River and Bayou

Had a very good night’s sleep last night. Woke bright and early just before sunrise refreshed and ready to paddle on. After the past two frustrating days of finding a good place to camp for the night, I decided today’s only goal will be to find a campsite with both shade and a sandy beach (not too muddy) so I could haul my boat up out of the water. And as soon as I saw that spot – whatever time of day it was or how far I may have paddled – I was going pull off the river, set up camp, and take tomorrow off to rest, clean up a bit, and fire up my generator and literally recharge my batteries. And catch up on my blog posts.

Left the small sandbar just downstream the US Hwy 49 Bridge and had a quick easy paddle to Friar’s Point and the huge grain elevator and gravel docks there. Back in the days of steamboats and river gamblers, Friar’s Point was the major population center and seat of Coahoma County. But the River moved west, leaving Friar Point’s riverfront nothing more than sandbars and mudbars, it’s downtown approachable only at high water. When the Illinois Central decided to build it’s rail line through nearby Clarksville, the fate of Friar’s Point was sealed. Anyway, there is still a huge rice/grain and gravel operation at Friar’s Point, so I had to stay well clear as several barges were departing as I paddled past.

I stayed mid-channel past Kangaroo Point and Horseshoe Bend, then moved out and towards the fast water along the right bank descending as I approached Old Town Bend at Miller Point. Contrary to common river-sense, the river speed noticeably quickens during low water as it approaches Old Town Bend. There’s a large and powerful eddy there, that, combined with the big rolling waves of a tow’s outwash, create large, chaotic, often-white capped waves when a tow passes. When I got to the bend, the barges were stacked up waiting their turn to make the tight, narrow, tricky transit through the bend. Anyway, I had quite a roller coaster ride for about five minutes as I encountered the eddy and those waves.

Once out of that heavy water, I pulled closer ashore where four fishermen in a john boat were out doing what looked like a little commercial fishing for catfish. They had deployed about two dozen homemade hooks-and-float apparatus and were racing back and forth between them pulling in catfish and rebaiting the hooks. I pulled up along them when they paused in the work, we chatted a bit, and they gave me two ice cold Dr. Peppers! I hadn’t seen ice since leaving Memphis! Those cold drinks were exactly what the good Doctor ordered on this hot day! As I guzzled the first can down, we bid each other good luck and went on our way. More ‘trail angels’ in the middle of the Mississippi River. Who have thought!

I had only paddled a mile or so further beyond Old Town Bend when I saw what looked to be a good campsite for today and tomorrow’s day of rest. With plenty of shade, relatively bug free, and a nice mud free place to land the canoe, it turned out to be more than satisfactory.

So, after taking a thirty-minute breather sitting in my chair and relishing the cool shade, I set up camp, fired up the generator to recharge the batteries, and took a dip in the river to give both myself and my clothes a good wash. After dinner, I just sat and enjoyed the rest of the pleasant evening, watching the tows work their way around the bend until the sun went down. Then it was into the tent for a good night’s sleep.