On Tuesday I did a round of the strength routine and then headed downtown to paddle a loop of the harbor with Joe. A mass of chilly air had moved into the area, driven by a frigid north wind. Thinking that such weather was behind us, I'd washed my pogies and put them away over the weekend. I was wishing I had them on Tuesday, especially as we paddled into the teeth of that wind.
On Wednesday I got a message from Adam Davis. Adam is on vacation this week; his original plan was fill the week with some travel, bookended by races in Florida last weekend and Vicksburg this coming weekend. The pandemic upended his plans, and in his message he suggested a long paddle upriver from Memphis for yesterday. I mentioned last weekend that I've been feeling a bit run down by these long paddles, but I didn't want to disappoint Adam as he made the best of his plight. So I was in the boat bright and early yesterday morning.
The outing turned out to be immensely enjoyable. I felt surprisingly energetic as we left the harbor and pursued a spirited pace up the Mississippi. A gorgeous sunny day took shape as we passed all the familiar landmarks along the Tennessee bank: the Greenbelt Park, the mouth of the Wolf River, the Maynard C. Stiles sewage treatment plant, DeWitt Spain Airport, the sand and gravel operation, the mouth of the Loosahatchie River. We continued northward toward the lower reaches of the Hickman Bar, finally threading the slot between two of the little islets there.
From there we ferried across to the Arkansas side and found the entrance to the little channel on the west side of the Redman Point Bar. It had been some 15 years since I'd last visited this channel, which is no more than maybe a hundred meters wide, and I'd forgotten just what a beautiful place it is. Under blue skies we cruised the edge of the lush bottomland forest as the sun-dappled waters threw sparks of light all over the landscape. Eventually the channel gave way to the much larger Loosahatchie Chute, and my thoughts wandered back toward home as fatigue began to set in. I tried to keep my strokes relaxed and efficient as the downtown skyline came back into view and our tour entered its last half-hour.
We made it back to the harbor, I bade Adam goodbye at the cobblestones, and I returned to my own dock nearly three hours after I'd started. Such long sessions are not something I like to do often. But seeing as how there's really nothing to train for anytime soon, why not get out and explore? Ultimately it's what paddling is about. I've enjoyed reconnecting with some of the natural wonders that lie slightly farther afield from downtown Memphis. Meanwhile, my body still needs something shorter and quicker, so maybe I'll get around to that this weekend.
That injury in my right arm/shoulder area has continued hurting this week. But since paddling yesterday the pain hasn't been as bad, and I think paddling might actually have some therapeutic value in this case. That's my non-medical, "gut-feeling" opinion, anyway. I was otherwise very tired for the rest of the day yesterday, but it was that nice satisfying kind of tired.
I got in another round of the strength routine this morning, and now I'm hoping for a nice weekend in the boat.
For more information on what this blog is about, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment