My chosen camp spot ending up being an all-night raucous fishing location. Several of the crowd left by midnight. But others kept fishing until at least 2:00. My 4:00 AM wakeup time was not sounding fun. When I finally crawled out of my tent I saw one still in his car.
Anyway, onward. There were possible storms in the forecast today, so might as well paddle while it’s nice.
I saw my first big trash dump into the river. It had clearly been there a long time. I don’t understand how some people find this okay.
Around mid-morning the possibility of a storm turned into a reality. I heard thunder off in the distance a few times and decided it was time to get out of the boat. I found a wide beach around the next turn. Lots of the sand around here bubbles if you touch it or agitate it. I assume it’s layers of decaying leaves that have produced methane. In any case, mixed with freshly deposited silt, this makes for a soft, squishy mud. It’s a type of quicksand. I was immediately up past my knees. I almost had to crawl to firmer ground.
I think I heard only one more rolling thunder before the rain came. With nowhere to go, I just stood there getting wet. The thunder had quit, but the rain kept up for about 45 minutes. Towards the end I was starting to get a bit chilled. At least my new hat kept the water off my face.
There was nothing really notable about the river today, except that I was alone on it. I had only passed one other boat in the early morning and saw no one else.
When I got to camp for the night I realized this was a self-pay campground. They had cabins, but had to be reserved a week in advance. Since there was literally no one at the campground when I arrived. I decided to make use of the screened in porch of the cabin for some relief from the mosquitos. I thought about just camping there for the night on a concrete porch, but I had no way to know if someone had reserved it and would come late in the evening to find a paddler laying in their porch.
I pitched my tent and got change from one of the other campers that had now arrived so I could pay the fee. I crawled into bed kinda early as I finished up my day at Jacobson Campground.
Mileage: 30.3
Total Mileage: 201
Today’s Audio: Counting Crows – Amy Hit the Atmosphere
“If I could make it rain today
And wash away this sunny day
Down to the gutter, I would
Just to get a change of pace
Things are getting worse
But I feel a lot better
And that’s all that really matters to me“
Day 12