Alyssum Pohl: Writing & Professional Training Portfolio
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Day 44: Lake Pepin Part 2

8/18/2015

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Hot and still.
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PictureThink I'll take the Atchafalaya route. "It's where the Mississippi River wants to go" if it weren't engineered to be routed through Baton Rouge and New Orleans for industry."
Sunday, I talked with Justin about the lower Mississippi.  We pored over his maps and I got a bunch of great tips for the rest of the way, like the suggestion to take the Atchafalaya River rather than going through "Cancer Alley" (the industrial, dangerous stretch from Baton Rouge, past New Orleans, to the gulf).  "You still have a long way to go!" he said.  I know, I know! So, I got my earliest start yet--8:15am to try and get most of Lake Pepin under my belt before the wind picked up.  Instead, there was no wind at all, and I was paddling with no current, and no wind to help me the whole day.  It was hot and quite a slog.  The recreational boats weren't quite as bad as it was Sunday.  Half way through the day, I had to take off my full spray skirt because the heat building up under the neoprene was too much for me to handle.  I felt like I couldn't drink enough water.  I felt like I just wanted to fall sleep because I was so hot.  Eventually, I made it to the end of the Lake, and was pleased to see the water clear up significantly.  I made it to an island downstream of Wabasha, where I camped just in front of a large mansion.  The contrast of my tiny tent with the mansion made me giggle. My favorite part of the day was setting up camp in a leisurely manner, enjoying the fact that mosquitos are no where near as prevalent.  Many times, these days, the mosquitos are absent until dark.  I love not having to rush setting up camp, not having to hold my breath and hop into my tent as fast as possible.  It’s nice to arrive on a beach, set up camp, walk around and explore the waterline a bit before I make dinner.  It’s nice to make dinner without having to stay zipped into my tent between stirring my food.  

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At the exit of Lake Pepin. Just a little more to go.
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Wabasha
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Dredged sand dune across from my campsite.
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My little tent juxtaposed against the background of a grand chalet.
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Health Check Week 6 & 7

8/18/2015

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A natural anti-inflammatory that works GREAT for my joint pain.
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Raccoon sunburn
  • Left hip bursitis is worse still.  Lots of pain.
  • I stopped taking ibuprofen and started taking turmeric and vitamin B complex in the twin cities, and have noticed a HUGE difference in how much less my hand, wrist and elbow joints hurt in the morning.  They're relaxed enough that I wake up and don't feel like they were run over by a truck. It makes waking up much easier.  The inflammation has gone down enough that I can manipulate my hands with ease, and can pop my joints to relieve tension again.
  • A hornet stung my neck in Winona--sore neck for a few days.
  • Trigger finger in both middle fingers still.
  • Right and now left forearm skin on thumb side has lost feeling
  • Synovial cyst on the base phalange of my right 3rd finger from overuse of the joint.
  • Sun poisoning--I've had it 3 more times in the past couple weeks (small heat blisters).
  • Calves and glutes ache from rudder pedal-using.
  • Blisters on my feet from rubbing against the kayak.
  • I feel strong in my muscles.  But sometimes I get charley horses so bad that I have to stop and wince and massage my arms or legs for a little while. 
  • Had a sore throat and was dizzy for a couple days.  
  • Diet: LOVING having a stove.  I don't always use it, but it's been great when I want warm food or tea.  Especially wonderful while I was sick. 
  • Mentally: starting to have anxiety dreams.   Still enjoying the river, but now having to meditate to calm myself sometimes.  I chose "Paddle On" as my mantra for a reason!
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Day 43: Lake Pepin Part 1

8/17/2015

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Point No Point is so curved, you think you're never going to get around it.
Lake Pepin is a naturally dammed lake.  That is, the Chippewa River which joins the Mississippi River just below Lake Pepin has a lot of silt and sand that it deposits at the confluence.  Historically, the sand and silt created a dam, causing the water behind it to pool, creating 4-mile-across, 23-mile-long Lake Pepin.  

It being Saturday, and getting ready to cross Lake Pepin, I knew I'd be in for a lot of recreational boat traffic.  I made myself some Kukicha twig tea as a calming element to combat the rising tension I felt even as I tried to re-pack my boat and had 13 motor boats zoom past, their wakes knocking huge waves into my boat, spilling water into my cockpit.  There's a saying:
People who move with paddles are paddlers,
People who move with sails are sailors,
People who move with motors are maniacs.

I understand how fun it is to go fast on the water, but boating courtesy rules say that boats without motors have the right of way, and that motorists need to pass such boats with no wake.  Less than 1% of all motorists actually know or follow this rule.  In addition to wakes causing erosion damage, when I'm in my boat, wakes that swamp my boat endanger my very life!  I wore my full spray skirt today for that reason.  Every time a motor boat zooms past, leaving a tall wake behind it, I have to alter my course, in order to go perpendicularly over the waves until they pass, so it also slows me down quite a bit.  

