Geri along Glenrock Branch Creek



Dennis at the entrance to an old phosphate mine

 

Our campsite at Fall Hollow Campground

 Day 30 - We woke up to some frost this morning, so we were happy to be in the Ligon's warm home instead of camping in a city park with no bathrooms!  Since we arrived in the dark, we were unable to see the Ligon's beautiful property.  They own 150 acres and a spring fed stream flows through the entire length of their land.  Just behind their home are limestone bluffs, forests and several waterfalls.  Karen cooked my favorite breakfast, French Toast, and Mike hauled all our gear, bike and us back to where we left off on our ride yesterday.  I am afraid we really messed up the Ligon's morning schedule, but they did not seem to mind.  We said our goodbyes to this special family and we were pedaling north again.  We made a lot of stops again today and enjoyed several nature trails beside crystal clear streams.  One trail took us to an old abandoned phosphate mining area.  The most exciting roadside attraction for me was the death and burial site of Meriwether Lewis, the leader of the famous Corps of Discovery (Lewis and Clark Expedition).  Geri and I retraced the return route of the Corps of Discovery in 2004-2005 by backpacking and canoeing their entire route.  We feel a special connection with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark because we read their journals as we hiked and paddled in the same places they did.  We had a head wind again today which did slow us down a bit at times and the hills are getting longer and steeper.  We had to pedal up several hills today that were over one mile long.  The coast down these hills is great fun, but the ride only lasts a few minutes compared to the much longer effort required to pedal to the top of these many grades.  Our elevation varied between 800 and 1100 feet all day.  We reached Fall River Campground around 5:00 PM and immediately got dinner at an adjacent restaurant before selecting a campsite.  We were very hungry.  There are very few businesses located next to the Parkway on this part of the Natchez Trace, unlike the southern portion of this highway.  We need a grocery store to resupply our traveling snacking food.  We only traveled about 40 miles today, but despite the wind and hills we averaged over 11 mi/hr.  Thanks to the Ligon Family for helping to make everything so much more enjoyable for us today and especially last night.



Geri at the entrance to Cave Spring

 

Dennis in front of Bear Creek Indian mound

 

Old lovers at Freedom Hills Overlook





A bad place to stand if you have a wooden leg!

 

A very special family - Marilyn, Karen, Mike & JR Ligon

 Day 29 - We were up before the sun again and able to pack up with very little dew slowing us down, however, we discovered a small scorpion under the tent when we were packing it up and that led to a very thorough inspection of our sleeping quarters. We were leaving the State Park before 8:30 AM.  Like yesterday there was much to see along the Parkway today.  We visited a small cave called Cave Spring, saw another large Indian mound and pedaled into Alabama all before 11:00 AM.  We took a long lunch break before crossing the Tennessee River and hiked several short trails.  One trail, called Freedom Hills Overlook, brought us to the best view of the surrounding area we have seen.  Another trail took us to Rock Spring which was surrounded by a lot of evidence of beaver activity.  One unexpected roadside attraction was an incredible rock wall maze complex.  We have been amazed at the many Indian mounds we have seen and we have pondered the vast amount of time and manpower it must have taken to build them.  The rock wall complex we visited was huge and it is hard to believe, but it was constructed by just one individual.  It almost puts the Indian mounds to shame, since those required many workers.  We were only in Alabama a short while today then we entered Tennessee.  This makes 3 states in one day on our bike.  We have pedaled in 3 states in one day only once before, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.  That was during our Route 66 adventure.  Route 66 leaves Oklahoma, catches the SE corner of Kansas and then enters Missouri.  Our last attraction along the Parkway today was another spot showing the original Natchez Trace.  We reached Collinwood, TN. before 6:00 PM and our guidebook indicated that we had the option of camping or staying at a motel.  We were more interested in eating first.  We found an all-you-can eat seafood buffet that we took advantage of.  We were very hungry and worn out from our ride today.  We covered nearly 60 miles and the north wind was even stronger today than yesterday.  So we had a bit of a struggle against the wind as the protective forests have diminished and our climbs have gotten longer and steeper.  We broke 1000 feet in elevation several times today.  Our average speed was under 10 mi/hr as evidence of the difficult travel we experienced.  After we were stuffed from the buffet, we decided to reward ourselves with a motel stay, but we found that the local motel only had 2 rooms and both were occupied.  That forced us into camping, but every spot where the city allowed camping had rest rooms that were locked and there were no commercial campgrounds nearby.  We really needed to cleanup badly before going to bed.  Just as we were ready to set up our tent in Collinwood's city park, Karen Ligon drove by and saw our tandem bike and she knew we were travelers.  Karen and her husband, Mike, are tandem riders also.  Karen discovered we had no facilities and before we knew what happened she had called a friend, Jim, who drove his pickup to Collinwood to haul our bike, all our gear and us to the Ligon's home for the night.  As usual, we are humbled by the kindness of some people and they seem to appear like magic when we need them the most.  We enjoyed the Ligon's 2 children, JR and Marilyn, in their comfortable rural home.  Geri and I will both be searching for bicyclists to rescue when we return home!

