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2012-04-14 tl;dr: I was sore and tired, and I almost gave up. And then the drugs kicked in. It's warmer today. That's nice.I was already sore before I pushed into the mud, so I downed a ibuprofen tablet. Two hours later I was in agony. My shoulders ached. My back ached. I felt like giving up. Giving up wouldn't have been hard. I was only 25 miles from my starting point after all. I stopped for a whole two-hour break while I contemplated my situation. I decided to go on. To the town of Pecatonica, anyway. Those drugs must have finally kicked in. I'm not a big proponent of drugs (save for coffee). That little blue pill was the first medication I'd taken since that nasty parasite incident (worst month ever). But I suddenly wasn't debilitatingly sore, and I seemed to have more energy. Also, the day was warmer, and was that sand on those banks rather than mud? Things were looking up. I stopped in Pecatonica for water and another soda. There are rapids next to the Fair Grounds. They appear to be the result of ancient bridge remains. I could have run them, maybe. Instead I forded at the edge. A fisherman caught up with me in his boat and drifted along for a while. Apparently he was new to the area, but had just bought a kayak "like yours" at Gander Mountain, and was hoping to find somebody to kayak with. I refrained from pointing out that they don't sell kayaks like mine at Gander Mountain. I let him know I was only coming through this once, sorry. Somebody has gone through the trouble to post mile markers. Unfortunately there are four markers per mile. It's depressing to see marker 25 12 and then, sometime much much later, see marker 25 14. I am now camping near marker 18 1/2. That means I've paddled about 80 miles in two-and-a-half days. That means I'm a half-day behind schedule. Whatever. In contrast to bicycling, it's easy finding campsites in a kayak. So far at least. Unfortunately, tonight's spot has somebody shooting a gun a quarter-mile away. They've emptied a good 100 rounds so far. I hope they quit before it gets dark. |
 leaving camp  deer swimming the river  unfortunately it only looks like sand  mile marker  I portaged   I need some clothes pins |