I took the weekend off in Natchez, MS. Each day I had planned to leave in the AM, but wind, poor weather and good folk kept me in town. A beautiful historic town, Natchez has been one of my favorite stops yet.
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The alarm on my phone rang at 4:30am. The plan was to wake up early, pack up and hit the water while still dark in hopes of enjoying a sunrise paddle. I begrudgingly poked my head outside and took note of two things. One, the sky was covered in clouds, two, a barge was cruising by on the far shore, almost invisible other than a small red light on the first container and the back of the towboat lit up.
With the cloud cover I decided a sunrise paddle would be better severed another day. I laid my head back into the winter jacket that serves as my pillow and happily fell asleep.
Once up, around 7am I made breakfast and packed quickly, wanting to give myself as much time as possible to reach my goal for the day, Natchez Mississippi.
The first part of the morning was spent looking for mile markers, hoping to gauge wether or not Natchez was possible to reach by dusk. Around 10am I spotted a marker on the Louisiana shore and broke out the binoculars to hone in on the numbers. 399. With Natchez at mile 364, I knew the goal was reachable with some effort.
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I lifted my head up from the hammock to take note of the orange hue engulfing the eastern sky. A few moments later, still comfortably hanging between two trees, the top of the sun shown through the forest.
After watching the sunrise from the confines of my hammock I got up, did a bit of writing and made breakfast. Two or so hours later I was packed up and ready to hit the water. I began my paddling day by tuning into to what has become one of my favorite ways to pass time on the water, listening to the Joe Rogan podcast. I find his show to be entertaining, enlightening and on par with the way I see the world, yet open enough to challenge preconceived notions. I dig it. Plus, at around three hours a show, it's a great way to eat up some time.
A warm day in the upper 60s, the sun ducked in and out of cover, hiding behind clouds before shining through a gap in the atmospheric moisture, then repeating the process. In the early afternoon I passed Vicksburg, MS.
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