Geri and Dennis at Black Belt Overlook



Twenty-mile Bottom Overlook

 

Our campsite at Tishomingo State Park

 Day 28 - It seems to be a lot easier to get up early when you're camping, so before sunrise we were already out of bed, but as usual we didn't get on the road until nearly 9:00 AM.  We made a quick stop at Black Belt Overlook before pedaling into Tupelo, MS. for a McDonald's Big Breakfast.  I imagine that Becky Brandt, who works at the USDA office where I work part time, will pay special attention to our travels today since Elvis was born in this town!  I did not realize that all McDonald's now have WiFi, so we were able to download photos to our blog from yesterday. There were a lot of things to see today along the Natchez Trace. We visited the Chickasaw village site and took a short cut on an unpaved bike trail to get back on the Parkway. We saw several sites where the old Natchez Trace was clearly visible and one place had 13 unknown Confederate soldiers' graves along the original Trace. There was a nice overlook called Twenty-mile Bottom which provided a view that showed we are having to climb some hills now. Our elevation seems to fluctuate between 300 and 500 feet, but we feel like we do more climbing than coasting. One of the most interesting roadside attractions was Pharr Mounds with 8 Indian mounds spread out over a wide area, two of which are 18 feet high. We saw another copperhead today, but he had met with an untimely death and had become a part of the road. We had to battle a north wind today which seems to get stronger each day, but at least, the temperature remains pleasant for bicycle travel and there is not even a hint of any rain. Toward the end of the day we passed the 300 mile marker and we traveled off the Parkway a few miles later to get to a campsite in Tishomingo State Park. We arrived at the entrance to the Park at sunset, but there was a convenience store at that intersection and we could not resist getting a pizza for dinner so we would not have to cook in the dark. As a result, however, after eating we did have to pedal in the moonless, dark night to the campground about 2 miles away. It was a little eerie riding through the dense forest on a narrow road in the darkness with just our bicycle lights, but there was no traffic. That was a big change from most of our day traveling on the Parkway. It has been moderately heavy with traffic ever since we left Tupelo, MS. It seems in this part of Mississippi that the Natchez Trace is used more for transportation than for recreation. The traffic volume here is very different than in the southern portion of the Parkway. We found a campsite right next to the showerhouse, which wasn't difficult because we were the only campers we saw in the entire Park. It was a busy high mileage day. We nearly broke 60 miles today, but we enjoyed the many roadside exhibits and attractions. We averaged an even 11 mi/hr today, which isn't too bad with the return of the hills and the wind.

221 miles down-------221 miles to go!!!



Geri and Dennis on top on Bynum Indian Mound

 

Our campsite at Natchez Trace RV Park south of Tupelo, MS.