I was paddling against the wind, getting ready to enter Lake Pepin, silently cursing all the inconsiderate motor boats, drinking my tea to calm my nerves, when a pontoon boat headed right for me actually slowed down.  "Finally!" I thought, "Someone who understands and follows the rules."  Just then, I hear, "Alyssum!" from the pontoon.  It's Justin Staker, one of the paddlers I met the weekend before in St. Paul.  He's visiting his parents' house in Frontenac, a town on Lake Pepin, for the weekend.  He pulled up, said hello, introduced me to his family, offered a place to refuel and rest if I needed it.  I thanked him but said I was going to try and make it all the way across Lake Pepin.  He gave me some pointers, and pulled away.  

The wind was against me, and I felt myself pulling harder than I ever have to.  If I stopped paddling, the wind pushed me backward, so I was making terrible time.  After a couple hours of hard paddling, I decided I should probably take Justin up on his offer afterall, and began to look forward to a rest.  I knew I just had to get around Point No Point, and then I'd be close to my day's destination.  As I paddled and paddled and paddled, I realized why it was called Point No Point.  It looks like you're coming up on a point, but as you round the bend, the land moves in a perfect curve so that it never looks like you're making any progress at all.  It took an eternity.  In actuality, it took me a full 6 hours to get just 8 miles, I was moving so slowly.  
Once I got to Justin's parents' place (Lynne and Jim), I was greeted by a sweet couple dogs, the whole family, and a sign hanging that read, "SANDY FEET WELCOME."  You could tell they had taken in paddlers in the past, and it definitely made me feel less self-conscious about my dirty/sandy state.  A shower was my first stop, YAY.

After a visit with Jim and Lynne, I sat in the porch to do some interneting, and Justin's young niece, Flannery, came over and said, "Are you the same woman we saw earlier in the kayak?"  I affirmed.  "You look....different," she stated flatly.  I laughed, and confirmed, "Yes, I'm clean!"  She added, "also you don't have your life jacket and stuff on."  

A great joy is that I plugged my non-working (for 2.5 days) phone, and after a couple hours, the battery charged enough for the charging LED light to come on--PHEW!  It was just the battery!  I couldn't be happier.  It's little things like this that make River Angels so amazing--if I hadn't had a place to just relax and plug in my electronics, and let it sit for a while I would have gone without a phone for a lot longer and maybe would have tried to buy a new one.  THANK YOU Jim and Lynne!

Later in the evening, their next door neighbors had a pot-luck, which was great fun.  Delicious food, fun chatting to folks about my journey and learning about the local news.  I slept on the couch out on the porch; it's always nice not to have to set up and take down my tent.  
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Juvenile bald eagle. They're everywhere, and often cry plaintively and petulantly. "MOM! BUT I DON'T WANT TO CATCH MY OWN FOOOOOOOD"
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Wind against me.
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Point no Point on the right.
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Jim and Lynne's place. A welcome respite, THANK YOU!!!
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Potluck next door. I'm going to think this happens every night there.
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Things I’m grateful I brought

8/17/2015

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Happy with my hat!
I’m not affiliated with any of these items, nor am I being paid to review them.  I just like these things a bunch.

  • Pillow
  • Exped air mattress and jet stream pump sack for comfortable sleep every night
  • Rashguard for sun protection
  • Paddle gloves for sun protection and decreased blistering
  • Go pro
  • Pool noodle on paddle for softer and wider grip
  • Camel back for easy access water throughout the day
  • Pink Himalayan salt—it’s the little luxuries
  • Collapsible bowl
  • Goal Zero solar charger and battery pack
  • MY HAT
  • Day spray skirt—keeps the sun off my legs, keeps little waves from overtopping the cockpit, has a zippered pouch for all my go-to items: GPS, VHF radio, maps, data collecting booklet, ipod, phone, gum, go pro
  • Pelican case for my camera (and sometimes my phone)

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What I’d Do Differently/ Lessons Learned

