At the speed we travel, 12 mph with the current, it takes 5 days for us to travel the Upper Mississippi River from Grafton to Cairo, Illinois. Just outside of St. Louis, the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi River. At this point the water is noticibly more swirley, the tree debris carried along by the current is greater... whole trees, limbs, roots. The consistency of the water is like milk chocolate pudding!
Anchored along the banks of the river are rafts of barges...unattended, waiting. Over time, the tree debris that is heading downstream fetches up on the exposed leading edge of the barge set. We have seen the tangled mass of timber be 50 feet wide and 30 feet deep... enough firewood to heat a village of homes in Maine for the month of January! When it’s time to move the barges, a tug hooks on to each of the leading barges, and one at a time snatches them backwards. That motion causes the build-up of debris to spill off into the current. A neat trick, but eventually we pleasure craft have to dodge these dangerous obstacles as they pick up speed moving downriver.
The Mississippi River has scant dockage choices. Before we left Grafton, it was critical that "The Legendary" Fern Hopkins at Hoppies Marine Service in Kimmswick could promise that there would be room for us on her unusual dock... three 100 foot barges lashed together... she has the last marina /fuel stop for 228 miles! At 4:30 sharp, the "briefing by Fern" began. She told us how to deal with tows, river currents, anchorages and locks on the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers as we enter Lake Barkley or Kentucky Lake. She cautioned us that the debris flowing by her place has also moved or taken out many of the channel markers. We were reminded to follow the dotted sailing line on our charts... not to follow the red and green buoys in the water. Many of them have been washed up on the shore, anyway.
With high daytime temps, 90+, and cooler nighttime temps, low 70’s, the mornings greet us with a fog bank that doesn‘t dissipate until the sun has warmed the air. We can’t count on getting underway before 9am. We are typically off and away by daybreak!
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| Debris build up in front of a tow |
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| Grafton Harbor Marina |
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| Pere Marquette State Park |
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| CCC rockwork |
State Park Lodge
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| Locking through with two fellow loopers |
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| Canoes and Kayaks locking through with us |
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| Approaching St Louis |
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| Fern giving her evening lecture on what to expect on our trip south on the Mississippi |
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| Hoppies Marina.....the only marina on the Mississippi for 218 miles! A few old barges tied together! |
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| The tows on the Mississippi are big......this one has 42 barges! |
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| Kaskaskia Lock wall....the only safe space for a nights stay south of Hoppies |
Created by Darcy O Campbell
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