I felt like I got out of camp slightly faster this morning. I snapped a picture of camp as I got in the canoe.

Just as I rounded the first corner, you’ll never guess what I found. It was another beaver dam! I hadn’t even been going for a full minute. Whatever.

Today’s paddling was lots of wetlands. Just like I sometimes like to take the slowest way to get from point A to B, so does the river. It winds back and forth.

Early in the day, La Salle Creek joined up with the river. It was a noticeable increase in volume. I saw my first piece of river trash. I’m actually a little impressed that I went this far without seeing any. The day went pretty smoothly with only a few more beaver dams to deal with.

I took a well deserved break at Bear Den Landing nearly 15 miles in. I had been worried about making time because the map showed thick vegetation and rapids like I had encountered on the first day. I did bang my boat pretty good on the rocks on the rapids, but I could paddle most of it.

I ended at Fox Trap campsite because it had cell service and an open sky to the north. There was a predicted aurora for the evening, but it never showed up here. I was off the water before 4:00, surely enough time to go farther, but I was ok with my progress.

Mileage: 15.8

Total mileage: 31.2

Day 3