Day 96 Mississippi River
I woke up with the sunrise as barges worked back and forth under an orange sky in the Port of Baton Rouge. Before pushing off for the day and leaving the capital of Louisiana behind I needed a water refill and food resupply.
I walked out from the forest I was camped in, trotted over the levy, and put my skateboard to the pavement. Following a cup of coffee and an egg, Swiss and ham croissant at PJ's coffee shop I located a small market downtown. With a backpack full of groceries and empty water containers I skated back toward home base. On the way I spotted a water fountain off the bike path and filled up my 3 water jugs (that started the trip in Minnesota as plastic apple juice containers) and a 2 gallon collapsible container that had been given to me by John Sullivan all the way back in La Crosse, WI.
I was able to push off into the river around 10:30am. Traffic in the Port of Baton Rouge was busy, with barges and tow boats constantly moving back and forth, and massive ocean going vessels moored up to the loading docks. As I paddled through the Port I weaved back and forth between the two shores doing my best to avoid the commotion. At one point a barge behind me laid on his horn, signaling me to clear the way. I worked towards the bank as he passed, then crossed the mile and a half wide river to avoid a separate northbound vessel.
Once out of the Port traffic slowed down and the river widened up a bit. I was still regularly passing barges, but by cutting the inside corners of the river and staying out of the main channel the ships are easy to avoid.
It was a clear and sunny day, the best weather I have had in what feels like a long time. Mid 70s, not a cloud in the sky and little wind.
I worked through the day and stayed on the water through sunset. Once completely tucked behind the western shore, I found camp on a low lying sandbank. While unloading the boat and setting up I noticed an interesting track in the sand. Though I had never seen one before, in my gut I knew it was a gator track right away. I looked up "gator tracks"' to confirm. Yup.
I continued unloading. Once all the gear was out and the last light from the sun was darkening I found another set of tracks, just a few yards away from my gear, this time with an odd marking in the middle where the gator had dragged his belly in the sand. I've spent enough time in the woods and backcountry to feel comfortable and confident living amongst most animals, whether it be bear, moose, coyote, wolf, but I have never messed with gators. I spent the next hour or so debating what I should do. With the sun gone, moving camp sites wasn't an option. I decided to treat it like a bear. Make some noice, let him know you are here, be careful with food, and start a big ass fire.
As I sat around the driftwood campfire my eyes shifted around my surroundings, my head on a swivel. After a bit I became more comfortable with the situation, pitched my tent directly next to the fire and called it a night.
An interesting ending to a solid day in Southern Louisiana.