Day 32

Day 32

Before leaving in the morning I had to empty the canoe of the water it had captured during the rain storm the day before. I completed this task and drove one of the family boats while the plug was removed so the water could drain out. It felt as if I was fly when driving the boat 15 mph down the river. Back at the island I said my good byes and paddled towards Lansing to get some ice on my way south. I paddled most of the day, clearing Lock and Dam 9 around 3 in the afternoon. I enjoyed paddling by myself and took a slow pace after clearing the lock. Around 4:30 I started looking for some land that was not under water to make camp. I paddled for about 5 miles seeing nothing other than flooded woods and many other boats looking for camping spots as well. Just as I got to the northern edge of Prairie De Chien WI I spotted a tiny spot of sand just next to the railroad tracks. I paddled over and saw it was just big enough for my small tent and nothing else, I made it home for the night. I am would be glad I took this spot because the next day it would be over 10 miles before I saw another place I could have camped if I had passed this spot up. I spent a restless night trying to sleep because a train would come through about every 45 minutes all night long.