about, but it rained pretty heavily for a long time causing a flash flood. It was probably a good decision to stay one more night.
We made it to Muscatine on a day with a USA soccer game and we left Muscatine on a day with a USA soccer game. We stopped in New Boston, IL to watch the Yanks take on Belgium. What an exciting game! 0-0 after regulation and then three goals in extra time with all three having substitutes play a huge role. We lost 2-1 and our World Cup was over, but it was extremely exciting. Julian Green became the youngest ever US player to score in a World Cup and Tim Howard had the most saves by any keeper in the past 50 years.
The water continues to boil up around the wing dams and looks like it could swallow the boat. We haven't felt too unstable yet though. We just get spun around a bit. After the flash flood we could definitely tell the water rose a lot. We'll continue to move pretty quickly!
Friday, June 27, 2014
Day 29: Patriotism
We almost capsized for America today. The USA vs Germany World Cup game was on at 11:00. That meant we had to make it to the Quad Cities area by then and find a place to watch the game. As we locked through lock #14 we asked a worker where a good place to go was. He gave us a few suggestions that were before lock #15. They were only 10 miles apart. We paddled up to a casino marina, but it was closed. After looking at our phones we found a bunch of riverside restaurants on the other side of the river so we pushed off and started paddling across. The current was much faster than we had noticed. As we made our way across we were being pushed too far down river, towards a weird rocky area that looked like it was just under the high water. When we realized we weren't going to get where we wanted we tried to cut through this area. Bad decision. The water was basically falling off some underwater embankment. It was basically a one foot waterfall. It was even making a surfable wave, which we hit and got surfed by. To our right was a large boulder which we were getting carried towards broadside. I kept yelling at Anders to paddle harder (not that he wasn't already) and I paddled hard as well while keeping us square to the wave. For a second I didn't think we were going to make it past the boulder. We both put our heads down, put everything we had into a few strokes and then looked to our right. The boulder was gone. I looked to my left and there it was, no longer a danger to us. There was, however, still danger present. There was one more large wave we had to navigate to get out of the rapid section and get back into the main channel. At this point I still had a tiny glimmer of hope we would make it through to the other side. As we paddled hard against the current and the wave, I finally relented. The current was much too strong and there was no way we were going to paddle up stream there. I told Anders to stop paddling then made sure we stayed square to the wave we were in and let it push us backwards into the main channel. It was the dumbest thing we have tried to do on this entire trip. Also, the most patriotic. Also, very exhilarating.
We decided to make it through lock #15 and then find a place to watch the game. As we locked through we again asked for suggestions on where to watch it. A man who was also a fan and almost called in sick to work in order to catch the game told us of a marina that was very near plenty of bars and restaurants. We went to that marina, tied up our canoe, and asked a man who was fishing what his suggestion would be. He said the Blue Cat Brew Pub. So we went there. It was very hard to not get a beer at a brew pub. I think this will be the last time we stop at a place with good beer when we are planning to be back on the water. The food was great though, I got a Reuben and Anders got a burger. And even though the USA lost 1-0 we advanced to the next round. USA!
We got back in the boat after our two hour patriotic break and set back out. We stopped at a site 18 miles outside of Muscatine and contemplated staying there. As it was only 3:00 though, Anders convinced me to paddle onward to Muscatine. We would be staying with our friends Ben and Sam for the weekend.
On our way there, we hit a storm. Lots of rain and some lightning. We jumped off the water and waited out the storm under the porch of a very welcoming woman and her mother. We chatted with them. Anders did most of the talking. He's good at that. The two women made sure that we knew the water was high. Yes, ladies, we know. We get told that every single day. We can also see it from the number of houses and islands that are halfway under water.
While being locked through lock #16 the lock worker told us that the dam might be closing soon due to high water and that, if that happens, we should just, "paddle like hell and shoot right under the dam." Really? He insisted it was the best option. I don't believe him. That seems incredibly dangerous and he seems like the type to mess with people for the hell of it. Also, I'm fairly certain there's a fine for doing that. Some research needs to be done. I'm thinking I would rather just portage though if the dams do close.
We made it Ben and Sam's around 7:30. Here we will stay until Sunday.
The blog is finally up to date! Woohoo!
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
We decided to make it through lock #15 and then find a place to watch the game. As we locked through we again asked for suggestions on where to watch it. A man who was also a fan and almost called in sick to work in order to catch the game told us of a marina that was very near plenty of bars and restaurants. We went to that marina, tied up our canoe, and asked a man who was fishing what his suggestion would be. He said the Blue Cat Brew Pub. So we went there. It was very hard to not get a beer at a brew pub. I think this will be the last time we stop at a place with good beer when we are planning to be back on the water. The food was great though, I got a Reuben and Anders got a burger. And even though the USA lost 1-0 we advanced to the next round. USA!
We got back in the boat after our two hour patriotic break and set back out. We stopped at a site 18 miles outside of Muscatine and contemplated staying there. As it was only 3:00 though, Anders convinced me to paddle onward to Muscatine. We would be staying with our friends Ben and Sam for the weekend.
On our way there, we hit a storm. Lots of rain and some lightning. We jumped off the water and waited out the storm under the porch of a very welcoming woman and her mother. We chatted with them. Anders did most of the talking. He's good at that. The two women made sure that we knew the water was high. Yes, ladies, we know. We get told that every single day. We can also see it from the number of houses and islands that are halfway under water.
While being locked through lock #16 the lock worker told us that the dam might be closing soon due to high water and that, if that happens, we should just, "paddle like hell and shoot right under the dam." Really? He insisted it was the best option. I don't believe him. That seems incredibly dangerous and he seems like the type to mess with people for the hell of it. Also, I'm fairly certain there's a fine for doing that. Some research needs to be done. I'm thinking I would rather just portage though if the dams do close.
We made it Ben and Sam's around 7:30. Here we will stay until Sunday.
The blog is finally up to date! Woohoo!
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
Day 28: Gerty the Birdy
We woke up at 7:30, sleeping in as far as river time goes. We're still not fully acclimated back to the river routine obviously. Today was much like yesterday, beautiful, until about 4:00 when the wind picked up a bit. I went swimming in the river for only the second time today but it felt great. It was mid 80's and with the lack of wind felt even warmer.
About midway through the day we saw something struggling to stay above the water. It was very small and I first thought it was a mouse or some other rodent. As we got closer though it was clearly a bird. We couldn't tell if had a broken wing or if it was just extremely tired and/or in shock. We paddled up to it and Anders picked it up on his paddle. The bird seemed very grateful as it just sat on the edge of the paddle and didn't seem the least bit scared to be so close to humans. Anders named it Gerty. I gave him the naming rights as the past six things I have named (fish for the wedding) all lived very short lives. We paddled Gerty over to shore. He sat there very calmly for the most part, only jumping/falling back in the water when gusts of wind came twice. Once when he fell in it seemed like he was swimming towards us to get back on the paddle. We eventually got him to shore and sat him on a log to dry off. I then gave him some crumbs from a peanut butter cracker and Anders found him a bug to eat. I do not believe he ate either gift. He did, however, look very curiously at us. As he started to dry off and come out of shock he seemed very aware that we had helped him. If this world were anything like the one in Disney's Malificent, I think we would have a little bird servant for the rest of the trip. Yes, I saw Malificent over the break. Yes, it was awesome. Yes, I wish we had a bird servant. He could fly ahead and scout camping sites for us. Since everything is currently under water, that would be extremely helpful.
