Mississippi River Day 47 (Jackson Island, 793 miles)

Today was a rollercoaster in several ways. I got an early start hoping for no wind. Luckily I got it to start off with, so I thought it was going to be a god day. 3 miles in I hit a lock, and had to wait an hour and a half for a barge to pass through before I could go through. Not making good use of an early start. By the time I got through the wind had picked up quite a bit, and was pushing me back. Another three miles and I hit town, where I was hoping to get a bit of food to last me another day. No such luck. I asked around, and there wasn't anything reasonable within walking distance, so I won't have food until town tomorrow. Not good.

After leaving town the boat traffic was crazy. At one point I looked up and down the river and counted 20 boats that I could see. I stayed out of the channel in shallower water, but they still caused quite a bit of wake, which bounced me all over the place. The power boats are especially bad, since they are big but still move really fast.

Due to all the bad conditions I took a break for the afternoon, only 9 miles into the day. By 5:00 the wind had died down, so I pushed on. I found a back channel, which cut out the pleasure boat traffic, which helped improve my mood. By dark the boat traffic had died out, and the moon was shining at full strength, so I pushed a few more hours. That way I can get into town early tomorrow, and not have to starve.

Looking back on today's maps I noticed that I crossed another state line today. Goodbye Wisconsis, hello Illinois. Not as exciting as the first line, since there was no sign and I didn't even notice.