Speed: 4-5 mph
Miles: 42.5
Time: 6:00 am to 7:09 pm
Campsite location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/48%C2%B005'04.3%22N+105%C2%B019'34.8%22W/@48.08452,-105.32634,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en
Frustration for both of us continued about the zig zagging. Surprisingly, it was less when we had to contend with wind. Our day's goal was to camp at Miller's favorite campsite. It sounded lovely the way he described it in his book. We started looking for a breakfast take out and found one around 8 am. Strong winds began around 10 am and we fought white caps as Ellen searched for banks to shelter us from the wind as the river snaked north, east, and south and then repeated that progression.The wind continued throughout the day and as we approached Miller's campsite we realized it would be a factor when selecting a camp. We took out at his site and found it had been ruined by the cows over the years. We quickly moved on. We spent the rest of the day exploring different locations for a camp and most were not protected from the wind or had too much mud or there was too much distance between camp and the kayak.
Our final selection was protected from the wind and the mud was walkable and the kayak wasn't too far away. It was a tough day for paddling and the scenery was dull. There were not many bright spots in the day. Ellen complained to me about pain in her wrists. That concerned me because she had surgery on her left wrist years ago and I was afraid that the problem had been irritated by the long hours of paddling. As I crawled into my sleeping bag, I worried she would not be able to continue and my frustration about the rudder control was not helping matters. John
It was a windy lunch site but a nice rest from the cockpit.
Ellen prepared another great dinner of olive bread pizzas. She dehydrated a sauce with a little proscuitto in it ahead of time, so it just took a little water to rehydrate it, and then with some string cheese, we had surprisingly good little pizzas. The key is to buy good bread. We had a little box of red wine to go with it.
The beach was a bit soggy and buggy, and it was a bit of a walk to the kayak, but overall, it was safe and mostly free of cattle signs.
Another day in the boat according to Ellen
When John told me we'd be getting up at 4:30 to break camp, I tried not to think about the fact that it was 3:30 to my body, and actually, it seemed to work. The morning was my favorite time of the day; it was still and quiet, and before the sun came up. It was quite beautiful to watch the sunlight touch the landscape bit by bit. Being my first day at breaking camp, I was a little inefficient, but we managed to launch by 6:00 after splitting a little bagel with peanut butter. It wasn't long before my arms grew tired, and John had to remind me not to paddle so hard.
Despite the early hour, we had a little wind that only gathered in strength as the day passed. We stopped two hours later to have a breakfast burrito--freeze dried scrambled eggs with peppers and sausage in a whole wheat tortilla from PCC. It was pretty good!
Controlling the rudder was going better and I found that I did well in the wind. We had to paddle upwind for a while, but it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be since we were in a double. The only trouble was that you couldn't rest. Lunch was a tuna salad bagel, and for a snack we had apple slices and peanut butter. I wore my Gortex paddle clothes all day--it didn't look like the hot weather was going to manifest.
The first place we stopped to make camp turned out to be terrible. It was my first experience with sinking into the mud half way up my calves, and it was an area full of cattle, which meant the mud was mixed with poop. We both walked the beach looking for a suitable spot but I finally said that I thought the entire beach was pretty unsanitary. John agreed. We moved on from Cow Pie Cove.
We tried other spots, but we had some trouble getting out of the wind. One place looked like it would be good and that the trees and sand bank would offer some protection. I stayed in the kayak while John checked it out. I knew before he even came back that it was a no-go; the entire time I waited, sand blew into my face and hair.
We finally settled on a wide, grassy beach that wasn't ideal but at least it didn't have recent "signs" of cattle. I found that my arms were so tired, I could barely lift myself out of the kayak and it was hard to lift them to hug John! We paddled 12 hours covering 42 miles! I figured that would probably be the longest of our days, thinking it was mostly due to not finding a suitable campsite right away. Dinner was pizza, which tasted amazing after such a hard day of paddling.
I wore my wool long john pants to bed under my nightgown and was a bit warmer. I decided that tomorrow night, I would wear the long john top, too, as well as socks. I also took half a Bendryl in hopes that I could get a good night's sleep. I was looking forward to starting the the next day feeling rested. I also resolved not to complain about my tired, sore arms and wrists. Ellen
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