Day 49

Day 49
I contacted the Lock Master early this morning and was told to hang out and he would get me in the lock. After waiting a couple of hours I was able to lock through with with a small tow boat. The river bank below the dam was lined with large barges waiting to pass through upstream. After clearing the congested section of river I could see the confluence of the Missouri River and Mississippi Rivers. I had been in contact with Christine a St Louis Alderwoman and River Guide for Big Muddy Adventures, who had informed m to to best make my way along this section of river.  The last lock on the river is in St Louis at what is known as The Chain of Rocks. There is a series of rapids along this section of river and a canal and lock was dug on  the Illinois side to pass around them. I was going to paddle over the rapids at the chain because it is safe to do so with the higher river level. I put to shore above the chain and took some pictures before paddling on. I found the rapids to be very mild and sail right through and towards River Front Park my take out point. The park was a high muddy bluff and after climbing up I found the ground covered in trash left by fishermen. Christine and the Big Muddy crew were on their way to get me after guiding a short day trip on the river. I carried my gear up the bluff and filled up a dozen bags of trash while waiting. Muddy Mike the owner and head guide of Big Muddy Adventures soon arrived with a trailer holding their large expedition canoe that holds 14 people. The crew soon had me loaded up and headed towards the canoe house. At the canoe house I started by cleaning my boat, Mike was firing up the grill and several of the guides were prepping food for lunch. Mike grilled us a wonderful lunch of pork tenderloin, brussel sprouts, mushrooms and potatoes, After lunch Mike picked up another Source to Sea paddler, Casey who arrived covered in river mud almost head to toe. I quickly put the electric pressure washer to work cleaning him up.The rest of the day was spent relaxing, and listening to the guides talk about their river adventures. Muddy Mike has paddled tens of thousands of miles on the Mississippi and long list of other rivers around the country. Another guide is one of two women to have paddled the entire Mississippi and Missouri Rivers from source to sea. I was a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon with a great group of people, good food and cold Budweiser.