Days 49 & 50 - Hannibal and Headwinds

This will truly be a shorter post, as I have a couple of big-mile days between me and St. Louis, if I am to arrive there in August! And most of the upcoming days look like headwinds…

Day 49: Hannibal, MO → Hannibal, MO

Date: August 26th, 2022

URM 309 → URM 309

Distance today: 0 miles

River Time: 0 hours

Countdown to St. Louis: 129 miles

I spent the day enjoying the quaint small town of Hannibal, Missouri. It is the birthplace of Mark Twain and holds many inspirations for his novels. Nowadays, almost everywhere you look something is Mark Twain or Huck Finn themed.

Since it’s a rest day, I will simply leave a few photos here:

1872 cartoon of Mark Twain riding a jumping frog, based on one of his early short stories

Day 50: Hannibal, MO → Gosline Island

Date: August 27th, 2022

URM 309 → URM 281

Distance today: 28 miles

River Time: 10 hours

Countdown to St. Louis: 101 miles

Today I woke up feeling refreshed after a day off. River Angel Andrew drove me to the marina, and I was on the water by 7am!

The theme of the day was headwinds. I was battling them all day, with only a few respites in backchannels. They were those middle-ground type headwinds: not too strong that I had to call it quits, but strong enough to make me feel it and work for it all day. 29 miles felt like a chore.

I am right near the town of Louisiana, Missouri, on a beautiful sandbar. When I arrived, a party in a motorboat immediately offered me a couple cold beers. That hit the spot after a long day. Anything cold feels great these days.

Here are a few photos from the day:

Paddling out from Hannibal at dawn (Photo credit to Andrew the River Angel!)

Loading a barge container in the early morning

A nice backchannel with some cover from the wind. And extremely shallow water. I need to clean my boat.

A sunken barge container

My campsite on Gosline Island tonight

River Log Day 50

305 - Harris Island: LBD Good sandbar on head of island

299.5 - Tylor Island: LBD Good sand on head of island

289.2 - N. Fritz Island: Sandbar at very tip of island. No shade. Popular with locals

284.5: LBD Rest area near pipeline crossing with mowed grass and decent beach to pull up on. Adjacent to boat ramp.

281 - Gosline Island: Very nice sandbar above Gosline Island. On backchannel side.