Mississippi River Day 25 (Baxter Canoe Campsite, 358 miles)

This morning was cold and windy, but I got an early start, which helped out. I had tried to contact a few hosts from couchsurfing about staying the night in Brainerd, so I was hopeful about getting in to town. Even still, with all the wind it took me until 3:00 to get in to town, and that was only 15 miles into the day. I stopped briefly at the library to check emails about the couchsurfing, but no luck. One host was traveling and not home, and the other didn't respond. Better luck next time. The library was closing shortly, so I didn't have time to update any journals or anything. I stopped briefly at Family Dollar for a quick resupply, and got back on the river.

I stopped at a park just outside of town for the wind to die down, and met two hunters getting the boat into the water. Apparently they hunt deer on the islands in the river, and they were just heading out to wait for dusk. They mentioned that it was supposed to rain later tonight and tomorrow, so I wanted to find a good campsite to stay dry in.

When I got to the actual Baxter campsite there was very loud music playing from somewhere nearby. I stopped to talk to a couple that was taking a walk in the campsite, and then kept going, looking for somewhere quieter. I went an extra mile or two, and was still able to hear them faintly. It was getting dark by then, so I had to stop anyway. Luckily the water noise drowned most of it out, so it wasn't a problem, and I found a good campsite to stay dry in for the coming storms.