Day 270 CLOSING UP THE GAP

Daily Stats
Start: 7:30 AM - MM 578 East Dubuque, IL
Finish 3:00 PM - MM 540 Savanna, IL
Time: 7:30 hours
Daily dist: 38 miles
Lock 12: 11:15-12:15 (1:00 hr brings paddling time to 6:30 hrs)
Total dist: 5200+
Companions: None
Weather: Overcast - drizzle/mist most of the day, 70’s, calm winds
Notes: First significant slowdown by a lock

When I woke early this morning it was raining, or should I say still raining as it had been raining and storming all night. Rather than break camp in the rain I rolled over and dozed off for another blissful hour of sleep. The rains let up long enough to brake camp and load the boat but then a drizzling rain/heavy mist started up and persisted most of the day.

Three hours on the water brought me to a county campground/marina where I stopped to top off my water bottles. At least two days of water remained in the MSR Dramadary Bags but time has taught me to never pass up a chance to fill up. At the campground I chatted with a man who was in the process of relocating his giant RV. The rains last night had flooded out his site leaving it a muddy mess. It was funny to think that I fared better in my tent on an island in the river than this guy did in an RV at an established campground. I’ve said it before that I’d gladly take the backcountry over dysfunctional civilization any day.

County campground/marina made a great stop for water

Yesterday I learned how fast I can go on this river and today I learned how locks can sometimes slow you down. Of course compared to portaging, the one hour I had to wait for a tow to pass through (and re-assemble) at lock number 12 was no big deal. The hour delay at the lock was actually a great excuse to get out and stretch my legs and to make a few important phone calls.

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Part of the reason it felt so good to get a bit more sleep this morning was because last night I was up late trying to sort out details for the next ten days. There are two stopovers I had tentatively planed on the way south. The first is in the Quad Cities area just outside Moline where the Pregracke family lives. Gary and Keeke Pregracke (coordinated by their son’s girlfriend Tammy) are the ones that invited my parents and I to stay with them as we were heading south to escape the winter storm last winter. During our visit we were able to re-group and formulate a plan for getting back on the water. It was the Pregrackes that suggested Grafton Illinois as a good place to put back in, figuring that the quaint river town would make a good finish line when I did close up the gap this fall. The other stopover is in Quincy Illinois at my friend Duane Strosaker’s parent’s house. Last year Duane’s dad, upon finding out about my trip and extremely late start date, said quite simply “That boy’s going to freeze.” He’s been following along with my adventures and invited me to stay for a bit of a break when I passed through.

True to form I didn’t have anything pre-planned when I set out from Boscabel Monday afternoon, just a rough idea of who I may be able to visit on the way down the river. It was today, during the one hour I had to kill waiting for Lock 12 to clear, that I finally had time to touch base with the folks I was thinking about visiting. It was a productive couple of calls and plans are now in order for me to pay these folks a visit. The Pregrackes I expect to reach by tomorrow night and Strosakers by the beginning of next week.  It’s always a relief to have a plan in order, I wonder why I don’t do it more often.

View from camp tonight

The rains did finally let up in the early evening giving me enough time to get all my gear dried out. Tonight’s campsite is amazing. It’s a high sandy island (probably dredge spoils from the shipping channel) situated on the outside of a bend with a beautiful view of the river in both directions. Flanking the river to the east are high stone bluffs and in the distance is a truss bridge crossing the river. It’s one of the best camp spots I’ve had on the river so far.