One thing I forgot about the break, and don't feel very good about. The locks (Upper and Lower St. Anthony and Lock #11) were still closed due to high water. There are still seven miles of water we have yet to paddle. It's very hard to accept, but at least I know I will eventually paddle that section. Even if it takes awhile.
About midway through the day we saw something struggling to stay above the water. It was very small and I first thought it was a mouse or some other rodent. As we got closer though it was clearly a bird. We couldn't tell if had a broken wing or if it was just extremely tired and/or in shock. We paddled up to it and Anders picked it up on his paddle. The bird seemed very grateful as it just sat on the edge of the paddle and didn't seem the least bit scared to be so close to humans. Anders named it Gerty. I gave him the naming rights as the past six things I have named (fish for the wedding) all lived very short lives. We paddled Gerty over to shore. He sat there very calmly for the most part, only jumping/falling back in the water when gusts of wind came twice. Once when he fell in it seemed like he was swimming towards us to get back on the paddle. We eventually got him to shore and sat him on a log to dry off. I then gave him some crumbs from a peanut butter cracker and Anders found him a bug to eat. I do not believe he ate either gift. He did, however, look very curiously at us. As he started to dry off and come out of shock he seemed very aware that we had helped him. If this world were anything like the one in Disney's Malificent, I think we would have a little bird servant for the rest of the trip. Yes, I saw Malificent over the break. Yes, it was awesome. Yes, I wish we had a bird servant. He could fly ahead and scout camping sites for us. Since everything is currently under water, that would be extremely helpful.
One thing I forgot about the break, and don't feel very good about. The locks (Upper and Lower St. Anthony and Lock #11) were still closed due to high water. There are still seven miles of water we have yet to paddle. It's very hard to accept, but at least I know I will eventually paddle that section. Even if it takes awhile.
Day 27: I love being back on the water
Even though the trip started more than 27 days ago, I have decided I'm not going to count the days spent off the river in my numbering. They were not technically river days and it is easier this way to more accurately track how long this trip is taking.
Yesterday was Mike's birthday, so of course we celebrated. Happy Birthday Mike! With that being said it should be of no surprise that we got on the water a lot later than we wanted to. When we finally did get on the water our two week break was quickly apparent. Both of us felt very unstable in the canoe. Despite the late start and our instability (we did quickly get comfortable again) we made it 28 miles and found a decent spot to set up camp just before dark. The site had tons of cacti on it which we both thought was strange. Cactus grow in Illinois?
The day was absolutely perfect weather wise. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the wind was non-existent. It was easily the nicest day we've had on the river, and that's saying something; we've been very lucky with the weather so far. It felt amazing to finally be back on the water especially with the weather being so perfect. It was like the river was welcoming us back home.
Yesterday was Mike's birthday, so of course we celebrated. Happy Birthday Mike! With that being said it should be of no surprise that we got on the water a lot later than we wanted to. When we finally did get on the water our two week break was quickly apparent. Both of us felt very unstable in the canoe. Despite the late start and our instability (we did quickly get comfortable again) we made it 28 miles and found a decent spot to set up camp just before dark. The site had tons of cacti on it which we both thought was strange. Cactus grow in Illinois?
The day was absolutely perfect weather wise. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the wind was non-existent. It was easily the nicest day we've had on the river, and that's saying something; we've been very lucky with the weather so far. It felt amazing to finally be back on the water especially with the weather being so perfect. It was like the river was welcoming us back home.
June 9th through 23rd: Dubuque downtime and a Wedding
It was extremely hard to sit around Dubuque for a week with not much to do. I visited Eagle Ridge (my employer before this trip), got a haircut, hung out with Mike, Blake, and Becca, and updated my blog a little bit. I also got to watch some of the World Cup which was nice.
On the 16th Becca and I drove up to Rush City for my sister's wedding which was on the 21st. While we were there we went canoeing and kayaking on the St. Croix, visited Taylor's Falls, and helped prep for the wedding.
The wedding was incredible. Shannon and Tim hosted it at their place which has a very large yard and plenty of space to accommodate the 200 or so people in attendance. It was really neat to see so much family and friends jumping in and helping get ready. We had a beautiful day for it as well which was a concern because it rained most of the days leading up and then also the day after.
We took Sunday to recover and then headed back down to Dubuque on Monday to finally get back on the water Tuesday. Although I greatly enjoyed taking time to be with friends and family, two weeks off from the trip was too much. I got way out of my daily river routine and probably gained about 10 pounds. Hopefully it's not too difficult to get back on the water!
On the 16th Becca and I drove up to Rush City for my sister's wedding which was on the 21st. While we were there we went canoeing and kayaking on the St. Croix, visited Taylor's Falls, and helped prep for the wedding.
The wedding was incredible. Shannon and Tim hosted it at their place which has a very large yard and plenty of space to accommodate the 200 or so people in attendance. It was really neat to see so much family and friends jumping in and helping get ready. We had a beautiful day for it as well which was a concern because it rained most of the days leading up and then also the day after.
We took Sunday to recover and then headed back down to Dubuque on Monday to finally get back on the water Tuesday. Although I greatly enjoyed taking time to be with friends and family, two weeks off from the trip was too much. I got way out of my daily river routine and probably gained about 10 pounds. Hopefully it's not too difficult to get back on the water!
Day 26: Dubuque!
We set out at 6:30, all the party goers from the night before were probably sound asleep. We made it to Finley's landing, a popular swimming and party beach, and ate lunch there. The beach was filthy. Tons of beer cans, water bottles, and all around garbage. People are awful. When we got to lock #11 we chatted with some people in other boats going through the lock. This was the first time we had the pleasure of locking through with other boats. They asked the normal questions everyone asks, but then we talked about Loras and the area a bit since we all had a background there. It was nice break from the normal conversation.
Mike met us at the river walk and we rigged up the boat to his roof. It had to look so weird. We then brought the boat to Becca's and kept it in her garage. There it will sit for about two weeks unfortunately as we decided before the trip we could be no further than Dubuque by June 21st. It was currently the 8th. The 21st is my sister's wedding and I'm pretty sure I need to attend that. We showered and got food at Salsa's.
Mike met us at the river walk and we rigged up the boat to his roof. It had to look so weird. We then brought the boat to Becca's and kept it in her garage. There it will sit for about two weeks unfortunately as we decided before the trip we could be no further than Dubuque by June 21st. It was currently the 8th. The 21st is my sister's wedding and I'm pretty sure I need to attend that. We showered and got food at Salsa's.
Day 25: Rain Finally
We woke up and got on the water right away as the weather was supposed to take a turn for the worse. Again we had to portage a lock and dam (#9) because of barge traffic. Hopefully this does not become the norm. The current also felt pretty weak. Or maybe we were being weak. Maybe we received too much pampering between family in Minneapolis and the Quillins in La Crosse.
