Day 9 on the Mississippi River

August 30, 2021

Monday

From Iron Bridge campsite to the home of Barry Lyons

We had company last night. Around 7:00 pm a paddler came into the landing at Iron Bridge campsite from the bogs. He was wet and muddy all over, and covered in wild rice…and so was his kayak. He was shivering and looked exhausted.

I asked his name.

He said: “I go by Fireman”.

He didn’t seem to want to talk. He did say he had been planning on hitting the SOS button on his tracker if he didn’t get to Iron Bridge campsite before dark.

I asked him where he left from that morning.

He said: “I left Coffee Pot at 6:30”.

That took us 3 days.

I think he said he was from San Diego. He sat under a tree and ate something, made a phone call, and put up his tent. He hung his food on a tree and went to bed.

He left about 7:30. I was still in my hammock.

We left Iron Bridge campsite at 10:00. We fought grass in the morning and log jams in the afternoon. I only had two leeches today. Terry didn’t have any.

We made 10 miles.

As I write this I am in my hammock in Barry Lyons’ back yard. Barry is a River Angel. He is not home, but he invited us to stay here anyway and get water, charge our phones, and use his WiFi from his patio. Thank you so much Barry!

Janet Rith stays in touch with us every day and helps us connect with other angels.

Terry ordered pizza from Dave’s Pizza. We got the house special on thin crust. Turns out Terry and I both like thin and crispy crust on our pizza.

We found that you stay a lot warmer if you put your air mattress in the hammock.