Mississippi River Locks Trip - October 13th, 2001
This photo was taken by Aaron White, towards the end of this fantastic day trip. But imagine, we began the day at Boom Island Park, at 8:00 a.m. It was raining. We unloaded our 13 boats. It was raining. We shuttled the cars down to Hidden Falls. It was raining. We fought the traffic back up to Boom Island. It was raining. We got in our kayaks. And yeah, it was raining. By lunch time -- guess what -- it wasn't raining! And by the time Aaron took this shot, it was as pretty a fall day as you can imagine.
We went through three locks on this trip. In the first two locks, we shared the space with a barge. It was a bit of a different experience going through in relatively "tight" quarters. We were probably a boat's length away from the barge. But other than the narrower space to wait in as the water level dropped, it was not too different. The fellows on the barge looked a little cold and wet. Sitting in our boats, wearing the layers we had on, we didn't much mind the weather. Standing up there in their yellow slickers, they looked a bit miserable. Maybe I imagined some envy...
We stopped for lunch on a small beach. It was a good stop -- a picnic table, a portable bathroom, and delicious treats! Lunch is lunch, but with chocolate, licorice and raspberries in marshmallow sauce (marshmallow?), it's a feast.
Here are some Mississippi Locks trip photos! Most of them were taken by Aaron, to whom those who forget essential gear are most indebted!
Aaron in the lock