Jeff Wunrow: Day 44 (10/25/20)

The Mythical, Magical Gulf of Mexico

Start: Wax Lake Lodging, Patterson, LA

Finish: Gulf of Mexico

Day Total: 21 Miles

Segment Total: 1,082 Miles

My friend Shawn dropped us off back at Wax Lake Lodging. We really appreciate Trever from Wax Lake Lodging (http://waxlakelodging.com) who allowed us to store our boats on his landing overnight. If you are hunting or fishing in the Patterson, LA area, please give him your business.

Our paddle today would take us the final leg, to the Gulf of Mexico. The first 10 miles were on the Wax Lake Pass which is really a straight channel heading south, crossing the Inter coastal Waterway along the way. At mile 10, we leave Wax Lake Pass into Hog Bayou. From reading Park Neff’s Facebook post of last Wednesday, we knew we would be seeing Alligators.

The Hog Bayou section of 10 miles was just the perfect end to our Mississippi source to sea paddle. It was so much like the first couple days on the upper Mississippi in Minnesota. Mostly wetland, narrow river, big blue skies. The only difference was, ALLIGATORS! Over the next 10 miles, we counted 67 of them. We had been told by numerous river guides that the gators are really more afraid of humans than we should be of them. I would say that our experience confirmed this. Plus, counting gators really helped pass the time!

The last mile took if through a narrow channel, which opened up to the wide open Gulf of Mexico. We paddled out into the Gulf, letting the reality of this moment sink in. We did our selfies, took pictures of our stuffed animal friends Monkey Face and Lil Pug who made the trip with us. We also took a picture of Hickman County Times (http://www.hickmancountytimes.net) a paper whom we met the editor when eating breakfast at Beard and Roses Market in Columbus, KY. She asked if we would take a picture of the paper at the Gulf, which we did.

Jon and I both spent the next 10 minutes calling all our family members to share the happy news. Each time I spoke, I was overwhelmed with emotion, as the magnitude of the accomplishment sunk in. Man, what a feeling! It was something I which I could share with as many people as possible. As amazing as this moment was, once all the calls had been made, the photos taken, I immediately turned to Jon and said, “Let’s go Home.”

Just up the channel from the Gulf, my friend Shawn was waiting for us. It was so nice to have a friendly face there to greet us. The fact he made the time to be there for us is really special. We went out for a celebratory dinner and had the bar tender mix us a special “Big Muddy” cocktail to celebrate our accomplishment.

Tomorrow Jon heads home to Bloomington, IN and Shawn and I drive to my home in Ashland City, TN. We leave Louisiana with a huge sense of accomplishment and a ton of great memories from our over 80 days on the water together.