I love the texture of this soft, hair-like grass, and its root system.
I only slept an hour last night before I woke up. I must have been subconsciously worried it would rain (I hadn’t put my rainfly on, and I had forgotten my solar panel on the deck of my kayak). I talked to a friend, scrounged for some more food, and went back to sleep after a couple hours.
I got an earlier start, but it still takes me 2 hrs from saying “okay, let’s move” to being in the boat, in the river, having taken my first water quality sampling. I’m sure it could be done faster, I just don’t know how. I think I probably get really sidetracked along the way but it’s hard to monitor myself.
I only had a 15 mile day, but it took me forever! I’m thinking that means I should probably rest in the next day or so. It was really windy on some parts, so that also slowed me down. For a good portion of the paddle, I heard lawn mowers. Not as enjoyable as the sounds of birds.
I notice that my back hatch gets wet sometimes even when the weather is fine and there are no crazy portages. I think it’s water from the cockpit…but where is that water coming from? I try to dry out all the hatches and the cockpit with my sponge every morning and night, and it’s hard to tell if the water is just hiding under my seat or something. I asked Jim Lewis how to tell if I had a cracked hull. He gave me some tips: empty the boat, turn it upside down, press on the middle, see what happens, dry it out, take it for a spit, see what happens. *sigh* When I arrived at Palisade tonight, I tried to dry everything out, and decided I’d start with checking to see if one of my water bottles leaks. It would be much better to have a leaky water bottle than a leaky kayak.
I got an earlier start, but it still takes me 2 hrs from saying “okay, let’s move” to being in the boat, in the river, having taken my first water quality sampling. I’m sure it could be done faster, I just don’t know how. I think I probably get really sidetracked along the way but it’s hard to monitor myself.
I only had a 15 mile day, but it took me forever! I’m thinking that means I should probably rest in the next day or so. It was really windy on some parts, so that also slowed me down. For a good portion of the paddle, I heard lawn mowers. Not as enjoyable as the sounds of birds.
I notice that my back hatch gets wet sometimes even when the weather is fine and there are no crazy portages. I think it’s water from the cockpit…but where is that water coming from? I try to dry out all the hatches and the cockpit with my sponge every morning and night, and it’s hard to tell if the water is just hiding under my seat or something. I asked Jim Lewis how to tell if I had a cracked hull. He gave me some tips: empty the boat, turn it upside down, press on the middle, see what happens, dry it out, take it for a spit, see what happens. *sigh* When I arrived at Palisade tonight, I tried to dry everything out, and decided I’d start with checking to see if one of my water bottles leaks. It would be much better to have a leaky water bottle than a leaky kayak.
The river will be muddy from now on, but it's still lovely.
Mile 254. More than 1/10th of the way there! Did you know the first 1/3 of the Mississippi is in Minnesota? Because it's so twisty.
I love the cloud formations I see!
It's still pretty wild, but occasionally I do pass through the back yards of houses. All sorts!
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