Day 35 Mississippi River
A slow morning made room for sleeping in, a few cups of coffee and some reading. After talking with my friend Marty from Winona about books and how I often struggle to dive into them he gave me some great advice. If you're laboring to get through a book, put it down and go on to a new one. With that in mind, Marty had left me one of his favorites, "Into Thin Air". Just a few pages in and I was already hooked.
The day called for a few thunderstorms and showers, but other than one small bout of rain I avoided the brunt of it. Paddling under a thick cloud cover I made my way to Lock and Dam 8. As I coasted up to the steel gates, a sign indicated that the pull cord used to ring the Lock Master and inform him a lock through was needed, was broken. It gave a number to call. Luckily I had battery on my phone, called up the lock master and was on my way through within a few minutes.
Around 4pm I arrived in La Crosse, WI. I had arraigned to meet up with John Sullivan, the fella who runs the Mississippi River Paddlers Facebook page, and a resource that I had used fairly extensively. The plan was to meet John on a beach across the river from town, have a quick meal, shoot the breeze and continue on.
As I pulled up to the beach at Pettibone park, John was standing on the shore snapping photos.
"Nice boat! Is that an Advantage (model name of a particular Wenonah canoe)? "
"Prism" I replied.
"Ohh fast boat"
As I got onshore John and I talked while he gave me a bacon cheese burger. Turns out John also has a Prism, his from 1998. He had put over 10,000 miles on the boat, paddling the entire Mississippi, Missouri, and the entirety of almost every state named river that dumps into the Miss (Wisconsin river, Minnesota River, etc. His final state named river yet to be traveled was the Arkansas).
After talking boats, rivers and telling stories of previous paddlers, I decided to take John up on his offer and stay at his place for the night. Despite a shorter day on the water it felt like the right decision.
After wrapping up grub and talk, I paddled across the river to meet him with his car at the La Crosse municipal marina. We locked up my boat, left most of the gear behind and made our way to Johns. After a shower and plugging in some electronics to charge we hit the grocery store (John and his wife needed to refuel). A dinner of pulled pork and Spotted Cow (I am in Wisconsin, after all) accompanied more stories of Johns previous paddling adventurous. Following dinner I was dead tired and hit the hay at 8pm.
Solid day, new connections and more stories to share. The Mighty Miss continues to give.
