High Bridge (from a low steel construction bridge). The concern was that there was so much debris against the construction bridge pylons that there was no apparent safe passage. After establishing a communication system between the only two functioning cell phones, Al went ahead and entered what he felt was the best course. He only had one shot to make this work and succeeded in finding a safe and non-threatening pathway. The others followed once he completed the attempt. The next phone call was about 3:30 to let me know that the 25 mph winds with gusts of 35 mph were taking their toll. They expected it to be at least another 2 hours from their rest stop at the US 30 bridge. A very weary group of tired and muddy paddlers arrived after 5:30. The wind did slow their progress down to an average of 3.5 mph for the day vs. the previous average of 5 to 6 mph. At the take-out it was decided for the group to come to the hotel were I was staying. At that point the "weather guessers" were predicting 6" of rain for the evening. Once folks were settled in their rooms, we had dinner and then came back to share this blog and discuss options for the last two days of the journey. It was decided to wait upon the morning weather report to make any final decisions. Al and I were awakened by a 1:45 am cell phone call from UNI letting us know to take immediate shelter due to the tornado watch in Black Hawk county (100 miles to the NE). This weather just won't give us a break. The water is well above flood stage. Folks are starting to make comparisons to the 1993 flood which does make one pause. On Friday morning, we met at 6am and decided to paddle from the E57 ramp down to the take-out at IA 210. At that point, we will decide the next step. I will be moving tonight to another hotel in Ankeney for one final night. The car shuttle today will be at 9am. We currently have blue skys and high winds. The winds are predicted to be higher than yesterday so I will be bow paddler today for the 10 mile trip. The winds are much more of a problem than the high water, fast current, or rain. It does promise to be better for our final day Saturday. Today's paddle will just get us over the 101 mile mark.
Wow, we survived the day's paddle but are mighty weary at the end of this challenging day. We put in at the ramp at E57 after a car shift to the IA 210 access ramp. Here's a picture of Al at the ramp wearing his Tacitus Hussey hat. The water keeps rising and more and more branches and tree trunks are joining us on the river. The river has become even wider as it has overflowed its banks. The real difficulty today was the wind and high waves. The wind was a steady 25-30 mph with wind gusts of almost 40mph. The waves were over 3 feet high in the middle of the river for the last few miles. Al, Adrienne, and I hugged the right shore where the waves stayed below 3ft. The final take-out was on river left so we let the force of the wind ferry us across the river prior to the end of the day's trip. It was an exhausting 10 miles that felt like 30 to me. I
don't believe anyone is ready to do that portion again for a while. The picture at the right is of a pooped paddler at the end of a day paddling into a fierce headwind. The wind was so high today that there was a limited number of birds. The highlight was Adrienne's sighting of a flock of late migrating pelicans. Once we got everyone safely off the river, we went to see the evening's camp grounds. Al has chosen to spend the night with me at the Super 8 in Ankeney while the other 3 remaining paddlers will spend the final night at Jester Park on Saylorville Lake. The plan is to meet at 8am tomorrow to begin our final day. It has been an unbelievable adventure that none of us will quickly forget. We have the idea for the T-shirt..."I'm proud to be a Hussey (re-enactor)' with a picture of Tacitus on the front and the river route on the back. Maybe for next year.
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