8/17/2015

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Finally, some respite for my sore bum? A new foam seat pad for my seat.
  • Always keep maps in waterproof bags
  • Check stove before leaving
  • TWO spoons: one for eating peanut butter during the day, one with my fork for dinner/breakfast
  • Re-seal my tent before I left
  • Bring less clothing (This is all I need--camp clothes: hoodie, sweatpants, long sleeve tee, thick socks, nightgown; paddling clothes: tee, rashguard, 3 pairs underwear, pants, capris; and nice/laundry day clothes: skirt, tee)
  • Slightly larger phone dry bag.  I use my phone all the time.  When it’s in the dry bag, it’s possible but difficult to read the screen, and I can’t use the camera at all.  Since I use it outside the bag in camp, and like to take pics with it regularly, I find I’m always fiddling to get it in or out of the bag.  It’s a tight fit, so it’s annoying.  If it were just a bit bigger, sliding it in and out would be easier. I have taken to putting it in a pelican case some days, for easier access, but then I have to be SUPER careful not to drop it or get it wet.
  • Always keep PFD, hat, sunglasses, gloves INSIDE the cockpit at night or tie them down really well (so they don’t blow away)
  • Don’t bring rain pants—when it rains, I get wet no matter what 
  • Foam seat pad
  • Bring a couple lightweight reusable grocery bags—they’re great for carrying things from the boat to the tent
  • Bring a thermacell for mosquito control during the first month
  • Bring a good pair of shoes instead of 2 crappy pairs
  • Synthetic sleeping bag instead of down? Not sure.  Actually been fairly impressed with how well the down dries out.
  • Make sure GPS isn’t just waterproof, but also floats
  • Print out the lower Mississippi river maps and spiral bound them

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Erosion

8/17/2015

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These incredible maps of the Mississippi River were created in 1944 by Cartographer Harold Fisk. In great detail he mapped the twisting and changing path of the river over time in these swirling rainbow colours.
The Mississippi River does not follow a static path (or at least it didn't before it was engineered to follow the same path).  With floods, the alluvial plain of the river, changes course, creating oxbows and loops, islands, and straightaways.  Erosion is a natural phenomenon.  

However, the wakes from speed boats can increase erosion by truly mindblowing amounts.  For instance, boating for an hour at 20 mph erodes 50 square feet (Boatwakes.org).  The waves caused by boats can be as large as storm-induced waves, but have a much greater effect due to the increased number of boats on the water, and their proximity to shore (WI DNR, 2000).  This erosion causes the water to be more turbid, making shoreline habitat less desirable for many fish species.  This turbidity also makes it more difficult for submerged plants to have enough light for photosynthesis.  This decreases the dissolved oxygen in the water, making it less desirable for fish to breathe in.  Controlling such erosion can be very costly for those who depend on the riverbanks for recreation (fishing, swimming, etc), or those who have buildings on this type of property.  
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Here's how it starts: trees on the edge of islands suffer erosion, so their roots become exposed.
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Eventually, the roots are so exposed that the wind or current overtakes the strength of the roots , and the tree falls over. Sometimes they manage to stay alive, but they often become floating tree logs.
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Even huge trees suffer the consequence of this erosion. Here, an enormous set of roots.
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Day 42: Redwing

8/17/2015

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Redwing is a cool town to pull into, with its tee-pee sculpture (not shown), its grain elevators, tall bluff and bustling river traffic.
I paddled 18 miles, from 8 miles below Prescott to another sandy bar a few miles below Red Wing. The thunderstorms wailed through camp last night, strobing almost continuously, making sleep fitful.  I did get dripped on a few times from the apex of my tent, where a bunch of seams come together (I need to re-seam seal that), but the re-waterproofing job I did on the rain fly did a great job and kept things pretty dry.  Sand, on the other hand…the rain drops down and sand flies up.  Sand is everywhere.  I wish I had a dust-buster to de-sand my tent.  As things dried, I helped myself to some fresh wild grapes. 

My phone wasn't working yesterday, and I hoped it was just my charging cord that was faulty.  When I pulled into Redwing, I was looking forward to using the municipal dock, but when I got there, it was festooned with "don't dock here this weekend" posters.  Since I had already passed the marina, and wasn't interested in paddling upstream, I made do by pulling over to the riprap, and precariously exiting my boat on the steep rock boulders, and locking it to a boulder that I could put my lock cable around.  A man from Texas who was in Redwing for work greeted me as I unloaded.  He was jovial and aghast at my journey.  Super nice guy, who wished me well.  I pulled my empty waterbottles, my backpack with all my technology, my trash, and a bag for groceries ashore.  I found that the lobby of the St. James hotel had wifi, and was able to do some work, fill my water bottles, dispose of my teeny bag of trash.  I shyly approached the woman at the desk, explaining my situation and wondering if she happened to have a micro-USB cable to try and charge my phone to see if the problem was just the cord.  More than willing to oblige, she offered me a cord, and we sat and chatted as I waited to see if my phone would charge.  She confirmed that Redwing was an artsy little town and told me about some of the art festivals they have there.  My phone didn't seem to be charging, so I gave up my goal to replace the cord while in town, and went instead in search of fresh fruit and veggies.  I'd deal with my phone some other way, some other day.  I found some chilled grapes--much cooler, meaty and less seedy than their wild cousins this morning.  But also less flavorful. 

I had a tip to stop at the Harbor Bar across the channel in Redwing, as they're friendly to paddlers, but it seemed pretty rowdy and I was looking forward to another quiet evening.  I found a little spit of sand, and set up camp just in time to snap some nice photos of the setting sun. Even on islands like this, where things look pristine, I still find bottle caps, single-use tooth floss things, gloves, etc. 

