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Journal Notes from the November 1998 Float to the Sea:
DAY 2
(Nov 6):
Below the confluence of the Arkansas a
crew is working on rebuilding the caving muddy banks with Tennessee
limestone. There is a strong eddy there where the two rivers mix that
starts near shore and swirls far out into the main channel. The crane
operator there, and a passing fisherman were the last people I was to see
(save the silhouettes of tugboat pilots) along the river until Vicksburg.
The wind was steady out of the North, so I alternately floated and paddled
all day, stopping only once to lunch at the base of Choctaw Bar. The
surface of the river was like stained glass, fields of deep blue with
pieces of yellow, white, and orange. I reached Warfield Point just before
sunset, and set up camp on a small bar exposed by the low water below the
park. It wasn’t until I climbed up the embankment that I discovered a sign
hung on a wire separating the park area from the bank that read:
"Dangerous Current: Do not pass sign: $500.00 fine."
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