Mississippi River Day 20 (Willow River camp, 272 miles)

Last night I was woken up in the middle of the night by some sort of canine. I'm not sure if it was a wolf or a coyote, or maybe just a wild dog. Something walked pretty close to my hammock, and then scared itself off. It was a bright full moon, so I was able to see some of it running away.

Once I got on the river, I hit the town of Palisade five miles into the day. It was a nice small town, with two different diners. I chose the "old Palisade Cafe" which a lady had told me had large portions. Perfect for an active hiker/paddler like me. I decided on pancakes, because I had been having a craving for them for a few days, and sat to type some journals up, while charging electronics.

Once I got back on the river it was very windy. Some of the gusts even blew me into the banks of the river, which got pretty annoying. I stopped at Willow River camp to wait for the wind to die down, but it kept going all evening. I got a fire going pretty easily, and had a nice night.

Once good thing did happen to me from the wind. I ended up getting blown sideways into a bunch of driftwood. While I was waiting for the gusts to die out, I ended up finding a rubby ducky floating in the wood. He's going to be my new mascot for the trip. I'm also starting to see more trash washed up on the banks, including lumber and one very old trashed car. A bit weird.