October 14, 2020 More Natchez Trace, then Home

Wednesday,  October 14, 2020

It is 47 degrees this morning so a hot breakfast tastes good.  Breakfast taco with hamburger along with fresh blueberries we picked up yesterday.  The blueberries are from Peru!  We've gotten them at home as well, along with a lot of fruit from Chile.  Remember "the old days" when you had to eat what was in season where you lived?

Our first stop this morning is a complex called French Camp.  An Inn, trading post, livery stable, blacksmith shop, log cabin and a few other buildings give a hint of how people lived in the 1800's.

Totally self-guided, we only see only four other people our entire visit.   Louis LeFleur established a trading post with the Choctaw Indians near here in the early 1800's.  Because of his nationality, the area became known as French Camp.  Interestingly, he married a Choctaw woman and their son became a Choctaw chief and then a Mississippi State Senator!

 

 A gift shop and cafe are closed.  A few cabins can be rented during normal times.

 We pick up an ornament at the pottery shop which has a number of items on an outside table and a tin for donations.

The livery stable has no horses today, but these cute piglets were hoping for a handout!

We planned to stop at Cypress Swamp and River Bend, but they are both closed due to hurricane damage. Quite a few trees down along the road as well.   More bicyclists today than cars - but most are traveling north.

We stop at Baxter Reservoir, a pretty 50 square mile patch of blue amid the green.

Rocky Springs is our next destination, with a 2 mile trail to Owens Creek Waterfalls.  But the trailhead is closed due to erosion of the trail.  The road in is a little dicey, too, so we continue on.

Last stop is Windsor Ruins, which are the remains of a Cotton Plantation Home.  The house had 23 rooms and must have been quite elegant based on the standing columns and a surviving sketch.   It survived the Civil War, but was destroyed by a fire in 1890.  We stopped here several years ago and wandered around the site, but they have now fenced the area due to safety issues.  Interesting that the columns were built from brick and covered with stucco.

Some pretty interesting  photo ops when there was better access.

This little church,  Bethel Church, is just down the road.  It was built by its members in 1840 and updated in the 1890's when the slave gallery was removed.  A tall steeple was destroyed by a tornado, giving it an odd and distinctive look.

Because so many things were closed, we end up arriving at the Louisiana border around 2:30.  We are an hour or two inland from the Gulf but Hurricane Delta definitely came this way.  Lots of stacks of trees and other debris in front of almost every home and many blue tarps on roofs. 

We were going to stop at Martin Dyes State Park in Texas, but we are only 2 1/2 hours from home and Greg says he'd rather sleep in his own bed tonight, so we motor on.  We stop for gas and it is great to see prices in the $1.60's again!  Seemed the range this trip has been mostly $1.80's and $1.90's. Arrive home about 8:15, grab a bite to eat, plug in and crash!   

3,697 miles.  Great to travel, but always nice to get home.

October 13 Natchez Trace, History

 October 13, 2020

A cool 52 degrees as we head to a nearby McDonalds for coffee and breakfast sandwiches, and then use the gps to find the start of the Natchez Trace, just south of Nashville. GPS is wonderful most of the time.  Yesterday it took us on a circuitous route, to say the least, to avoid an accident road closure - tiny little winding backroads with a one lane bridge - but probably saved us well over an hour.  Thankfully the 18-wheelers couldn't take our "detour".

The Natchez Trace is a 441 mile long road which follows a trail that has existed for thousands of years, and  holds an incredible amount of history.  It is similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway in that it is closed to commercial traffic, is a nicely paved 2-lane road with a 40-50mph speed limit.  Lots of pull outs, historic plaques, picnic and rest areas.  Instead of mountains, it traverses green rolling hills, going through wooded areas, pastureland, hay and cotton fields, a few rivers and reservoirs, and even some cedar swamps and marshland in the far south.  A beautiful, relaxing drive!

There are many stops and we hit maybe half of them.  Our first stop is at a memorial to soldiers of the war of 1812 who traveled the Trace with Andrew Jackson to the Battle of New Orleans.   You can see the coins, stones, buttons etc. left as a sign of respect or acknowledgment.  Several are buried along the way, along with some civil war soldiers. So many died from wounds and disease - wouldn't it be fascinating to hear their stories in their own words

Next is Gordon House, built in 1817 by a man and his wife who operated a ferry at the Duck River and traded with the Choctaw Tribe.  Again, this would be an interesting story because the man was a soldier and often gone, so the wife oversaw the building of the house.  Shortly after it was completed, he died, so the wife continued to live here - would love to know "the rest of the story".

There are quite a few cyclists on the road, with signs letting drivers know that cyclists should be treated as regular traffic and given an entire lane.  Very little traffic, so a great place to ride! The trees are just beginning to change color here but many fields are golden or dotted with bales of hay.

We stop at Baker Bluff Overlook which overlooks a farm, and has a trail to Jackson Falls. The Falls are in   a deep shady grotto area, but pretty small this time of year.

Surprisingly little wildlife along the way.  This flock of turkeys, lots of turkey vultures and squirrels and that's about it!

Next - yet another waterfalls.

