No Signal, but we have beer!
Start: River Mile 711
Finish: River Mile 679
Day Total: 33 Miles
Segment Total: 560 Miles
As we were getting ready to launch this morning, a cute young family came up looking for a place to fish. We struck up a conversation with the Dad and Mom, both of whom were very interested and slightly concerned about our trip. In the end we agreed that it was not for everyone and we got in our boats and started our day.
We had winds from the Southwest today and the river trended mostly South and West, with a few bends vectoring Southeast. So, for the most part we had favorable wind conditions. There were also much fewer barges to contend with as well. Our goal was Walnut Bend Boat Ramp at River Mile 679, a 33 mile day, our longest in a while.
About 15 miles into the day, just as two barges passed us going up river, a 20 foot Lund fishing boat approached us coming down river. We stopped paddling to chat with him. Turns out his name is Ron Miller. He asked us were we were paddling from, when we said Minnesota, he said me too! I was confused and it probably showed on my face. He explained that he paddled his kayak from Lake Itasca to St. Louis. Once there he decided he was too old for paddling, sold his kayak, bought the Lund and is continuing to the Gulf with the help of a 50 hp outboard. His trip, his rules!
I also had some nice phone conversations while paddling today. First with my son Alex in Brooklyn and then my sister Julie, brother Dave and his wife Tracy. You all really helped the day go fast! I tried calling my lovely bride, daughter Catie and my Dad, but not luck today with them. I’ll try again tomorrow.
We finished the last three miles into the wind, which seems to be true to our brand. We got out at a kind of cruddy ramp, very steep and rocky. I had to completely empty my boat to haul it up.
After a night at camp last night with no fire, we are really enjoying our fire tonight. It’s the best part of the day, all the work is done and we are fed, warm and sipping a bourbon.
Quote of the day comes from Jon. “When is a ramp not a ramp? When it’s a bust!” We had two busts today before we came upon our final ramp at Walnut bend.
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