Hello Lower Mississippi...I've missed You

There were no boats in the St. Louis Harbor when we paddled out at 1030 am this morning. Only passed two moving barges but seemingly 100's more were at the shoreline.  High waters, wind and yes rain again, coupled with the big holiday weekend likely created these conditions.

Wind was our biggest enemy. It followed the up stream river bottom all day. Needing some relief, we frequently paddled over raging wing dams into back waters. Those following with SPOT can see lots of zig-zaggimg and irregular patterns. Often, the steady winds were so strong that when the boat turned sideways it was very difficult to get it headed back into the headwinds.

Paddled through a deep forest to reach dry land at historic Le Fort De Charters, IL. There was no other way to get here by water. Thick dense undergrowth was at times seemingly impossible to navigate. One of the Adventureitus camera men made this statement in a text:  "It will be hard to navigate through the flooded trees". That it was, but with significant effort, we paddled along side the jetty for the last mile reaching the fort area at 0845 pm where we set up camp on dry land for the evening.