Day 60 - Foggy Wild Miles
Day 60: Island No. 1, KY → Donaldson Point Island
Date: September 6th, 2022
LRM 948 → LRM 908
Distance today: 40 miles
River Time: 9 hours
Countdown to Memphis: 171 miles
I have started a new goal on the River which is Memphis. Why Memphis? Well for one thing, it will be my first real shower since Hannibal, MO! And for another it just helps to break the River into chunks, so as to not get overwhelmed at the raw distances.
I do not yet have a place secured for Memphis, because a few River Angels who are normally there are out of town! So if anyone knows someone in Memphis who would be down to host a filthy paddler for a day, please get in touch with me! Memphis has the Mud Island Marina, so I can store my boat there, no need to transport that.
UPDATE: I have several leads for contacts in Memphis who may be able to support me. Thank you so much for lending a hand!
Today I woke up to a thick fog that didn’t let up the entire day. I love the mist because it’s a break from the sun, which can be very harsh to paddlers, but on the other hand everything is damp now. You can’t win them all.
I was running very low on water so my first stop was to the Ingram Drydock. This is a facility that repairs barges and towboats. Ingram is one of if not the largest bulk shipper on the Mississippi. I see Ingram boats all the time out here.
This stretch is very remote in terms of services, so sometimes it’s necessary to get creative to find water and other necessities! Along the way I passed many tows going up and downriver, this stretch of the River immediately following the Ohio is very hectic as it is a spot many containers get resorted and re-racked to go up either the Ohio or the Mississippi, or cargoes get combined to go down the Mississippi.
At the docks, I was able to get squared away with water for my journey. There are some really nice people working there who assisted me. I was very out of place there as a paddler amongst all the industrial gear. Everyone was wearing hard hats and boots, and I sported a life jacket and sandals.
Heading onward, I was excited to get away from all the industry. I am now entering a section of “Wild Miles” of the Mississippi, from here to New Madrid, MO. A “Wild Miles” section of River is one with minimal industry, and more natural landscapes.
“What are the Wild Miles? Wild Miles are places where nature predominates and nothing is seen of mankind save passing tows (and other river traffic) and maybe a tiny hunting camp or a single fisherman buzzing by in a johnboat. These are places where the landscape is filled with giant islands bounded by endless mud banks & sandbars, where the river is overseen by big skies and where the sun sets uninterrupted by buildings or wires and where big river predominates with creative wild beauty, each high water results in shifting sand dunes and re-made sandbars. This is a floodplain valley where only deer & coyote tracks are seen along the sandbars and enormous flocks of shy birds like the White Pelican and Double Breasted Cormorant are comfortable enough to make landing for the night. These are places where it’s dark & quiet at night, where the stars fill the skies like brightly shining jewels poured out on a dark purple velvet blanket, almost as thick & vibrant as the night skies of the Great Plains or Rocky Mountains.”1
From River Gator
J-C, thanks so much for your daily accounting of the sights, sounds, feelings and effectively conveying the rhythm of The River. It brings a sense of connectedness to me, after living in Winona, LaCrosse, and LaCrescent for some 16 years, The River always meant so much to me and now being away from it for 17+ since, I get chances every now and then to bring my kids to catch a glimpse and hopefully get a sense of it’s beauty and connection to all things, hoping some semblance of its importance can be imparted onto them in such fleeting moments.
And to think you are at almost double the trip length when we met you at Lock #6 on your Day 32…..or was it 33……I certainly had a sense of the magnitude of your trip at that moment, but I’m only beginning to gain a sense of its magnificence as I read on and gain some perspective thru your experiences that I’m gleefully enjoying vicariously and for which I’m grateful.
The talk of Mud Island Marina made me realize you’ll be a mere ~1-mile south of a job site from many years ago, an old grain elevator at the north end of Wolf River Lagoon/Harbor up near the dead end and just east of harbor town in the industrial area. A place that aligns so much with your prose and accounting of so much industry along The River that shaped a nation but is fading away except for wonderful moments when someone like yourself takes notice and shares their experience with others, connectedness finds a way. Sadly I’m so far removed from the environmental work I did at that location that I have no local connections to reach out to when you arrive, but I’m confident The River in its grand connections to all things and especially its keepers like yourself, will find a way to get you in touch with an Angel. If it proves tough to find one I'd be happy to figure out how to get you a fabulous meal at Paulettes, just north of the marina in Harbor Town Square...a truly amazing culinary experience!
I eagerly await your next post, it’s been a wonderful evening read and a calming force that I’m grateful for, and I’m looking forward to what’s around the next bend. Thanks, sleep well and safe travels,
Jeremy
What been the hardest thing to do? What was hard in the beginning but it is easy now.