As we came up on Bigley, IA we could see big storm clouds rolling in. We made a move for shore but were just a step behind. The skies opened up and we ended up putting up the tent in a rain storm. On an already flooded island no less. As the rain continued we could feel the tent bottom getting wet. Eventually it felt like we were on a water bed. I'm pretty sure the rain was draining down the outside of the tent and accumulating on top of the tarp between the tarp and the tent bottom. Everything was soaked.
Anders checked his phone for weather and it looked like it was going to clear up for a few hours. Thank goodness, because I did not want to stay on that flooded island. Especially with more rain on the way. We made it seven more miles to lock #10 and asked one of the lock workers if we could camp right alongside the dam. She said yes and that it was DNR property so we should be fine. As soon as camp was set up the skies again opened up. We retreated into a bar to grab burgers and watch the USA vs Nigeria friendly.
In the middle of the night (this was a Saturday) I heard some people talking outside of our tent. It went something like: "Is there really people camping there?"
"Yeah, they jumped out of their boat and just set up camp right in our backyard!"
Apparently the house right next to the dam was having a party. Although it probably was technically DNR property, it was also definitely someones backyard. They left it at that though and we slept just fine. A long day of paddling allows you to sleep through loud parties, thankfully.
As we came up on Bigley, IA we could see big storm clouds rolling in. We made a move for shore but were just a step behind. The skies opened up and we ended up putting up the tent in a rain storm. On an already flooded island no less. As the rain continued we could feel the tent bottom getting wet. Eventually it felt like we were on a water bed. I'm pretty sure the rain was draining down the outside of the tent and accumulating on top of the tarp between the tarp and the tent bottom. Everything was soaked.
Anders checked his phone for weather and it looked like it was going to clear up for a few hours. Thank goodness, because I did not want to stay on that flooded island. Especially with more rain on the way. We made it seven more miles to lock #10 and asked one of the lock workers if we could camp right alongside the dam. She said yes and that it was DNR property so we should be fine. As soon as camp was set up the skies again opened up. We retreated into a bar to grab burgers and watch the USA vs Nigeria friendly.
In the middle of the night (this was a Saturday) I heard some people talking outside of our tent. It went something like: "Is there really people camping there?"
"Yeah, they jumped out of their boat and just set up camp right in our backyard!"
Apparently the house right next to the dam was having a party. Although it probably was technically DNR property, it was also definitely someones backyard. They left it at that though and we slept just fine. A long day of paddling allows you to sleep through loud parties, thankfully.
Day 24: Bye Bye Minnesota
Mike Quillin made us breakfast and sent us on our way (thanks again!). We had a bit of a later start, but not too bad for staying off the river. Despite the late start and the wind, which was somewhat rough, we still managed to get 50 miles in. As the title suggests, we also left Minnesota and entered Iowa. She was a good state. Much too long though. It's a pretty big moral booster finally being finished with one state. Only 9 more to go!
Later in the day, maybe 7:30 or so, we were paddling around the river from bank to bank looking for a place to set up camp. The river was pretty flooded so all the islands were under water. Finally, a fishing boat came up to us. They could tell from our zig zag motion that we were looking for a site. They suggested we paddle under a railroad bridge then under a road bridge and take out at a boat landing and camp there. They knew the owner of the landing and said it would be alright. Their names were Coop and Joni and they let us know we were in Lynxville, WI. Joni gave us vanilla scented gnat spray and told us about a bar right up the street (which we visited briefly). We chatted with them while we made dinner, gave them our blog info, and said our goodbyes.
Later in the day, maybe 7:30 or so, we were paddling around the river from bank to bank looking for a place to set up camp. The river was pretty flooded so all the islands were under water. Finally, a fishing boat came up to us. They could tell from our zig zag motion that we were looking for a site. They suggested we paddle under a railroad bridge then under a road bridge and take out at a boat landing and camp there. They knew the owner of the landing and said it would be alright. Their names were Coop and Joni and they let us know we were in Lynxville, WI. Joni gave us vanilla scented gnat spray and told us about a bar right up the street (which we visited briefly). We chatted with them while we made dinner, gave them our blog info, and said our goodbyes.
Day 23: The Parents Quillin
The day started out somewhat disappointing. We hit a lock at a bad time, a barge was coming through, and we either had to wait 2 hours or portage around it. We decided to portage as we didn't think we could waste two hours. Turns out the barge probably only took off about 15 minutes after we finished portaging. All that work for a mere 15 minutes was pretty frustrating, but oh well, it was over.
When we started the trip our friend Kyle Quillin told us to let his parents know when we were going to be in the La Crosse area. We played phone tag with them most of the day and were thinking about setting up camp on one of the many sandbars in the La Crosse area when Mike Quillin told us to stay with them. We got our boat to a marina, talked to the dock worker, got permission to keep our canoe there, and started unloading stuff. Barb, Kyle's mom, came and picked up our gear. We then went back to their house, showered and went out to eat. Mike met us there a bit later as he had been at auctions and checking on his grocery stores in Iowa.
After a great dinner we went back to their house and sat in the garage conversating and smoking a cigar. Poppa Q loves his cigars. He also gave us a beer called Burton Batch from Dogfish Head. It was an oak aged IPA. Needless to say, it was high alcohol content and amazingly good. Lastly, Mike gave us two cigars to go so that we could smoke them on a beautiful day or as victory cigars for finishing. Right now we are leaning towards saving them as victory cigars in New Orleans. Either way, Poppa Q will be receiving a great picture later on.
The Quillins were amazingly hospitable people. We gave them very short notice that we were coming through La Crosse and gave them multiple outs on housing us for the night, but they still put us up and took good care of us. For that, Momma and Poppa Q, we thank you greatly.
When we started the trip our friend Kyle Quillin told us to let his parents know when we were going to be in the La Crosse area. We played phone tag with them most of the day and were thinking about setting up camp on one of the many sandbars in the La Crosse area when Mike Quillin told us to stay with them. We got our boat to a marina, talked to the dock worker, got permission to keep our canoe there, and started unloading stuff. Barb, Kyle's mom, came and picked up our gear. We then went back to their house, showered and went out to eat. Mike met us there a bit later as he had been at auctions and checking on his grocery stores in Iowa.
After a great dinner we went back to their house and sat in the garage conversating and smoking a cigar. Poppa Q loves his cigars. He also gave us a beer called Burton Batch from Dogfish Head. It was an oak aged IPA. Needless to say, it was high alcohol content and amazingly good. Lastly, Mike gave us two cigars to go so that we could smoke them on a beautiful day or as victory cigars for finishing. Right now we are leaning towards saving them as victory cigars in New Orleans. Either way, Poppa Q will be receiving a great picture later on.
The Quillins were amazingly hospitable people. We gave them very short notice that we were coming through La Crosse and gave them multiple outs on housing us for the night, but they still put us up and took good care of us. For that, Momma and Poppa Q, we thank you greatly.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Day 22: Wabasha
The wind picked up overnight and we now had to fight it the rest of the way on the lake. It took forever to make the 14 miles to lunch in Wabasha. We stopped at a place called Slippery's right on the river and asked if we could leave our canoe there for awhile if we ate lunch there when we got back. They obliged so we took off to the library. We updated our blogs for a couple of hours and then went back to Slippery's. Apparently Grumpy Old Men was based in Wabasha and Slippery was the original name of the catfish in the movie. They had a few Grumpy Old Men themed things, including menu options, and even had the movie playing inside.
We made it 32 miles today to a sandbar in Minnieska, MN. It was gorgeous. We took panorama photos with our phones which will get posted eventually. We were still so full from Slippery's that we had a light dinner; protein bar for Anders and tuna on a tortilla for me.
We made it 32 miles today to a sandbar in Minnieska, MN. It was gorgeous. We took panorama photos with our phones which will get posted eventually. We were still so full from Slippery's that we had a light dinner; protein bar for Anders and tuna on a tortilla for me.
Day 21: Lake Pepin
We paddled through some gorgeous terrain today. High bluffs, wide river, and houses up so high they looked like doll houses. We stopped in Red Wing at a park and made lunch. People looked at us funny. Had they never seen homeless people before?
Shortly after Red Wing we hit Lake Pepin. We had heard a lot of stories about how rough and slow moving the water can get so we were not looking forward to it. Especially since we were hitting it mid day when the winds were usually at their worst. Much to our delight it was extremely calm and there was very little wind. The water was still pretty slow, but that's to be expected on such a big lake. We saw a lot of Asian Carp today. A lot of dead Asian Carp. We also saw a lot jumping though which was kind of neat. If only they weren't so destructive.
We stopped at a sandbar but there was a sign saying no camping and no campfires, two things we wanted to do there, so we kept going. Before we left though I found an egg in the water next to a downed tree. It smelled awful and was about the size of a baseball. After sending a picture to my family we decided it was probably a bald eagle egg. I wish I would have kept it and hollowed it out. That would have been an amazing souvenir. Just to reiterate, it was in the water and it smelled terrible, so it was rotten and I wasn't harming an unborn eagle. I wouldn't do that.
Finding a cheap site turned out to be an adventure tonight. We stopped at one place and found out it was $32. Outrageous! So we paddled clear across the lake to a site that was $14. Much better. Plus, it was right on the water so we didn't have to haul any gear like we would have had to at the other site. We did 45 miles today, but with paddling across the lake and getting lost briefly we did more like 50. It was pretty tough but we had hot dogs and chili, our favorite meal now, waiting for us at the end of the day to motivate us.
Shortly after Red Wing we hit Lake Pepin. We had heard a lot of stories about how rough and slow moving the water can get so we were not looking forward to it. Especially since we were hitting it mid day when the winds were usually at their worst. Much to our delight it was extremely calm and there was very little wind. The water was still pretty slow, but that's to be expected on such a big lake. We saw a lot of Asian Carp today. A lot of dead Asian Carp. We also saw a lot jumping though which was kind of neat. If only they weren't so destructive.
We stopped at a sandbar but there was a sign saying no camping and no campfires, two things we wanted to do there, so we kept going. Before we left though I found an egg in the water next to a downed tree. It smelled awful and was about the size of a baseball. After sending a picture to my family we decided it was probably a bald eagle egg. I wish I would have kept it and hollowed it out. That would have been an amazing souvenir. Just to reiterate, it was in the water and it smelled terrible, so it was rotten and I wasn't harming an unborn eagle. I wouldn't do that.
Finding a cheap site turned out to be an adventure tonight. We stopped at one place and found out it was $32. Outrageous! So we paddled clear across the lake to a site that was $14. Much better. Plus, it was right on the water so we didn't have to haul any gear like we would have had to at the other site. We did 45 miles today, but with paddling across the lake and getting lost briefly we did more like 50. It was pretty tough but we had hot dogs and chili, our favorite meal now, waiting for us at the end of the day to motivate us.
Day 20: Frustration
We had breakfast at my Grandparent's place and then put back in the water at Plymouth Avenue. My Grandpa stuck around and watched us pack. As we exited the small channel the boat ramp was in he yelled, "Turn left!" just to make sure we didn't start paddling upstream. He's a funny guy.
When we got to the dam at Upper St. Anthony Falls we learned some disheartening news. The lock, as well as the lower lock and lock #1, was closed to leisure boats when the water was above 30,000 CFS. The water was currently at 35,000 CFS. Worse news was that it wasn't going to be open for at least three days. Even worse news is that they closed it on Sunday. If we had continued on Saturday we could have paddled all three locks. With how it was we were going to have to skip seven miles of water or wait until the water went down. We chose the former.
We took all of our stuff out of the canoe at the dam, portaged it across the dam (which was actually pretty cool), and then loaded it in Dick's (an Army Corps. Employee) truck. Dick tried very hard to let us lock through. He asked the lockmaster three times just to make sure. We really appreciated it even though it didn't work out. He then went even further by offering to drive us to a landing just South of lock #1. As hard as it was to skip this water, there was really no other option. I definitely did not want to lose three or more days of paddling. Anders and I decided we'll have to meet there during the break for Shannon's wedding to paddle those seven miles. Like I said before, you can't say you paddled the entire river without actually paddling the ENTIRE river. Here's to hoping the water will be down enough to lock through in a couple weeks.
We thanked Dick and then continued on to an Island campsite. Anders saw his first snake. He was petrified.
When we got to the dam at Upper St. Anthony Falls we learned some disheartening news. The lock, as well as the lower lock and lock #1, was closed to leisure boats when the water was above 30,000 CFS. The water was currently at 35,000 CFS. Worse news was that it wasn't going to be open for at least three days. Even worse news is that they closed it on Sunday. If we had continued on Saturday we could have paddled all three locks. With how it was we were going to have to skip seven miles of water or wait until the water went down. We chose the former.
We took all of our stuff out of the canoe at the dam, portaged it across the dam (which was actually pretty cool), and then loaded it in Dick's (an Army Corps. Employee) truck. Dick tried very hard to let us lock through. He asked the lockmaster three times just to make sure. We really appreciated it even though it didn't work out. He then went even further by offering to drive us to a landing just South of lock #1. As hard as it was to skip this water, there was really no other option. I definitely did not want to lose three or more days of paddling. Anders and I decided we'll have to meet there during the break for Shannon's wedding to paddle those seven miles. Like I said before, you can't say you paddled the entire river without actually paddling the ENTIRE river. Here's to hoping the water will be down enough to lock through in a couple weeks.
We thanked Dick and then continued on to an Island campsite. Anders saw his first snake. He was petrified.
Day 19: A Break
We took our first intentional day off from paddling today. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods to get seat pads and a waterproof map holder. The seat pads have been suggested to us multiple times by multiple people, but I'm stubborn at times. At least that's what I'm told. Having finally caved though, they are amazing. A huge upgrade from sitting on aluminum all day.
We then restocked our food at Wal-Mart and went to my Grandparent's for dinner. My Uncle Dan, Uncle John, Aunt Amber, Uncle Scott, cousins Doug, Tommy, Hannah, and Emily, sister Shannon and her fiancé Tim, my Grandparents and Mom were all there. It was great occasion. It meant a lot that everybody showed up. Especially since it was such short notice. Anders reveled in talking to everybody. It was very relaxing and the food was incredible. Thank you everyone for showing up!
After the house cleared out Anders and I stayed up and packed our gear for the next day.
We then restocked our food at Wal-Mart and went to my Grandparent's for dinner. My Uncle Dan, Uncle John, Aunt Amber, Uncle Scott, cousins Doug, Tommy, Hannah, and Emily, sister Shannon and her fiancé Tim, my Grandparents and Mom were all there. It was great occasion. It meant a lot that everybody showed up. Especially since it was such short notice. Anders reveled in talking to everybody. It was very relaxing and the food was incredible. Thank you everyone for showing up!
