Day 95 on the Mississippi River

Day 95

September 9, 2022

Friday

LRM 638

1657 miles completed

I have been spelling Joseph’s  name wrong. It is really spelled Solomon.

I paddled 7 miles today. (That does not include the one mile I paddled upstream against a strong current)

I woke up at 5:30. I felt great. I sat in my camp chair and looked at the stars. From 530 till 550 I counted eight satellites. Then the stars begin to dim and the eastern sky started brightening.

Today is a rest day. I plan to camp on island number 62 with Joseph Solomon and his group. That’s only 7 miles away. So I sat in my chair and ate my breakfast and didn’t get In a hurry. I played Wordle and Quordle and Octordle, and won all three.

I relaxed and enjoyed sitting on the sandy beach by the water.

I got loaded up and back on the water around 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock. I let the current and the wind carry me down the river.

When I met up with Joe‘s group they had stopped on the beach and I joined them. Joe told me that they hadn’t reached their final destination. I had come too far. I had already passed the place they were supposed to camp. They were paddling upstream and they had two more miles to go. I turned around and paddled with them for about a mile. Then I gave up and stopped. That’s where I camped. They continued another mile.

I saw a 5 gallon bucket on the beach. I filled it with sand, pulled my kayak out of the water and tied my kayak to the bucket. Good thing I did!

We had a really bad thunderstorm. I’ve had a couple of close calls with thunderstorms in the past week but this one was a direct hit. I got inside my tent to hold it down so it wouldn’t blow away. It almost blew away anyway with me in it. The tent took some damage. I’m going to have to do some sewing. I had three really close lightning strikes. It was a little scary. The tent collapsed, the rain fly was torn off, and after the storm I was lying in two inches of water.

After the storm when I got out of the tent I saw that my Kayak was back in the water and the rope tied to the bucket was stretched tight.

Joe invited me for dinner. So, I put on dry clothes and around six I walked a mile up the beach to where he was camped. I met River. River is the other guide with Joe. River was cooking tortellini and meatballs.

I met the other six campers. They are yoga enthusiasts. When I got there they were doing yoga out by the river on the beach.

I had dinner with the yoga group.

• Sharon and Jim Baily, from Memphis

• Tom and Leslie Dinella

• Aaron Mulligan (I don’t remember where)

• Susan Reddell from Magnolia, Arkansas

They were all healthy looking, trim and fit. We had good friendly conversation with laughs. I really enjoyed meeting them.

I walked the mile back to my tent in the dark. There was a harvest moon, but it was so cloudy It was very dark. My head lamp made everything look different. I couldn’t tell exactly where I was or how far I had been. I just followed the beach and eventually there was my tent and kayak, right where I left them.