Day 27 - We had another relaxing morning catching up on journaling and blogging, but we left the motel soon after 9:00 AM. We stopped at a restaurant for breakfast and did some grocery shopping, so we really didn't get traveling north until an hour later. Fall is in the air and the mornings are very cool. Since we are headed north, the autumn season is accelerated for us and we are seeing leaves changing color rapidly and trees loosing their leaves. There wasn't much to see the first part of the day so we just pedaled north, but we did pass the 221st mile marker, which is the halfway point between Natchez and Nashville. The relief of the terrain has changed and we do have some long gradual hills to climb now, instead of the very flat country we traveled through in the southern part of the Natchez Trace, but this does allow us to get in a few pedaling breaks as we enjoy some long downhill coasts. We took a long, late lunch at a picnic area after visiting two more Indian mounds and jumped from one historical site to another the rest of the afternoon. The NE wind was stronger today and it slowed our progress more than any other day since we have been heading north on the Trace. The temperature was warmer today too, but with the low humidity the 85 degree weather was not bad. We pedaled 51 miles today and averaged 10 mi/hr. We found a commercial campground within a half mile of the Parkway before 6:00 PM. We cooked burritos for dinner and got to bed before 10:00 PM. We will be camping for the next 3 nights, so I will not be able to download any photos for several days. I will add them when we reach a motel on Sunday near Nashville.

Another Tupelo-Baldcypress swamp at Cole Creek



200 miles down----242 to go!!!

 Day 26 - We had a leisurely morning as I got caught up on blogging, since we had a low mileage day planned.  We did not leave our motel room until checkout time at 11:00 AM.  We made a stop at a museum before we even left town and met another couple who were very interested in our tandem bike.  They were tandem bicyclists themselves, although they were touring the Natchez Trace by car.  They mentioned that when they are on their loaded bike it weighs 500 pounds.  This was reassuring to Geri and I because our bike, trailer, all our gear and body weight approaches a quarter of a ton also.  We thought we pedaled the most weight of any loaded tandem!  Our day was similar to yesterday, except we only had to travel about 48 miles.  The weather remained pleasant for us with temperatures never getting any higher than in the low 80's and lower humidity.  We stopped at every exhibit and historical site again, including another Tupelo-Baldcypress swamp and several views of the original Natchez Trace.  It is amazing to us that any evidence of the old Natchez Trace still remains, since it was abandoned over 150 years ago, but in some places it looks easily passable.  I am not a superstitious person, but I felt like I should not have bragged yesterday about how long it had been since we had any tire trouble, because we had a rear flat conveniently at one of the roadside exhibits.  The tire had a noticeable hole in it, so I had to patch the tube and the tire.  I must have run over something pretty big, but I am thankful I didn't hit it with the front tire too.  Just south of Mathison, MS., where we got a motel room for the night, we passed the 200 mile marker on the Natchez Trace.  We are close to the halfway mark.  Just before sunset, like yesterday, we reached a motel.  We picked up a Subway dinner to go so we could eat in our room and not have to go out again.  The weather forecast for the next week is a carbon copy of the weather we have had for 2 days now.  It's payback time for all the nasty hot weather we had to endure for so long earlier!



Dennis on top on an Indian Mound at Boyd's Site

 

