The daily paddling is becoming more and more about putting on mileage and less about enjoying what the river has to offer in the way of towns and shorelines. The river is now so wide and they’re so few towns that my enjoyment comes from passing river barges, dreaming about living on a sandbar and wondering what my stay for the evening will look like. With less than 600 miles to go I find myself slowly getting back into the thought process of work, traffic & people. As Americans we are fighting for a dream that we hope is around the corner at some point, instead of living in the day and living in the moment appreciating what we already have. On this trip, I have thought about how to be a little more humble and be a little more thankful for all of the people, places and things in my life that have helped get me this far and on the water today! The river is much like life, sometimes incredibly generous and sometimes absolutely unforgiving.
I made a quick stop at two random river houses, only to find the first one a little bit terrifying… possibly a movie set for some horrible movie lol. The second home, a walking distance away had someone standing at the window waving at me so I figured that was a much better spot to get water. As I approached I realized that it was a sticker on the glass and that someone had a great sense of humor. I quickly filled that my water bag and headed back onto the water lol
I did a quick google search for islands, boat ramps and city parks for a spot to camp for the night. The only things I saw within 10 miles was a boat ramp that was absolutely empty of all signs of life. It was a simple 2 lane road with fallen tree debris and little sign of recent public use. A ultra secluded spot with a nice view of the river. I sent my tent up, started drying everything off and setting up dinner for the night. Just before sunset is when several cars pulled up clearly full of meth heads. The parked on the far side of the ramp and left me alone, I left them alone. Just as full darkness set in I settled into my tent with everything put away, secured for the evening. A random single car drove up music way too loud and decided to park 30 feet from my tent with the headlights shining directly into my tent. After about 10 minutes I decided I had to get out and address the situation. I’m assuming they were trying to figure out if anybody was there and whether they could steal my kayak or not. I could tell it was 2 people, man and woman…. Not young kids. I grabbed my flashlight and knife and walked to the side of the headlights and quickly to the side window just like a police officer with flashlight blinding the passengers who came to the quick realization i’m in the mood to have methheads shine headlights inside my tent while I was trying to relax. After a very short conversation in the typical way I handle things like this they decided for their safety it was best to leave.
I slept like a baby after that!