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Single barge with tow boat.
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Island dunes created from dredged sand
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Moving the sand from the barge (on the other side of the island) to the top of the tall dune.
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The eagles love tall, dead trees from which to observe.
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Bald eagles everywhere. I often wish I had a good zoom lens for better photos of all the birds.
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Power plant steam
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Eagles flying over the lock
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Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but it did seem strange to me that there was a fire hydrant not 20 feet from the edge of a river. Surely river water would be preferable to city water for putting out a fire? Does the fire department not have a pump available for using the river?
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My new favorite dinner meal: Trader Joe's harvest grain mix and a Tasty Bite packet of whatever pre-made Indian fare. (Channa masala here)
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Fishing line everywhere
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Thick rope tangled in root stump. Beautiful, but still shouldn't be there.
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Day 41: Under the literal weather

8/17/2015

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Listening to the weather forecast on my VHF radio...thunderstorms headed my way.
I woke up with that same tickle in my throat, but was determined to make some distance since I had rested and only paddled 4 miles in the past 2 days.  The going was slow because the wind was against me.  The sky was overcast, and I couldn’t get my phone to charge.  I listened to the radio, and severe thunderstorms and possible hail were forecast for my area.  So when it started to sprinkle, I opted to pull over at the first reasonable beach to camp and wait out the weather.  I was bleary headed and dizzy.  I set up my tent, and fell asleep.  It wasn’t until I woke up that I realized I actually was sick.  The rest of the day and night, I just slept and woke up, made some miso soup, slept, woke up to crazy thunder storms, slept, bleh.  

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Mottled sky threatens
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Railroad across the river
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Makes for a noisy sleep
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Press in Winona

8/16/2015

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Kim Schneider and Jacob Hilsabek of the Winona Daily News came to Chris and Kathy Carroll's place to interview me the other morning.  They asked great questions, and I thought they did such a great job of capturing my spirit and goals.  It made front page news the next morning.  

Winona Daily News, August 13, 2015
Rolling River Science Lab: Woman Kayaking Mississippi to Collect Pollution 


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Day 38: Goodbye to Nick, and later a thrill!

8/11/2015

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Near Hastings, MN; Wisconsin is in sight! I have state options now!
Nick and I paddled to the levee where we met Brad and Jenny and Miles, their sheltie.  We enjoyed a quick little chocolate snack (thanks Ben!) in celebration of Nick getting through the weekend with me.  Brad said, “Well, are you going to keep going?” giving me the option to bail if I wanted to.  I said yes, and he called me a river rat and Jenny said she’d be thinking of me every day.  AGAIN.  I love those two, and their quick wits.
I thanked Brad and Jenny for EVERYTHING and hugged Nick goodbye and headed back to paddling.

I took a ‘short cut’ behind an island, which turned out to be a peninsula.  By the time I got to the dead end, I’d gone a half-mile out of my way.  So, I took my own advice from yesterday, and took a little break, snapping pictures of the private air-strip where I had found myself.  On the paddle out, my mom called, and I talked with her awhile. I mentioned a flock of seagulls ahead, and then started wailing like a bad ghost impression.  She thought I was imitating seagulls, but what had actually happened was this:  A fast-moving, winding snake swimming across the river happened upon my boat, and was very determined not to let my boat be an obstacle. She tried to slither onto my boat and as I wailed, I used my paddle to redirect her.  She fell in the water, and continued to head over my boat, this time closer to me and all the things I have lashed to my deck.  Still wailing, I used my paddle again, and she had one more go of it before I succeeded in prompting her to go around the front of my boat instead of onto it.  It was thrilling!  The snake continued like nothing had happened, but after it was about 20 feet from me, I saw it lift its head and look back at me like, “what was THAT all about!?”  I identified it as a ribbon snake that night—non-poisonous, fast moving, long and comfortable in the water. After that excitement, I listened to the first couple chapters of A Little Princess before my ipod ran out of energy and I was set back to entertaining myself by watching the bald eagles and kingfishers.

Later in the day, I was paddling through more wild spots, which opened up into broad lakes.  I wished Nick could have joined me for this part—it was more similar to what I’d experienced so far. 

I locked through Lock #2, and camped near a channel marker just below Hastings.  A father and son paddled by in their tandem hobie kayak and offered help in any way they could, and I fell asleep.

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The "island" that turned out to be a private air strip peninsula. Guess I'll turn back around now.
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Photo not mine, but it looked just like this headed straight for my boat! his-handiwork.blogspot.com
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It lifted its head just like this to look around at me after the ordeal. http://www.arkive.org/western-ribbon-snake/thamnophis-proximus/image-G110180.html
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    Alyssum Pohl is paddling the Mississippi River and documenting water quality and plastic waste along the way.

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