The Longest Day
Start: River Mile: 523
Finish: River Mile: 499
Day Total: 24
Trip Total: 150
We awoke this morning to rain splattering our tents. We had another chilly night, being constantly reminded that we did not bring warm enough sleeping bags. We hope to rectify this situation once we get to Chattanooga, TN.
The rain really made me hustle packing up. I’d much rather paddle in the rain, all buttoned up in my kayak, spray skirt on, rain jacket on, all my gear stowed away in my dry hatches. I was able to get the tent, sleeping bag and food in my kayak before the rain took hold. So, we set a trip record of 75 minutes from wake up to in the water!
Paddling conditions were rainy and 55 for the first 2 hours, then it slowly started to warm up. We were excited to have a mid day goal of a hot lunch. The Cottonwood marina was a 10 mile paddled from camp. We took advantage of this stop to get rid of our trash, refill our water bags and get every piece of electronic gear on a charger. Jon had a Bubba burger and I had the cheese burger and fries. It’s amazing how good a simple burger and fries can taste after a week of bagels with PB & J.
Back on the river, I had a full belly and a full dose of Ibuprofen in me, so I was feeling pretty good. The temperature was raising and cloud cover was breaking up a bit. I thought I had stripped off enough layers at lunch but I found myself immediately shedding more. I finally got a a comfortable set up so I was warm enough when the sun went behind the clouds and cool enough when the sun was beating down on us.
Today being a Saturday, there was a large about of bass boat traffic on the river. They all blast around at 40 mph, driving like they are late for the birth of their first child. They seem to have no regard for the smaller, slower paddler and consistently sped past at top speed, many times getting within 50 - 75 feet from us. Not much we can do but ride it out.
The final 8 miles of the day I was struck buy the similarities of the shoreline here with that of the Atchafalaya river in lower Louisiana. Vast marshland, similar trees and virtually no place to camp. For the most part today, the wind was light and variable.
Louisiana like shoreline
Around river mile 506, 17 miles into our day, we started keeping on eye out for a place to camp. With the above mentioned shoreline we just didn’t see anything that was very appealing. We almost gave in a accepted a sub par site, but decided to keep going. I knew there was a TVA boat ramp at mile 499, but though there was no way we’d have to go that far to find a site. Well, not only DID we have to go that far, the TVA ramp was on the far side of the river from where we were. After over 8 hours in our boats, we landed on a gravel beach adjacent to the ramp. The tent placement wasn’t ideal, but we were in a clean grassy spot, with easy access to the boat ramp for us to launch in the morning.
Making the site home for the night
We are now two days away from Chattanooga. We plan to paddle more that halfway tomorrow to allow us time in town to upgrade our sleeping bags, resupply on food and Bourbon and experience the craft beer and restaurant scene in this most southeast of Tennessee cities.
As I write this, the sun is setting over my shoulder, we are enjoying our third campfire in a row and we are the last ones left here. Looking forward to a peaceful night.
Perfect end to a great day on the river
4 comments:
Do you have a camping spot already chosen when you are near Chattanooga? Have some suggestions, as well as dining too. Rock/Creek is close to the river at 2 locations, depending on what supplies you need to purchase.
Is there a way to see where you are on a map ? Maybe GPS tracking. We are jealous
Hi Buck. We are camped on Pinky’s Point on TVA land after an unfortunate experience at the state park, see todays Blog
Hi Ken,
We do not have live tracking. Until now, there was not enough interest in our previous Mississippi River trip. The daily blog is the best I can do.
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