Hope on the River by Erich E Mische

Author:Erich E Mische
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, motivational, inspirtational, mississippi, river trip, raft, life, nonprofit, sparekey
Publisher: Spare Key
Published: 2021-06-17T19:26:25+00:00

Chapter 15

Keokuk, Iowa, to Quincy, Illinois

This day would be like no other so far on my journey. First, of course, I awoke to a glorious morning in Keokuk. The sunrise was punctuated by the deep, hazy smoke of wildfires half a country away. It reminded me again that nature—resilient, brilliant, and ultimately untamed—pushes back against that which man has made, time and time again.

This would be a different day for another reason, too.

Lock and Dam Number 19!

Since my journey began, I had locked through seventeen dams. The only lock I did not go through was in St. Paul, Minnesota, near the Ford Bridge, because my journey started downriver of that lock, on Harriet Island at Padelford Landing. Each of the seventeen dams has had its own unique character, people, and of course challenges for me.

But all of them were generally the same size and required the same type of process to approach, enter, lock, and exit. I would call ahead to let them know I was coming. They would give the go-ahead for proceeding forward as they prepared the lock or else said to wait for other traffic to work its way through. Once given clearance to proceed into the lock, I would head in, grab onto a rope or float in the lock chamber, and wait to be lowered to about ten feet. Once lowered, I would power up and exit the lock.

The difference with Lock 19 was threefold: its chamber was twice as long as the other locks at 1,200 feet; it had a drop of more than thirty feet; and, instead of floating or holding onto a line thrown over the side, I would have to hang onto, or tie onto, a floating bollard.

A floating bollard???

Everyone I had spoken to who has gone down the river, or who knows someone who has gone or imagined themselves going down the river, has an opinion on this kind of lock and dam. Nearly all of them suggested I was in for quite a ride—and the definition of what this meant was up to your own interpretation.

In my mind, it sounded terrifying.

So much so that I didn’t sleep well the night before, and I couldn’t wait for 7:00 a.m. to come around so I could call the lock and dam and plead for their assistance.

I got up early and put everything in its proper place. I got my coffee, took some photos and videos of the morning sky made brilliant by distant wildfires, and waited impatiently for the clock to turn.

You might remember that I had been having issues with the Nissan the day before and had to change the fuel filter and spark plugs.

That, too, was making me queasy. While I got the motor to start easily enough in the morning—in fact, on the first turn of the key—I wasn’t confident that my mechanical skills were what had done the trick. The Nissan seemed to be idling fine and, perhaps, even a bit smoother than previously. But until I got out on the water and throttled up, I would not know.

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