After the house cleared out Anders and I stayed up and packed our gear for the next day.
Day 18: Civilization
The forecast for the day was rain and thunderstorms starting around 2:00 P.M. We woke up, threw our stuff in the boat, and snacked on the water. We wanted to make it to the Plymouth Avenue bridge, about 35 miles, before the weather turned. We took very few breaks and paddled pretty hard, but we made it. My Mom met us there and as we were throwing the last of the gear in the back of the truck it started raining. Perfect timing. It was very cool paddling into a big city. We could see the skyline for miles before we got there. It was also the most boat traffic we had seen all trip.
We went to Smashburger, Starbucks, and the liquor store and then went to my Grandparent's house to shower up. My Mom then left and we went to our friend Charlie's place for a night on the town. We ate like we hadn't seen food in a year.
We went to Smashburger, Starbucks, and the liquor store and then went to my Grandparent's house to shower up. My Mom then left and we went to our friend Charlie's place for a night on the town. We ate like we hadn't seen food in a year.
Day 17: Sauk Rapids
The plan today was two dam portages within the first 15 miles then continue on to Monticello, about 28 miles after the second dam. We paddled 9 miles to the first dam, had another pretty long portage, and got back in our boats and paddled towards Sauk Rapids.
I had read a little bit about these rapids, but nobody ever made that big of a deal about them. They were barely even mentioned in most of the research I did. The other guys we were with said they could be up to class 3, but I was still skeptic. As we paddled closer, however, I could tell that they were indeed rapids and not "rapids" like everything else up to this point. We slowed down to try and find the safest line (it would have been smarter to pull off to the side and scout them), but we really couldn't see too much. The entire river looked pretty choppy. The other three boats went ahead of us and all took different lines. We sat back a bit and watched to see whose looked safer. Josh was going through sideways, a big no-no, and had yet to flip so we figured we would be safe going down the right way. The first section was big, we took on some water, but it wasn't overly scary. I briefly worried about flipping since I didn't have any experience in rapids this big in a canoe, but I just focused on keeping us squared up to the waves and we were fine. After this section though I looked to the right and there were more rapids. Quite a bit bigger too. We had no time to scout for the best line in this section. We were already in it. We skirted one wave, hit the brunt of another, took on more water, repeat. Holes and waves were everywhere. While trying to avoid one hole we would end up paddling straight for another. At one point we were trying to get to the side of a pretty significant wave when Anders finally said, "We're not making it. Square up!" So we did. Anders, sitting in the front of the canoe, described it as being thrust into a three foot wall of water. After the front of the boat hit the wave it made its way to the back, lifting the front and slamming it down back into the water. It was incredibly fun. Also terrifying. I would briefly think about our course of action if we were to capsize, but quickly realized I could only focus on keeping us squared up to the waves. At least I knew all of our supplies (minus rain gear and few other small things) were securely strapped in.
At one point in this second section I scanned the water ahead of us to make sure Alex, Gus, and Josh were still upright. I couldn't say for sure, but it looked like Josh had capsized and was swimming next to his canoe. I said to Anders, "I think Josh is down!"
He yelled back, "I know, I told you that a minute ago!"
It was too loud. I didn't even hear him.
With the adrenaline coursing through us we hit wave after wave and continued to take on water. No matter how hard we paddled we couldn't get completely out of most the waves. We skirted a lot and hit the brunt of a lot but we finally made it out into calmer water. We were in calmer water, however we were still not in the clear. We had about 6-8 inches of water in the canoe adding weight and making it extremely unstable. My first reaction was to get to shore as quickly as possible to bail all the water out, but Josh had capsized and all of his gear was slowly floating away. We grabbed one of his bags which had to weigh 60 pounds since it was soaking wet and paddled it closer to shore. Anders had to just hold on to it. It was too heavy to lift into the boat and I was afraid if we tried it would flip us. We dropped it off next to Alex who slowly nudged it all the way to shore and went back out into the middle of the river to gather more stuff. Gus had picked up Josh's paddles already. He put them in our canoe and set out to grab more stuff as well. We picked up water bottles, sunscreen, bug spray, tires to the portage cart, etc. Gus continued on to a boat landing across the river while Anders and I went back to shore so we could give Josh his paddles. Anders stayed and used our water pump to slowly rid the canoe of it's newfound weight while I walked along the shoreline to bring Josh some of his things.
Eventually we all made it to the landing Gus was at to return all of Josh's gear and talk about how incredibly fun, nerve racking, and adrenaline pumping the rapids were. Also how lucky we were that we were all together. While going through the rapids we at least knew that if we flipped we had help on the other side. That made the situation a lot less intimidating. If we weren't there Josh still would have his boat and he would have made it to shore just fine, but there's a pretty good chance a lot of his gear would be dam fodder three miles later. His trip would have taken a major setback. Luckily, his biggest loss of the day was his cell phone.
Shortly after the rapid excitement we had another portage. At this point we said our goodbyes to Josh, Gus, and Alex. They were going to try and track down a phone for Josh and get some food. We still had the goal of making it to Monticello so we could make it to the Twin Cities the next day. We gave Gus our numbers and set off. It was fun paddling with other people. Hopefully we'll meet back up down the river.
We ended up making it to Monticello a little before 8:00. There was another campsite seven miles downriver that we decided we could make before dark so we grabbed some Dominos and got back on the water. We kicked out those seven miles in 50 minutes. We paddled hard. We set up camp, scarfed down our pizzas, and passed out. Hard.
I had read a little bit about these rapids, but nobody ever made that big of a deal about them. They were barely even mentioned in most of the research I did. The other guys we were with said they could be up to class 3, but I was still skeptic. As we paddled closer, however, I could tell that they were indeed rapids and not "rapids" like everything else up to this point. We slowed down to try and find the safest line (it would have been smarter to pull off to the side and scout them), but we really couldn't see too much. The entire river looked pretty choppy. The other three boats went ahead of us and all took different lines. We sat back a bit and watched to see whose looked safer. Josh was going through sideways, a big no-no, and had yet to flip so we figured we would be safe going down the right way. The first section was big, we took on some water, but it wasn't overly scary. I briefly worried about flipping since I didn't have any experience in rapids this big in a canoe, but I just focused on keeping us squared up to the waves and we were fine. After this section though I looked to the right and there were more rapids. Quite a bit bigger too. We had no time to scout for the best line in this section. We were already in it. We skirted one wave, hit the brunt of another, took on more water, repeat. Holes and waves were everywhere. While trying to avoid one hole we would end up paddling straight for another. At one point we were trying to get to the side of a pretty significant wave when Anders finally said, "We're not making it. Square up!" So we did. Anders, sitting in the front of the canoe, described it as being thrust into a three foot wall of water. After the front of the boat hit the wave it made its way to the back, lifting the front and slamming it down back into the water. It was incredibly fun. Also terrifying. I would briefly think about our course of action if we were to capsize, but quickly realized I could only focus on keeping us squared up to the waves. At least I knew all of our supplies (minus rain gear and few other small things) were securely strapped in.
