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.
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.
Single barge with tow boat.
 Island dunes created from dredged sand |  Moving the sand from the barge (on the other side of the island) to the top of the tall dune. |
The eagles love tall, dead trees from which to observe.
Bald eagles everywhere. I often wish I had a good zoom lens for better photos of all the birds.
Power plant steam
Eagles flying over the lock
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?
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)
Fishing line everywhere
Thick rope tangled in root stump. Beautiful, but still shouldn't be there.
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