May 27 I pulled in early today, tired, wet, cold, and frustrated.
Strong headwinds hampered my progress, and I kept
finding unexpected signs of Corps work, stretches of
mini-dikes spaced 25 yards apart and many reinforced
banks. I figure that the Corps, being engineers, just can't
keep from fiddling with things. The river here is not quite in
its natural state. There are some dikes, and the current is
just as strong as below. Still, it does have a strikingly
different appearance. For one thing, it is much wider here,
fully a mile in many places. And the channel has a mind of
its own, often following the inside curve of bends. Today the
current seemed to stay exclusively on the Nebraska side,
where I've been paddling, regardless of the bends. I kept
looking longingly at the South Dakota side, but the river is
too wide to cross without wasting a lot of time. There are
also extensive sandbars along this stretch which I'm finding
tricky to read. After 750 miles, I'm going to have to relearn
the river. I met some more people today who had seen the
Sioux City article. This is almost like running the Boston
marathon with all these people cheering me on. I also
encountered three men in a boat (sounds like a movie title),
real jerks who came within 10 yards of me and almost
capsized me with their wake. When I'd recovered my
balance, I gave them the traditional single-finger salute,
only to hear four shotgun blasts from their boat in reply.
When I neared the place where they had fired, I saw two
dead swallows floating in the river, victims of the callous
thoughtlessness of three idiots.
May 28 A very relaxing day, to the extent that's possible when
you're paddling for more than 8 hours. The weather was
clear and warm, with a light southerly breeze at my back.
Lots of people were out on the river or setting up cook-outs
on the banks. Many recognized me from the article, and
some even invited me to stop and join them. I wish I could
take the time to stop and chat more with the people I see,
but I'm a few days behind schedule, and feel the urge to
push on and make up for lost time. Besides, if I pulled in for
a meal, I'd probably eat everything on the table leaving
nothing for my hosts.
May 29 I made it to the first dam today, Gavin's Point Dam, just
above Yankton, S.D. Helped by a 20 mph south wind, I
zipped along. I saw lots of people again today, especially
between Yankton and the dam, an area of heavy
recreational use. In this same stretch I also saw an
unusually large turtle population, hundreds of them
swimming along the shoreline with their necks extended like
little Loch Ness monsters. My first portage was an
adventure. For the first part, I crossed from the river about
a mile below the dam into a lake which would take me closer
to the marina and resort above the dam where my paddle
has been sent. That was easy, and several folks helped me
carry my gear across the street. After a paddle of 1 1/2
miles across the lake - without a current, I was smoking! - I
had a much harder stretch across a field, across two roads,
up a steep embankment, and down the other side to Lewis
and Clark Lake. The whole portage took me 2 1/2 hours.
After I packed away my gear at the marina, I met another
generous Sioux City resident, Jay Hesse, who insisted on
treating me to my accommodations and dinner. It doesn't
get any better than this!
May 30-31 After a relaxing day at the Lewis and Clark marina in
Yankton, I took off late this morning for my first day on a
lake. What a treat! No current, a light tailwind, and a
thoroughly enjoyable cruise up the lake. The lake reminds
me of the Finger Lakes of upstate New York, long and
narrow, flanked by rolling hills and cliffs. I saw several more
pelicans today, and hundreds of swallows who have built
clusters of mud nests in the cliffs.
When I got to the headwaters of the lake, things started to
go awry. The river current returned, I got hung up on a
sandbar, and at Springfield the river became a maze of
channels and sandbars. I followed what appeared to be the
main channel, but three miles beyond Springfield I
discovered it was a dead end. I considered exploring to find
the channel, but it was getting late, and I was in the middle
of a huge swamp with no visible campsites, so I returned to
Springfield to set up camp. With an earlier start, and no
wrong turn, I could have made almost 30 miles today.
June 1 The weather turned nasty today - cold and windy. I talked
to some fishermen last night and learned how to follow the
channel - it's marked with ribbons - and set out in a bad
mood because the wind had already made boiling water
for my oatmeal and coffee difficult. The wind picked up
during the morning, and at noon a thunderstorm erupted.
I pulled in for cover, but when I started out again, the wind
and current were too much. I managed to cross the river to
a boat ramp at Niobrara, where I set up camp. I made only
11 miles in 5 hours today, through a vast area or reeds,
sandbars, and false channels. The sun came out this
afternoon, and with the strong winds I managed to dry my
socks and shoes for the first time since Yankton.
June 2 Well rested after yesterday's ordeal, I got an early start.
The wind was still against me, but considerably diminished,
and once I got out of the Niobrara area the current seemed
to let up a bit as well The stretch from Verdel, Nebraska to
my campsite in an area called Sunshine Bottom (sounds like
a nudist camp) was the most pleasant I've been on so far.
The river has collected itself into clearly defined boundaries.
On my right, South Dakota has tree-lined banks behind which
are rolling hills that serve as rangeland for herds of cattle.
On my left, Nebraska has a series of steep shale bluffs and
cliffs, home to more swallows. The water since Niobrara is
noticeably clearer - I can see about 4 or 5 feet deep, as
opposed to 4 or 5 inches downstream. The landscape now
has a definite northern plains look to it: tree-lined banks,
behind which lie rolling hills of grassland and scrub pines -
mostly ranchland for herds of cattle. Contrary to the
information supplied by AT&T, my cell phone is useless
here - since I've left Yankton, all I get is the "no service"
message when I try to call.
It's 9:00 and time to get some sleep, but it's still light
enough to read and write without my flashlight, a sign that
I'm getting further north.
Click here for days 57-63 of Richard's journal
