River and Bayou

This was the last day of my Mississippi River adventure – a two-thousand-mile journey I started almost twenty years earlier when my friend, Rick, and I first put our canoe into the headwaters of the great River at Lake Itasca, Minnesota. The river was barely ten feet wide and four or five inches deep where Continue reading

Today I saw firsthand where people live on a bayou. But, first, what the heck is a bayou? Well, a bayou is pretty much a slow-moving river within a swampland. If you live in a swamp and your only mode of transportation is a boat, then the bayous are the ‘roads’ used to navigate through Continue reading

First, these mosquitoes are hungry. And they’re everywhere. By the gazzilions. Thank God there are no mosquitoes on the river itself. That would be excruciating. Second, I haven’t seen any alligators yet. But I think there close. A couple Cajuns just went by in a boat scanning the shoreline with a huge searchlight. They said Continue reading

A good day. A line of thunderstorms stretching across the horizon in front of me this morning had me worried, but they moved east and dissipated. Weather wouldn’t be an issue until late in the afternoon. I paddled pass a couple of towns today. Melville and Krotz Springs. Not much to see in Melville. The Continue reading

Woke a couple hours before sunrise this morning. The sun is setting sooner and rising later, and who can sleep all those hours in between? I can’t. Besides, I wanted to get a very early start on the river today. If I’m going to meet my pickup in Morgan City this Saturday, I need to Continue reading

Two milestones today. First, I left the State of Mississippi behind. Louisiana is now on both riverbanks. And second, I left the Mississippi River. I turned right at Carr Point into Carr Cutoff and locked through the Old River Lock in early evening. I’m now swatting mosquitoes sitting on the muddy banks of Lower Old Continue reading

It rained inside my tent last night. No, not falling-from-the-heaven rain. But falling-from-the-ceiling-of-my-tent rain. Condensation had collected on the inside of my tent during the calm, cool night and was falling on me when I woke before dawn this morning. It was a good sign. Weather for today’s paddle would be perfect. And so for Continue reading

Woke to low overcast clouds. A bit surprised when I saw them. I was expecting something a bit sunnier. Maybe they’ll burn off soon. I want to lay out my waterlogged phone on the spray deck in front of me, while I paddle, and give it a chance to dry out in the warm sun. Continue reading

Right after I crawled into my tent last night, the thunder and lightning began. And it didn’t stop for almost five hours. I think a line of thunderstorms must have trained over me. And the rain. It rained all night. The rain came down so hard that it often drowned out the sound of the Continue reading

In yesterday’s journal entry, I said, “Any change in the weather is welcome.” I was wrong. But more on that later. Today started out nice. A few puffy clouds. Strong current. Little wind. Surface of the river smooth as glass. Only one small barge all morning. I was mostly drifting with the current, occasionally putting Continue reading