 A short walk to Fall Hollow Falls is the last waterfalls of the trip and not much more than a trickle. Ah, we've been spoiled by North Carolina! No doubt these are more robust in the Spring.

  

Next stop is a cabin where Meriwether Lewis died in 1809.  He was en route to Washington, DC  (going down the Trace to catch a ship) and died rather mysteriously.  Some say suicide, but no one is sure. Another story untold.

We stop at a small town to get gas and go to their visitor's center where we get Alabama and Mississippi roadmaps - just in case.  Two men there tell us we really should visit "The Wall" and tell us the story.  It is just a mile or so off the Trace.  So we go there.

The Wichahpi Stone Wall was built by Tom Hendrix in memory of his great great grandmother Te-lag-ney's journey - first  the forced Indian Removal on the Trail of Tears to an Oklahoma Reservation, and a year later her individual journey back to her homeland. There is a very spiritual feeling here. There are many special rocks, coins and mementos left by visitors. Thousands of stones with no mortar make up the 4-6' tall wall, which winds and twists, like a person's life story.  There is a book called If The Legends Fade about her journey.

Next stop goes way back in history.  The Pharr Mounds are some of several sites along the Trace that date back to between 1 and 200AD.  These are burial mounds of people who had villages nearby.  There is evidence of their travel and trading.  There is quite a network of mounds all over the US - we have visited others in Missouri, Ohio and Louisiana as well as in Canada.  I remember that village near Saint Louis was bigger than the city of London at the comparable time.  A large chunk of history that was never in our History books.  I wonder what their language sounded like!

This is one of 8 mounds here.  Not so impressive to look at, but interesting history.  Below are mounds of a different type - ant hills which are frequent alongside the road.

We stop for the day at the Jeff Busby Campground which is one of several free ones along the Trace.  It is primitive, with only fire rings and picnic tables but nice large sites tucked into hills.  Our picnic table was 25' down a fairly steep hill, so we ignored it.  Washrooms are closed and it is about 1/2 full - all self-contained motorhomes and trailers. We interact with no one.  The entire site seems to be covered in leaves and pine needles, making it very quiet.

Dinner is chicken soup fortified with leftover rotisserie chicken, so it is more like a stew.

October 12 Blue Ridge Color, Crab Tree Falls, into Tennessee

 Monday, October 12

It has stopped raining and the sky is a bit brighter this morning....promising.  After breakfast we take care of some housekeeping and fill the fresh water tank.  We will head south on the Parkway this morning and target Crabtree Falls for a 3 mile or so hike.

First stop is Deerlick Overlook.  Still a good bit of fog at 3452' at 8:00.  Things are a bit clearer on the north/west side of the road.  

Crabtree Falls trail starts out nicely but quickly deteriorates. 

These stairs were built from slabs of rock.

 Lots of roots and rocks, and at some points the steep trail has become a small stream, draining the recent rains.  Really must pay attention to where you are walking, pausing every so often to look around the forest.  It smells wonderful!

The Falls are quite nice with only a few other people.  We take some pictures and get ready for the climb back out.  The numbers of hikers coming down increases as we trudge upward, which seems to be a trend that we try to take advantage of.  Anything done before 9:00 will have many fewer people.  The steepest part is near the end - or maybe it just seems that way by then!   At the top we notice this sign, which says the trail is strenuous.  

An earlier sign at the campground (nice but closed) made it sound like a walk in the park!

Back on the Parkway, the fog is still heavy in areas, but there is some nice color. 

The contrast of evergreen (spruce, I think) and the color is very nice!

It really is awesome to come around a bend and see such gorgeous color!  We weren't the only ones taking pictures here. Definitely a WOW moment.

We take a side road to Mount Mitchell, the highest spot at 6684'.  Small visitor's center with restrooms is open and in demand (most are closed!)  The small campground at Mt. Mitchell is closed too, not due to COVID, but due to bear activity!

We gradually get to lower elevations where the sun begins to break through, but there is not a lot of color here yet. Timing is everything.  We wind around a bit and finally get onto 40W which takes us past the edge of the Smokies and into Tennessee by 3:00.  From here we will continue on 40 to Nashville, where we will catch the northern start of the Natchez Trace.

Greg has to adjust from the leisurely, relatively sparse traffic of the BRP, to major freeway.  But it is relatively straight and only gently rolling hills.  Lots of woods mixed with farmland and occasional cattle and horses. 

 We opt for our old friend Wallyworld (Walmart) in a town called Carthage before we reach Nashville.  I called ahead to make sure it was ok.  Staying at Walmart is not a given any longer and many of them closer to Nashville nix overnight parking. This is due to a combination of people abusing and trashing them, and cities passing ordinances against it - mostly due to pressure from legitimate fee-charging campgrounds.  Say what you will, they are darn convenient for an overnight stop.

Apparently masks are not required in Tennessee, at least we note quite a few customers without them.  We pick up a rotisserie chicken and salad for a tasty dinner.

Around 8:00 we have some rain, which cools things off nicely for sleeping and encourages the few hot-rodders working on their cars to leave.  Quiet night.