24.4 - 23 RBD Ostrica Anchorage

24-23 LBD Neptune Pass

Three openings in rip-rap allow quick exit from storms, waves and wind, and high banks behind might make for good camping.

There are three openings around the Neptune Light on the East Bank between 24 and 23 LBD. Paddlers could quickly exit the main channel through any of these small openings to escape wind, waves and storms, and possibly locate low/med camps on the shelves of mud and grass adjacent the passes. The highest banks are through the opening at Neptue 24 RBD. Take your time and pick out the best place. You will discover cleared places perched above the water on muddy shelves, which are sometimes freshly covered with sand, but more often with hardened mud -- and topped with grasses and backed by thick vegetation. At low water you will find these mouths protected by lines of rip rap with breaks in the rock which allow water flow - and paddlers - to pass through. Pick your entrance through the deepest opening and enter the protected waters behind. These unintentional man-made harbors are a rare luxury after dramatic experiences with crashing waves along the otherwise unprotected shores and beaches.

22 LBD Bolivar Point

Low/medium water camping, up to 12NO, underwater above that. Best camping is found on the first sandbars located close to main channel on East Bank as you pass mile marker sign 22LBD. This is a beautiful location, with the river making a right angle turn, freighters proudly plowing by, and many sports and commercial fishermen on the water. The sandbars at Bolivar Point would make for great camping if not for all the cattle running around this point and the East Bank shoreline for several miles downstream. If you don’t mind camping around sloppy bovines, amongst their squallering and hollering, and their many poop and pee places, definitely stop here for otherwise good camping (or picnicking). However, if you find it distasteful, go on down to Jackson Point, two miles further downstream, and located on the other side of the river.

We camped on a pile of cattle dung on the last night of a 2009 expedition. We had paddled until sunset, and and then stopped here because it was the only place we could locate in the gathering darkness. This was a decision we later regretted as we first grounded out in shallow mud, and then had to wallow through this mud to reach shore. The final insult was having to strike camp on a high point favored by cattle for the same reason we favored it -- high and dry! We resolutely built a fire and set up a big wall tent on the dung pile, and made the best of the situation. But not something I would want to purposefully repeat!