At one point in this second section I scanned the water ahead of us to make sure Alex, Gus, and Josh were still upright. I couldn't say for sure, but it looked like Josh had capsized and was swimming next to his canoe. I said to Anders, "I think Josh is down!"
He yelled back, "I know, I told you that a minute ago!"
It was too loud. I didn't even hear him.
With the adrenaline coursing through us we hit wave after wave and continued to take on water. No matter how hard we paddled we couldn't get completely out of most the waves. We skirted a lot and hit the brunt of a lot but we finally made it out into calmer water. We were in calmer water, however we were still not in the clear. We had about 6-8 inches of water in the canoe adding weight and making it extremely unstable. My first reaction was to get to shore as quickly as possible to bail all the water out, but Josh had capsized and all of his gear was slowly floating away. We grabbed one of his bags which had to weigh 60 pounds since it was soaking wet and paddled it closer to shore. Anders had to just hold on to it. It was too heavy to lift into the boat and I was afraid if we tried it would flip us. We dropped it off next to Alex who slowly nudged it all the way to shore and went back out into the middle of the river to gather more stuff. Gus had picked up Josh's paddles already. He put them in our canoe and set out to grab more stuff as well. We picked up water bottles, sunscreen, bug spray, tires to the portage cart, etc. Gus continued on to a boat landing across the river while Anders and I went back to shore so we could give Josh his paddles. Anders stayed and used our water pump to slowly rid the canoe of it's newfound weight while I walked along the shoreline to bring Josh some of his things.
Eventually we all made it to the landing Gus was at to return all of Josh's gear and talk about how incredibly fun, nerve racking, and adrenaline pumping the rapids were. Also how lucky we were that we were all together. While going through the rapids we at least knew that if we flipped we had help on the other side. That made the situation a lot less intimidating. If we weren't there Josh still would have his boat and he would have made it to shore just fine, but there's a pretty good chance a lot of his gear would be dam fodder three miles later. His trip would have taken a major setback. Luckily, his biggest loss of the day was his cell phone.
Shortly after the rapid excitement we had another portage. At this point we said our goodbyes to Josh, Gus, and Alex. They were going to try and track down a phone for Josh and get some food. We still had the goal of making it to Monticello so we could make it to the Twin Cities the next day. We gave Gus our numbers and set off. It was fun paddling with other people. Hopefully we'll meet back up down the river.
We ended up making it to Monticello a little before 8:00. There was another campsite seven miles downriver that we decided we could make before dark so we grabbed some Dominos and got back on the water. We kicked out those seven miles in 50 minutes. We paddled hard. We set up camp, scarfed down our pizzas, and passed out. Hard.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Day 16: Portages
We continued with Josh, Alex, and Gus today. We did 51 miles with two tough portages. The second one was insanely hard and way longer than the advertised 300 yards. Figure it out MN DNR. It was also up and down two railroad grades and across a creek with a narrow bridge. We had to haul all of our gear along these obstacles while walking through a fog of mosquitoes. Multiple times I had to drop the load I was carrying in order to swat the blood suckers away. Portaging with other people made for a quicker transition in the long run, but it was probably more tiring. Rather than completely emptying our canoe like we had been doing for long portages, we left a lot of stuff in it and just put in on Josh's portage wheels. It was still hard and we couldn't use the wheels the whole time with the railroad grades and the bridge. Plus, Alex and Gus leave their kayaks fully loaded when they portage. We helped with one of them and it was extremely heavy. Those two guys are much stronger than us. Especially Alex. He is seriously the strongest man I have ever met. Hopefully he doesn't read this. He dragged our canoe out of the water by himself further than Anders and I could have done together. He played football (O-Line) for awhile at North Dakota so I guess that makes sense.
Tonight was the most tired I have been this whole trip but it feels amazing. Although it was hard it was also very rewarding. Lots of miles, two hard portages, and good company make for a great day.
The mosquitoes continue to be an issue. We ate our dinner, pinto beans, baked beans, corn, and white rice tortillas, in the tent in order to escape them.
Tonight was the most tired I have been this whole trip but it feels amazing. Although it was hard it was also very rewarding. Lots of miles, two hard portages, and good company make for a great day.
The mosquitoes continue to be an issue. We ate our dinner, pinto beans, baked beans, corn, and white rice tortillas, in the tent in order to escape them.
Day 15: River Companions Continued
We paddled all day with Josh, Alex, and Gus. It made for a great day that absolutely flew by. We did 44 miles and it seemed so much easier than the previous day. Conversation really makes the time fly. We talked a little bit about our differing experiences in the upper section of the river. Gus and Alex hit Cass Lake on a windy day and said it was awful. We hit it on a perfect day and wasn't bad at all. Josh did Winnie in the middle of the night, straight across, and got off at 10:30 P.M. He was offered a beer when he finally finished and rightfully accepted it. They had been putting in a lot more miles than Anders and I. I don't remember exactly when they put in the water in Itasca, but it was a couple days after us and had already caught up to us.
We went through some beautiful terrain today right before Brainerd. It's easy to see why so many people have cabins here. The only thing I couldn't handle is the winters. And maybe the mosquitoes. They're pretty awful.
Poison Ivy Update: Drenching it in sunscreen has helped immensely. It looks to finally be receding.
We went through some beautiful terrain today right before Brainerd. It's easy to see why so many people have cabins here. The only thing I couldn't handle is the winters. And maybe the mosquitoes. They're pretty awful.
Poison Ivy Update: Drenching it in sunscreen has helped immensely. It looks to finally be receding.
Day 14: River Companions
We finally spent an entire day on the river today and felt amazing. 7:30 A.M. to about 8:00 P.M. with 45 glorious miles in between. We even stopped in Aitkin at the library Uncle Dave suggested to blog for a little bit.
Towards the end of our day we saw two kayaks and a solo canoe pulled off on the shore. The three people on shore yelled over to us and asked how far we were going which is a very common question when people see how much gear we are hauling.
Anders yelled, "The Gulf!"
A man on shore yelled back, "Us too! Where are you camping tonight?"
Anders, "Lone Pine!"
The man, "Us too! We'll see you there!"
We were excited. Not only were we going to have neighbors to talk to, but they were neighbors that had the same plan as us. Also, neighbors that we could chat about the upper section with. We pulled into camp and found out the kayakers just met the solo canoer yesterday. They started at different times and just happened to run into each other in Jacobson. After meeting and talking they decided they would paddle together until the Twin Cities. Alex and Gus, the kayakers, were from Duluth and Josh, the solo canoeist, was from Winona. Josh was in the Marines and is now doing this trip to raise awareness for PTSD. Alex and Gus recently graduated college and are kind of doing the trip as a last hurrah before the real world.
We have decided that we'll paddle with them tomorrow for sure and then possibly all the way to the Cities. They want to get there by Saturday which would require a lot of high mileage days. The past two days they paddled over a hundred miles. I'm jealous.
Towards the end of our day we saw two kayaks and a solo canoe pulled off on the shore. The three people on shore yelled over to us and asked how far we were going which is a very common question when people see how much gear we are hauling.
Anders yelled, "The Gulf!"
A man on shore yelled back, "Us too! Where are you camping tonight?"
Anders, "Lone Pine!"
The man, "Us too! We'll see you there!"
