Luckily the wind was mostly on our side today, coming from the NW. This became incredible important when we entered Blackwater Lake, a reservoir of the Pokegama Dam. The wind pretty much did our work for us, pushing us to the exit point.
From there it was a short trip to the City of Cohasset. We stopped briefly to fill up the air in the wheels of our canoe cart. Then back onto the river for a few more miles.
The Pokegama Dam had a nice portage route and we even found power at a pavilion to charge up the phones. We got back in the river and reloaded the canoe from a little fishing pier.
The river expanded over the next six miles into the reservoir created by the Blandin Paper Company Dam. This was our long 1120 yard portage.
First we couldn't see where the portage started. There was a bay to the right of where we could see a red barrier line. We decided to try and follow the side of that bank. When we crossed the bay, we luckily ended up right at the portage sight. While the map said that they had a phone and portage help available, no help was available here. Luckily we had filled the carts tires. The portage was located practically in two people's backyards, then went through two others before it got to the alley. From there we had to cross a busy street during rush hour with no stop light in sight, playing Frogger with a 18' canoe. When we finally made it to the other side and found the entry side of the portage,; we discovered that the ramp at the portage was under construction. With pipes and construction equipment everywhere, we made our way through the maze.
We launched and made our way to the Riverside Park, a half mile downriver. We stopped and I went to get supplies from a "Lucky 7 General Store". With a hitchhiked ride I found out that the "Lucky 7" was a little gas station that didn't have anything I wanted. He took me to a "Holiday" that I was able to get enough of the things I needed.
I hurried back to the canoe and Maggie and I busted out the next six miles in less than an hour and a half.. We stayed at Sucher's Campsite that night. We turned in early after the 26 mile day.
We want to pinpoint on a map where you are. What are you using for maps so we can correlate our resources. What do you do for entertainment at campsites?
ReplyDeleteDo you get upset when you don't have power for the phones? Do you have a first aid kit? What are the plans after the trip? Any scary stories at the campfire? How many people do you pass or see in a day?
ReplyDelete1. Maps
ReplyDeleteWe're using the MN dnr maps right now, which you can find online. They even have an interactive maps of their water trails which would probably be neat to use in the classroom. The miles are all standardized, and we could start putting the mile markers in the posts so you could see right where we are/ have been. The start at 1338.2 @ lake Itasca, go down to 0 where the Ohio river comes in and start over again from there, counting down to the 0 mile at the Gulf. After MN, we'll use the army corps of engineer maps, which you can find the PDF files for online as well. You'll have to play around some to see what works best for you.
2. Entertainment
We don't actually have a lot of free time at camp each night. After we get in and set up, make dinner, journal and post to the blog it's usually dark and we're beat. We play word games in the canoe, but not at camp, typically. We have been reading Huck Finn outloud to each other the past few days and we have a deck of cards and a radio too. I think the most entertaining thing for us after a long day of paddling is sleeping.
3. Phone power
It is frustrating not having the phones charged, but not really a huge deal. We have my iPhone for the blog, pics, checking weather, etc. so it's nice to have it charged up, but not the end of the world if it isn't. We also have a regular cell to call and text home, which we are careful to never let get too low. It's one thing to get behind with the blog, but would be unsafe not to be able to call someone if something were to happen.
4. First aid
Yep, we have the basics, antibiotic ointment, band aids, tweezers, scissors, burn cream, my inhaler, pain killers, etc.
5. Plans after
We plan on hanging out in/around New Orleans for the winter. As long as we can find work, at least in exchange for room and board, we plan on staying til early spring then heading to Georgia to start the next big adventure, the Appalachian Trail. It's ~2100 miles long and goes from northern GA to northern Maine.
6. Scary stories?
Nope, none so far. I don't like scary stories much and I din't think we even know any anyway.
7. Other people
So far, not many at all. When we're on the river through woods or farmland we might not see anyone all day. Of course we see folks when we walk into town, but that's once or twice a week at most. Most people we see are out fishing, either trolling down the river or, more commonly, out on the lakes along the way.