Finally, good weather for a few days in a row

The weather was as gorgeous as we were promised on Saturday.  I got in my boat and warmed up and did three 8-stroke sprints, and then paddled a strong tempo out on the river.  I went down to the old bridges just below downtown Memphis and then paddled back up on the Arkansas side.  The river continues to be quite high: Saturday's level was 27.9 feet on the Memphis gauge.

I had to rearrange my usual weekend schedule to accommodate some Sunday commitments.  As a result, I did my usual Sunday "long" paddle today.  Today is what my friend Joe would call a "chamber of commerce" day: blue skies, warm, a pleasantly gentle breeze.  With the river level still hanging around 27.9 feet, it was a good day to paddle around the Loosahatchie Bar.  I got in the boat and went about this trek in the following manner:

1.  I used the section from the marina down to the mouth of the harbor to warm up and do three 8-stroke sprints.

2.  I pushed the pace up the Mississippi along the Tennessee bank from the harbor's mouth to the mouth of the Wolf River.

3.  I eased up during the stretch upriver from the mouth of the Wolf to the big eddy near the south end of DeWitt Spain Airport.

4.  I paddled hard while ferrying across the main channel.  I continued paddling a pretty strong pace as I worked my way up to the north end of the Loosahatchie Bar against the strong currents there.

5.  Once I had rounded the Bar's north end, and had the current working in my favor, I took a breather.  Then I slowly built into a good solid pace down the Loosahatchie Chute.  I made sure to admire my surroundings: the Loosahatchie Chute might be my favorite outdoor spot in the entire greater Memphis area.  With the picture-perfect weather and the forested banks becoming greener by the day, it was gorgeous today.

6.  When I emerged from the Chute and began working my way back across the main channel toward the harbor, several upstream-moving barge rigs had just passed and there were some decent-sized waves to deal with.  They weren't as rough as what I saw down in Vicksburg nine days ago, but they were big enough to demand my attention.

7.  By the time I re-entered the harbor I was getting tired but still had enough energy to paddle at a decent clip.  At times like this I try to focus extra hard on good stroke mechanics.

I got back to the dock about an hour and 52 minutes after I'd left it.  My paddle today had had a little of everything: some flatwater, some smooth moving water, some waves, some paddling against the current, some paddling with the current, some hard paddling, some easy paddling.  Not a bad morning's work.