We were excited. Not only were we going to have neighbors to talk to, but they were neighbors that had the same plan as us. Also, neighbors that we could chat about the upper section with. We pulled into camp and found out the kayakers just met the solo canoer yesterday. They started at different times and just happened to run into each other in Jacobson. After meeting and talking they decided they would paddle together until the Twin Cities. Alex and Gus, the kayakers, were from Duluth and Josh, the solo canoeist, was from Winona. Josh was in the Marines and is now doing this trip to raise awareness for PTSD. Alex and Gus recently graduated college and are kind of doing the trip as a last hurrah before the real world.
We have decided that we'll paddle with them tomorrow for sure and then possibly all the way to the Cities. They want to get there by Saturday which would require a lot of high mileage days. The past two days they paddled over a hundred miles. I'm jealous.
Day 13: Back at it
Despite the beer and staying up later than I am used to I woke up around 6:00 A.M. With a headache of course. Good thing we don't have to jump right back on the river today. When Anders and my Mom woke up we made coffee and breakfast burritos. We're getting spoiled I know. We showered at the campsite and then gathered all our gear to continue back on the water. We said goodbye to Mom and pushed off.
Beth and Dave gave us a whole bunch of cookies yesterday. I probably ate a thousand of them today. They are delicious. When my Mom asked a few days ago what we wanted her to bring us we said hot dogs, beer, breakfast burrito fixings, and twizzlers. I had been craving twizzlers for two days for some reason. She brought all of those things and then some. Rather than bringing a normal sized bag of twizzlers though, she buys the 2 pound gigantic bag that screams twizzler addiction. In order to take some of the weight out of the canoe I decided to eat about a pound of them today.
We passed two kids canoeing today with a homemade mast. Their plan was to go from Jacobson to the Iowa border. They were barely paddling and not moving very fast. Anders thinks they were high. I tend to agree. If we see them again we'll make sure to offer them some twizzlers. I think they would appreciate that.
Our campsite tonight is at the confluence of the Mississippi and Willow River. As the Willow flows in you can distinctly see the difference in water color. Even the rate of flow is different. They run side by side for a couple hundred yards and look like two different rivers.
Beth and Dave gave us a whole bunch of cookies yesterday. I probably ate a thousand of them today. They are delicious. When my Mom asked a few days ago what we wanted her to bring us we said hot dogs, beer, breakfast burrito fixings, and twizzlers. I had been craving twizzlers for two days for some reason. She brought all of those things and then some. Rather than bringing a normal sized bag of twizzlers though, she buys the 2 pound gigantic bag that screams twizzler addiction. In order to take some of the weight out of the canoe I decided to eat about a pound of them today.
We passed two kids canoeing today with a homemade mast. Their plan was to go from Jacobson to the Iowa border. They were barely paddling and not moving very fast. Anders thinks they were high. I tend to agree. If we see them again we'll make sure to offer them some twizzlers. I think they would appreciate that.
Our campsite tonight is at the confluence of the Mississippi and Willow River. As the Willow flows in you can distinctly see the difference in water color. Even the rate of flow is different. They run side by side for a couple hundred yards and look like two different rivers.
Day 12: Company
Motivated by company, beer, and hot dogs we paddled 24 miles by 1:30 to Big Sandy Rec Area. We were very tired, but it would all be worth it later on. Since we paddled so quickly and the current pushed us quite a bit we had time to kill before my Mom and Aunt Beth and Uncle Dave were set to arrive. I went on a walk to tour the campground and Anders immediately began frantically writing down a story idea he came up with while paddling. If he ever writes a best seller, I'll assume this is where it started.
My Mom arrived first. We dove into the chips and Top the Tater (SO DELICIOUS) and cracked open our first good beer of the trip. It was great. Thanks Mom. Beth and Dave then arrived with more beer and margaritas which they kept cool in a travel growler. They were extremely refreshing.
After responsibly consuming a few beverages we went to Zorbaz for some food. They had good beer on tap, Surly Furious, and the food menu looked decent as well. The only problem was that all the "s" in the menu and pretty much the entire restaurant were changed to "z." It was incredibly frustrating trying to read the menu. Then of course everybody started reading it and saying the "z." That got old fast. But then I started doing it and it was fun. Then it got old again. I'm assuming our waitress' name was Ashley and not the "Azhley" that was printed on her nametag. I could be wrong though. People name their kids weird things nowadays.
It was really nice to spend some time with family and get a pampered a little bit. It was also nice to chat with people who were excited and interested in the trip. Dave kept pulling out maps looking at the next couple of days and also the delta to see what we should do when we get down there. He even did some research and informed us that the Aitkin library is just seven blocks from the river. This was his way of saying, "Hey guys, update your blogs!" I'm glad to know that people are actually enjoying reading them.
My Mom arrived first. We dove into the chips and Top the Tater (SO DELICIOUS) and cracked open our first good beer of the trip. It was great. Thanks Mom. Beth and Dave then arrived with more beer and margaritas which they kept cool in a travel growler. They were extremely refreshing.
After responsibly consuming a few beverages we went to Zorbaz for some food. They had good beer on tap, Surly Furious, and the food menu looked decent as well. The only problem was that all the "s" in the menu and pretty much the entire restaurant were changed to "z." It was incredibly frustrating trying to read the menu. Then of course everybody started reading it and saying the "z." That got old fast. But then I started doing it and it was fun. Then it got old again. I'm assuming our waitress' name was Ashley and not the "Azhley" that was printed on her nametag. I could be wrong though. People name their kids weird things nowadays.
It was really nice to spend some time with family and get a pampered a little bit. It was also nice to chat with people who were excited and interested in the trip. Dave kept pulling out maps looking at the next couple of days and also the delta to see what we should do when we get down there. He even did some research and informed us that the Aitkin library is just seven blocks from the river. This was his way of saying, "Hey guys, update your blogs!" I'm glad to know that people are actually enjoying reading them.
Day 11: Mosquitos
We paddled 35 miles today, a personal record. We had an easy 12-13 before lunch, then 9 more to a campground to get water, then 12 more to Willow Wood canoe campsite. We did this in order to get to Big Sandy Dam Rec Area to camp with my Mom, Aunt Beth, and Uncle Dave the next night.
My poison Ivy hasn't gotten much better. It turns out the sun won't actually burn it off. Who knew? I also started to boil up on my right shoulder. Too much sun! I had to put a shirt on for the rest of the day.
In the past two days the river has really started to open up and flow faster. It is still nothing like the mile wide behemoth it will become, but it's fun to see it get wider every day.
Tonight was the first night the mosquitos were really really bad. They were only marginally annoying before, but now we are both doused in bug spray and that doesn't even seem to be working.
Looking forward to some company and good beer tomorrow.
My poison Ivy hasn't gotten much better. It turns out the sun won't actually burn it off. Who knew? I also started to boil up on my right shoulder. Too much sun! I had to put a shirt on for the rest of the day.
In the past two days the river has really started to open up and flow faster. It is still nothing like the mile wide behemoth it will become, but it's fun to see it get wider every day.
Tonight was the first night the mosquitos were really really bad. They were only marginally annoying before, but now we are both doused in bug spray and that doesn't even seem to be working.
Looking forward to some company and good beer tomorrow.
