Start: 7:15 AM- Kimmswick Missouri Illinois
Finish: 2:30 PM - Illinois
Time: 7:15
Daily dist: 50 miles
Total dist: 199 miles
Companions: None
Weather: Overcast in morning becoming clear in the afternoon - chilly
Notes: My first day starting from a tent - took time to dry things out
I started the day by slithering into barely warm thermals that were still wet from the previous day of paddling. I decided that I’d rather give up ten miles of progress if it meant having at least somewhat dryer clothes to put on in the morning. With that in mind I knew I’d need to be off the water by no later than 3:00 if I was to have time to dry things out. I also wanted to see what it would take to log 50 miles on the river so I pulled hard all day to see what sort of progress I could make.
Fifty miles do-able but an earlier start would make it a bit more humane and still leave time at the end of the day to set up camp and sort things out before dark. I’m going to see if I can streamline my morning routine to get on the water a half hour earlier. I need the daylight more in the afternoon than the morning.
Tomorrow my plan is to try to find Brent Pregracke who is the other son of Gary and Keeke Pregracke who we stayed with up in Moline last week. Brent is a commercial fisherman on the river and lives in a house boat about forty miles from here.