Day 4: Bemidji

After only three days in the wilderness with just each other to talk to it was nice to get a little human interaction in Bemidji.  After the library we went to a little café, got lunch and a coffee, and then went to an army surplus type store to get more socks and a really nifty and simple can opener.  Before we had been using our multi-tool to slice open the cans.  It worked, but this is much much better.
The weather was finally gorgeous today which was a huge moral boost.  We finally got to wear our river hats to keep the sun off us a bit.  We did 13 miles and set up camp at Island Point, a site that overlooks the river and has remote road access.  When we got there a tent was already set up and some people were fishing.  They left shortly after we arrived but the tent was still there.  A couple minutes later some people came through, ran into the woods, grabbed a case of beer they had hidden, put it in the tent, and then came over to introduce themselves.  They were mainly students at Bemidji.  They were putting a couple canoes and kayaks in the water about a mile upriver, floating down, and then partying there.  We had neighbors for the night.
Our neighbors were really nice people.  They gave us each a beer which we happily accepted and then we exchanged stories about our experiences on the section of the river we had just come from.  A couple of them had quite a bit of paddling experience so it was nice to hear what they thought of not only our trip, but also other places they wanted to paddle.  One of the guys, Eric, really wants to paddle as much of the Yukon in Alaska and Canada as possible.  I think that might be too cold for me, but it sounds like an amazing place.  Another guy, Phil, got so lost in the wetland area once that he ended up paddling all night, getting out at the wrong bridge, setting up camp, and awoke to a landowner pointing a gun at him threatening to call the cops.  His reaction, "Call the cops.  A warm jail cell sounds pretty nice right about now."  Awhile after this incident he saw somebody else come out of the river looking like they had gone through a similar experience.  They had, and Phil helped them with whatever they needed to get back on their way.  I'm extremely happy we didn't run into any trouble like this.
A couple of the guys that were there climbed a tree on the bank we were on and took some incredible pictures.  If you guys read this could you get in touch and send those to us?  I wish I were brave enough to have gone up there myself.  Overall it was a great day.  We got a bit of rest in terms of paddling, got some good food, and met some awesome people.