Day 10: Frank's Backyard
As we paddle away from the RV "campground" we heard a "Bon Voyage!" yelled at us from shore. It was Jim. Thanks Jim.
We arrived at the next portage spot, Blandin Paper Company, and couldn't quite tell where the portage was. We could see the dam and we knew we had to go to the right, but all we could see were houses. We didn't want to pull up in somebody's backyard and unpack all our gear. We saw a man riding a peddle catamaran and he pointed us to somebody's backyard with a sign posted. Turns out it was his backyard and the sign posted was the portage route. The man peddled up to the shore with us, got out, and started chatting with us. His name was Frank. Frank's house has waterfront property, but technically the city and Blandin own the shoreline so he gets some of the benefits of being right on the water (like owning awesome peddle catamarans) without paying waterfront property taxes. His backyard is technically a street, but it's grass. On the map it's even labeled as a street. It was weird, but all I know is I'm happy that Frank is the one living there. He almost immediately offered us coffee, which I gladly accepted, and then chatted a little bit with us about our trip. He then let us leave our stuff on his lawn while we went into town to visit the library, get food, and groceries.
When we got back there was a boy about 12 years old fishing. His name was Peyton and he LOVED fishing. It was also pretty apparent he was a big fan of Frank. "Hey Frank, can I use a minnow? Hey Frank, remember that time you caught that big northern? Hey Frank, I lost a lure." Frank complied with most of his wishes and nodded patiently. Peyton was a much better fisherman than me. He caught two northerns in the short time we stayed to chat.
The reason the portage was hard to find, we later learned from Frank, was that most people don't use it. There was a sign at the last dam that we half read that talked about a shuttle service from that dam to the other side of the Blandin dam. The shuttle service skips 3-4 miles of beautiful river and one beautiful man's house. Even if we would have read it fully I don't think we would have taken advantage of it. After all, you can't really say you paddled the entire Mississippi if you skip 3-4 miles right? Frank did offer to drive our stuff over to the put in, but completely understood that we wanted "the experience," as he called it, of doing as much of this trip as possible without motor transportation. It was a pretty long portage but absolutely worth it. On our last trip of hauling stuff to the put in we said goodbye to Frank and thanked him for letting us leave our stuff there. Peyton then caught another fish. Way to rub it in kid.
We only paddled 20 miles today. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, there was very little wind, and the paddling just seemed easy. We got to camp and realized someone really cares about the campsite we were at. There was a wood rack with a shingled roof, a bench made of of logs, and a bear proof locker. The bear proof locker worried Anders. He thinks that's a sign that bears come. Inside the locker was a note from the future. It said, "Thank you- Doug somethingorother" and was dated 5-24-14. Today is 5-23-14. I wish I could ask Future Doug about the future.
We arrived at the next portage spot, Blandin Paper Company, and couldn't quite tell where the portage was. We could see the dam and we knew we had to go to the right, but all we could see were houses. We didn't want to pull up in somebody's backyard and unpack all our gear. We saw a man riding a peddle catamaran and he pointed us to somebody's backyard with a sign posted. Turns out it was his backyard and the sign posted was the portage route. The man peddled up to the shore with us, got out, and started chatting with us. His name was Frank. Frank's house has waterfront property, but technically the city and Blandin own the shoreline so he gets some of the benefits of being right on the water (like owning awesome peddle catamarans) without paying waterfront property taxes. His backyard is technically a street, but it's grass. On the map it's even labeled as a street. It was weird, but all I know is I'm happy that Frank is the one living there. He almost immediately offered us coffee, which I gladly accepted, and then chatted a little bit with us about our trip. He then let us leave our stuff on his lawn while we went into town to visit the library, get food, and groceries.
When we got back there was a boy about 12 years old fishing. His name was Peyton and he LOVED fishing. It was also pretty apparent he was a big fan of Frank. "Hey Frank, can I use a minnow? Hey Frank, remember that time you caught that big northern? Hey Frank, I lost a lure." Frank complied with most of his wishes and nodded patiently. Peyton was a much better fisherman than me. He caught two northerns in the short time we stayed to chat.
The reason the portage was hard to find, we later learned from Frank, was that most people don't use it. There was a sign at the last dam that we half read that talked about a shuttle service from that dam to the other side of the Blandin dam. The shuttle service skips 3-4 miles of beautiful river and one beautiful man's house. Even if we would have read it fully I don't think we would have taken advantage of it. After all, you can't really say you paddled the entire Mississippi if you skip 3-4 miles right? Frank did offer to drive our stuff over to the put in, but completely understood that we wanted "the experience," as he called it, of doing as much of this trip as possible without motor transportation. It was a pretty long portage but absolutely worth it. On our last trip of hauling stuff to the put in we said goodbye to Frank and thanked him for letting us leave our stuff there. Peyton then caught another fish. Way to rub it in kid.
We only paddled 20 miles today. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, there was very little wind, and the paddling just seemed easy. We got to camp and realized someone really cares about the campsite we were at. There was a wood rack with a shingled roof, a bench made of of logs, and a bear proof locker. The bear proof locker worried Anders. He thinks that's a sign that bears come. Inside the locker was a note from the future. It said, "Thank you- Doug somethingorother" and was dated 5-24-14. Today is 5-23-14. I wish I could ask Future Doug about the future.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Day 9: Slinking away in the morning mist
Today started a little rough. I think we were starting to feel the effects of a lot of lake paddling. My hands hurt when I made a fist and every muscle in my shoulders and back was sore. Despite all this we managed to do 28 miles to Pokegama Dam Rec Area. We arrived around 5:30 as the park office was closing. We quickly asked if any sites were open as it looked pretty busy. There was one and the ranger said to grab it and fill out a site ticket and leave the money, $26, in the drop box. $26!? To camp?! We decided we would grab the ticket and fill it out and put it on our site post then wait and see if we actually had to pay. As we saw it we were just using this area to sleep and would be out of there by 6:30 the next morning. All the other "campers" there were in big gaudy motor homes using a million kilowatts of energy a minute. Long story short, we giggled as we hauled our gear back into the water and floated downstream the next day with $26 still in our pockets. Don't tell on us!
Update on the poison ivy. It still isn't better. I'm hoping the sun will dry it out or burn it off. That happens right?
Lastly, we met a cool guy named Jim at this site. His camper was one of the few that I could tolerate. He and his wife, Jeanette, were on a trip from Colorado to the Black Hills region, up into Canada, through this part of Minnesota, then East along the coast. They are retirees and have also hiked a 500 mile trail in Spain. They were doing a lot with their retirement. Jeanette said, "He plans the trips and I just follow." I could tell that wasn't completely true. Hopefully I'll be able to do trips like this when I retire.
Update on the poison ivy. It still isn't better. I'm hoping the sun will dry it out or burn it off. That happens right?
Lastly, we met a cool guy named Jim at this site. His camper was one of the few that I could tolerate. He and his wife, Jeanette, were on a trip from Colorado to the Black Hills region, up into Canada, through this part of Minnesota, then East along the coast. They are retirees and have also hiked a 500 mile trail in Spain. They were doing a lot with their retirement. Jeanette said, "He plans the trips and I just follow." I could tell that wasn't completely true. Hopefully I'll be able to do trips like this when I retire.
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