Old goat in a tin boat...

[beartrap]

day 7 pics

Hanniba<Mo. from the river
statue of Samuel Clemons
view of Two rivers marina from motel looking across the Miss. river from town of Louisiana,Mo.

 

[beartrap]

Day 8...a very interesting day...and that may be an understatement...

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[beartrap]

day 8 pics

River is out of it's banks,nearing flood stage and spreading out through the trees...mile marker 265 indicates we have traveled 580 miles downstream from Minneapolis and are 265 miles north of where the Ohio meets the Miss. river,
river is wider now and water is much more stained...
carried my cell phone in an Aqua-Pak...hung it around my neck and fortunately never dropped it in water like so many other river travelers....

 

[beartrap]

the chipleyville bunch.....

Piaso or Stormbird painted above cave where supposedly he lived nearl alton,Il.

winner-non scenic view of the trip....

 

[beartrap]

Day 9...a good day but with some scary moments....

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[beartrap]

day 9 pics

logjams under anchored barges has created dangerous situation with strong current sweeping under them..

exiting last lock on upper Miss. river..

drit in front of lock forces me to push thru it to enter lock

arch at St. louis

 

[beartrap]

day 9 pics

the Missouri river emptied into the Miss. right above St.Louis and it's a big river now..

the river is powerful too....

author with Charles "Hoppie" Hopkins...a river institution for decades...

my son Mikes steers as the river miles melt behind us....

 

[beartrap]

Day 10....Waltzing to the Tennessee River

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[beartrap]

day 10 pics

author and Leo King....one of us has spent a lifetime tearing up boats and the other fixing them..

powerful rip currents below the dikes under water...

at flood stage it's possible to take a few shortcuts..red symbol is boat traveling through the chute...

confluence of Ohio and Miss. rivers...Miss. is on the left,Ohio is on the right...845 miles of Miss. river in rearview mirror...

 

[beartrap]

day 10 pics

Ohio river is high enough that boat is traveling in what would ordinarily be dry land...

storm is ovetaking us...time to put nose on bank...

passing paducah,Ky. right before we turn up the Tenn. river

entering Kentucky lake dam..

 

[beartrap]

Day 11...Dumarse stretches her legs today and puts some miles behind us

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[beartrap]

Day 11 pics

Paris Landing bridge is the halfway point traveling south on Kentucky Lake...

Tenn. river twists and turns...

miles and miles of bluffs

Mike holds us off wall as lock raises us almost 40 ft.into Pickwick lake...

 

[beartrap]

day 12...some bridges you go under are more important than others...

Day 12
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[beartrap]

day 12 pics

Mike packs gear into waterproof bags...

lock dog follows lockmaster...

rare sight-towboat on Tombigbee waterway..

typical river scenery on upper Tombigbee...

 

[beartrap]

Day 13...biscuits,boat rides and two things money can't buy....

Day 13

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