Mississippi River Day 39 (Johnson Island, 637 miles)

It was a cold night last night. My thermometer got down to 38 degrees in my hammock. Luckily the blanket that I picked up works quite well, so I can hold off on a new sleeping bag for a bit longer.

Last night I was visited by aliens just after dark. Or so it seemed. I was on an island just upstream of the lock. Right after I went to bed a bright light repeatedly shone pretty much right at my hammock. Turns out that the barges have bright spotlights, and tend to focus on the islands that they have to avoid. Also, apparently the barges can run most of the night, weather permitting.

I hit the first lock at 3 miles in, and I was bundled up with all my layers on. Later when I hit the next lock, at mile 13 I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. An interesting day of weather. At the second lock I was a bit rushed. There were other boaters who were going through, and I ended up coming up behind them a bit late. I was paddling hard, trying to get into the lock, but the gates started closing so I backed off to wait for the next one. Fortunately the lock tenders noticed me, and re-opened the gates to let me in, rather than have me wait, which was nice of them.

I stopped for lunch on a nice sandy beach area, which had obviously been used for camping by a lot of other people. Towars the end of the day the wind picked up, but I found a nice sheltered spot on the inside of Johnson Island that was completely calm. The water cuts through the island, making it actually 2 separate islands, and I ended up camping on the inner section of the river between the two.