Sunday, October 30, 2011

Mississippi River Day 68 (Chouteau Island, 1162 miles)

Today started off bad and got worse.

Since I was already in the channel by Maple Island, I decided to stay in the back channel and go behind the rather long island. However, about 2 miles into the channel, the entire channel was closed off with sand, for about a mile. I would have to either portage or go back 2 miles. Very annoying. I decided to go back to the main channel.

By the time I got back to where I started the day off, the wind was blowing pretty good. A few more miles and there were barges everywhere, which just made the wind worse.

I pulled off the river and waited a few hours, about a mile upriver from the confluence with the Missouri River. I actually ended up walking down to the confluence to see how the river looked. Fortunately the Missouri River was flowing along pretty well, which gives me high hopes for an increase in current.

Towards evening I set off again, and met a guy along the shoreline. Kevin had apparently been wanting to do a trip like this, but never got the chance. We talked for a bit, and I was able to find out more about the river just south, in the St. Louis area, which was coming up soon.

I made a few more miles before it got dark, and I found a spot to camp. Not a very nice one, but decent enough as the sun was setting.

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