Day 60 Mississippi River
I woke up at Richfield in the darkness of early morning. After a great nights sleep and a day off the river I planned to get my first sunrise paddle of the trip in. I used the gator that Dennis had left me to load up all my gear (including freshly washed clothes and refilled water) and drive it down to the waterfront where my boat was tied up.
When all was said and done I pushed off into the Miss around 6:20am. As darkness worked its way into dawn a cloudy sky and numerous Islands on the eastern shore stole what I was hoping to be a memorable sunrise. Rather than an orange haze painting the sky, the sun decided to work its way over the tree tops while hiding behind cloud cover, only to emerge hours later overhead.
Clouds covered the sky throughout the day, joined at times by a significant headwind which caused rolling waves on and off again.
Sometime around noon I passed the confluence of the Illinois river. The stretch following the confluence was beautiful and busy. Large rock bluffs protruded from the eastern bank, intermingled with fall tress turning red, orange and a few still green. A well trafficked road followed the edge while personal boats filled with Saturday cruisers continually passed by. I also passed two ferries carrying what looked to be about 10 vehicles at a time across the river.
An hour or so before sunset I reached my destination, Lewis and Clark Park, at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi. This was the location that Lewis and Clark set off from on their journey up the Missouri in hopes of reaching the Pacific Ocean. For me, it also marked a notable location. Lake Kampeska, the lake I'm lucky enough to live on at my home in South Dakota, feeds into the Big Sioux River, which in turn dumps into the Missouri near Sioux City, Iowa. This confluence then, means that I am now paddling my home water. Pretty cool. I had a similar thought process when I passed the confluence of the Rock River near the Quad Cities. The river I grew up fishing and hunting for submerged golf balls and frisbee golf disks on, the Kishwakee River in DeKalb, IL, feeds into the Rock, which in turn meets the Miss.
At Lewis and Clark Park I relaxed and unpacked all my gear. An old high school friend, Hannah, and her husband John, had plans to pick me up from the park later that evening. As I enjoyed the night a cop cruised by on two separate occasions. He stopped each time to chat and check out my situation. Knowing that St. Louis has some tough parts of town I asked him if this was an OK spot to hang out after dark.
"The only issues we've had down here are skunks"
I laughed. I can deal with skunks.
Hannah and John arrived a few hours later after returning to St. Louis from out of town. The three of us loaded up Hannah's car and worked back toward their apartment in the Central West End. It had been 6 or 7 years since Hannah and I had seen each other. We spent the evening telling old stories and catching up.
Solid day and a great night. Thankful and glad that Hannah and John went out of their way after a day of travel to pick me up and let me crash at their place. Friends are the best.