Geri on the banks of the Pearl River



Day 25 - It was quite a shock going outside this morning and feeling the huge change in temperature. It definitely felt like a fall morning with cool, crisp air and clear blue skies.  The temperature was in the 50's and the humidity was low.  We were excited to finally be able to travel in seasonable weather instead of the 90+ degree summer like temperatures we had for nearly two weeks.  We found a bike shop before leaving town and I was finally able to purchase several tire tubes.  I had been traveling with only one spare ever since the triple flats we had on Sept. 17th.  "Knock on wood," we have not had any tire problems for several days now, but our gear slippage had returned.  Although the gear slipping was minor, I wanted to have it looked at.  It appears that the new drive chain I had put on in Natchez was not matching up exactly as it should to my worn rear gear cassette, so I had that replaced.  The bike shop mechanic found another problem, but I can wait until we get home and I have have my regular mechanic, Mark Pace, work on it.  Mark is a tandem bike specialists and he has been my only bike mechanic for over 10 years, except when we are on a trip.  We did not get traveling today until 11:00 AM, which was a concern for us because we had a high mileage day planned.  We left Ridgeland, MS. on the same bike trail we entered the city on.  It was a great way to get through a town that had such heavy traffic on the Natchez Trace.  The bike trail ended at the south end of Barnett Reservoir, a beautiful 50 square mile lake that we pedaled beside for many miles watching startled shore birds leap into the air as we zoomed past.  The wonderful cool weather was accompanied with a NE wind that we had to pedal against, but the thick tree cover along the Trace protected us most of the time.  Despite our need to make up time from our late start this morning, we still stopped at all historical sites and roadside exhibits.  Our favorite today was a nature trail through a Tupelo-Baldcypress swamp.  Geri searched for floating logs with eyes and nostrils, but she never found any.  By tomorrow we will probably be too far north to be looking for alligators anymore.  We passed several sections of road construction on the Parkway, but it did not slow us down and the road's surface is the smoothest road I have ever pedaled a bike on.  I want the bring these road crews back to Missouri so they can teach MODOT how to lay a road.  They are unbelievably smooth, of course, no semis are allowed on the Trace Parkway and that probably makes a huge difference.  Late in the day we enjoyed watching our shadow dance on the trees to the east from the low sun angle as we raced to Kosciusko, MS. for the night.  We were checking into a motel next to a Mexican restaurant before sunset, which made Geri extremely happy.  It was a lot more pleasant cleaning up for dinner this evening without having to remove dripping wet sweaty clothes like we have at the end of the day for nearly two weeks.  Geri went to bed with a very happy belly.  She said the restaurant we ate at had the best Mexican food she had ever eaten and Geri has had a lot of Mexican food in her life!  Even with our late start today, we still managed to cover 64 miles and averaged over 12 mi/hr.



Cowles Mead Cemetery

 

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Dennis with the bike on the bike path through Ridgeland, MS.

I just wanted to prove that I can look as cute as Geri too!

  Day 24 - We wanted to get an early start this morning, but we had a miserable night in a hot tent and we were too tired to get up at dawn.  When we eventually tried to get the day started, a light rain kept us in the tent.  As a result, we were not pedaling until 10:00 AM.  On the bright side, it was cooler this morning and traveling was much more pleasant, at least, until it started to rain hard.  We took shelter under an inviting grand oak tree beside the road and, even with rain pouring down all around us, we barely got a drizzle on us and the bike.  The rain did not last long and we were soon traveling again on cooler, but wet roads.  Motorists remain extremely considerate, however, and they move in the far left lane when passing, so we don't get hit with road water spray.  We leap frogged historical sites one after another today and saw several old family cemeteries.  One tombstone was inscribed with the individual's birth year of 1776!  We stopped for the largest convenience store lunch I have ever eaten in my life at Raymond, MS. and we toured their visitor's center where we had the additional bonus of hearing the community string band practicing old time tunes.  We were not in top form today after the difficult time we had traveling yesterday, so when we reached Ridgeland, MS. outside of Jackson, we elected to stay at a motel rather than pedal an extra 4 miles off route to a campground.  The traffic had gotten much heavier the closer we got to Ridgeland and we appreciated a paved bike path that paralleled the Natchez Trace through town. We saw nearly 20 other cyclists on this popular trail in the short time we were on it. We only covered 54 miles today, but it felt like more due to our lingering fatigue from yesterday, but we still managed to average 10.5 mi/hr and we reached the 100 mile marker on the Natchez Trace.