Mississippi River Day 5 (Iron Bridge Camp, 53.8 miles)

Today was another short day, I had planned on a long day (24 miles), but the river was against me, and I'm in no rush. Most of today was going through wetland areas, full of wild rice, grass, and cattails. Iron Bridge campsite is on the border of civilization. Across the river I can see a farmhouse, but this side is all wooded. The shelter is on the top of a hill facing west, so the fading sunlight over the wetlands was pretty nice.

On the way here I got lost a few times. The maps caution that large portions of bog can break free and disguise the channel. That must have happened a few times, since I was forced to cut across a few sections of plants, where the current was flowing underneath them. While I was at the shelter I saw another canoer head upstream. I shouted to him, but he didnt notice me at all. Then a few hours later he was headed downstream, and this time he waved to me.

With these short days I have managed to get a lot of reading done, which is really nice. It is one thing that I really missed most of the time while hiking. The kindle is defitinly one of my better purchases.