Day 13

Day 13

We woke early this morning planning to try and make the town of Palisades before the next round of storms were on us. We knew from talking with Joe that the town had a nice campground with showers and a few places to eat as well. There was hardly a breath of wind and we paddled at a unhurried pace. The day before the Sandy river had joined the river and added a large amount of water and current. I let Shawn get about a quarter mile a head of me hoping we would both get to see some wildlife along the way. The coming storm added a strange energy to the air and neither us nor the resident wildlife seemed to be in any hurry. We both saw lots of deer taking a morning dip as we quietly slipped along. I had been wanting to have a close up moment with a Bald Eagle but so far all of them flew away long before I got close. I don't know if it was the coming storm or if he was just lazy but Shawn paddled past an eagle perched high in a dead tree. I eased along and was able to drift directly under him. At one point he was looking at me strangely from between his large talons. I took many pictures but was disappointed to see none were good due to moisture on the lens. In record time we covered the 10 miles to town.

Again with only moments to spare we set up tents under the pavilion at the park. We took turns showering and rushed to the cafe for late breakfast. After breakfast Shawn took a nap while I checked out the town, all 4 blocks by 4 blocks. The campground in town also has a ATV/snowmobile trail constructed on an old rail line. I have seen these in the far northeast and they provide a great attraction to the towns they pass through. For dinner we visited the Rustic Trail a local restaurant and watering hole. Before we ordered we were told the first beer was on the house if we signed the paddler log book. I was happy to see another familiar tradition from my AT hiking days. We both enjoyed reading the entries from paddlers we had followed over the last year on Facebook. We ordered the prime rib and left stuffed and happy. On the walk back we visited the mini library and mini food bank. We each took a small item or two of food back to camp with us. Palisades is a great river town with a good short term resupply, warm showers and super friendly people who wanted to hear all about our trip. With more bad weather including flash floods and tornadoes forecast for the night we are staying put under the pavilion. Tomorrow is also forecast to be nasty but if we can can we will head a few miles down river as we need to make a town 85 miles away in a few days so Shawn can pick up a shot that is being shipped to him.