It rained most the night, and the morning was overcast and wet.  I took a leisurely breakfast and hoped for a change in the weather but was not rewarded.  Set out at noon amidst strong wind and rain, the temperature in the low 60s.  The rain was in my face, as well as the wind and the waves it created.  It was a disagreeable time, not particularly cold but wet to the bone and tiring to face down the waves.  It required a course correction every few seconds, for the turbulent water served to push me this way and that.

I arrived in Guttenburg around 3 pm, thankful for a respite, a warm meal and refreshment.  While at a tavern, I chanced to converse with an older couple who informed me of an alternate, perhaps more suitable, route to the Gulf.  It would require my departure from the Mississippi river in Cairo, Illinois.  I would head up the Ohio River and then south through a series of dams and lakes, gaining a southbound current in Kentucky, which would lead me through Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama to the Port of Mobile.  I am most intrigued by this idea, as the couple pronounced the route as scenic and peaceful and clean, in contrast to the lower Mississippi, which would be very wide open and blanketed by industry and the filth thereof.  I will gather further information of this route at my earliest convenience.

Was obliged to wait in the damp for 90 minutes at Lock and Dam 10 while a barge and towboat made a complicated locking-through procedure.  Did not arrive in Cassville until 9 pm and I find myself ill-humored from the long day of wet travel and waiting around for so few miles gained.

Day 25: 27.5 Mi.  1 Lock.