Thursday, Day 4, 72 Miles

We awake to what appears to be the hottest morning so far (at 5 AM, no less). We get on the road at about 7 and start the long haul back to Jackson and a much needed motel stay. We do fairly well, making the 20 miles back to Red Dog Road. The next 20 to River Bend is much tougher and we stop for trail mix, water and a much needed rest. But, as they say, “It ain’t gonna ride itself”, we get back on and head back along the edge of the reservoir. The crossing breeze from yesterday is now a head wind, due the passing of the front last night. We struggle mightily for the next 17 miles to the overlook, take another rest and refreshment stop and call the hotel for directions. It appears there is no way there with light traffic and, as a local had told us earlier that morning, “the roads don’t have any shoulders in Mississippi”. So we take the Clinton bike trail for about 5 miles and get off on Highway 51/State Street. Four lanes, heavy traffic and the absolute worst surface we have experienced (there were dirt roads on the Great Divide that were better). To make things worse, there’s a nice head wind and then it starts to rain. Hunter thought the rain was actually an improvement, since it cooled us off. After about 10 miles of this we finally make the Hilton Gardens downtown. The receptionist made the mistake of asking me “How are you”? We get to the room, clean up, hang stuff out to dry and head directly to the bar. Fortunately, they have a real nice Alabama-made IPA on tap and a helpful bartender to provide recon. We take his recommendation and head 1 block down the street to the Mayflower Grill, which looks to have been a local hangout forever. Good food, reasonable prices and we head back to the hotel rejuvenated.

 

Wednesday, Day 3, 62 miles

We leave camp about the usual time, and head back across the Spillway towards the Trace. Wanting to avoid the traffic we had experienced on the way in, we luckily find a woman on a bike, and, surprisingly, manage to catch her! She takes along a bike trail that we would have never found and leads us to the Reservoir Overlook, which is one of the stops right on the Trace. Some of the trail turns out to be the Clinton bike trail that Hunter saw yesterday and we would end up using tomorrow to avoid the Jackson traffic.  We travel about 15 miles north on the Trace along the reservoir, so the scenery is pleasant and, fortunately the lake breeze is a crossing one. We stop at River Bend at the bottom of the Pearl River which feeds the reservoir , and experience firsthand the horrors of the Sequester, the bathrooms are closed Wednesday through Friday (note to self: they will not be open on the way back, either) Fortunately, they left the drinking fountains on and the lack of a bathroom was not really a problem for males. We cover the next 20 miles to Red Dog Road, named for a Choctaw Chief, uneventfully, but the miles and the heat are beginning to take their tool. The next 15 miles to the Holly Hill picnic area are a struggle, and the last 6 to the Kosciusko Visitor Center are a Bataan Death March kind of ride that seems to take forever. We enter the visitor center and the woman working there has no idea about the bikes-only campground we got from the NPS site. She calls around and tells us it’s about ¼ mile back down the road at the maintenance office. We find it and note that there is already someone camped there (we have seen only two people that are bike packing so far). Turns out to be an “interesting” character, Tom, heading from Deland, Fl to the Dakotas with his dog, Scruffy, in a trailer and about 100 pounds of gear.  Later, a guy named Noah shows up traveling south from the beginning of the Trace in Nashville. We ride a couple miles into the town of Kosciusko for some beer and provisions. Noah, being your typical Millennial, uses his solar-charged IPhone to check the weather satellite and it looks like some nasty stuff is headed our way. We manage to avoid the rain, but get a lightning strike about 100 yards away that has us checking our drawers. Hunter and I walk a short distance to an Italian restaurant and have an excellent pizza, aptly named “The Almighty”.

 

Tuesday, Day 2, 60 Miles

We get a slightly later start this morning, having to break camp, but still on the road at 7:15. Traffic is still light, but the scenery is fairly repetitive (not nearly as much as the C&O). At MM 73.5 is Dean’s Stand and Dillion’s Plantation, a place where General US Grant stayed after the Battle of Raymond about 5 miles north on the Trace and part of the 1863 Vicksburg campaign. We try to get off in Historic Clinton on the southwest side of Jackson to re-provision, but the construction is terrible, so we press on towards our campsite in Ridgeland and the Ross R Barnett Reservoir just north of Jackson. It is now hot and the traffic is terrible and the shade non-existent.  Hunter notices what appears to be a parallel bike path which we don’t figure out how to get on until the way back! We have to get off in Richland and ride about 6 miles, 4 of which is a bike lane on Spillway road at the bottom of the reservoir.  Again we get in fairly early, at about 2PM, and find a campsite with a small view of the reservoir but a Kroger across the street.  Hunter naps while I drink beer by the pool. Later, I try to unsuccessfully update the blog, spending about 30-45 minutes with the 7” Android tablet, only to have blogspot tell me there was a “problem” tying to publish the post and not bothering to save a draft. Hence, these post coming today.

 

Monday, Day 1, 62 Miles

Got an early start from the Hotel and on the Trace about 7AM. Great surface and absolutely no traffic. Meet a couple of locals doing a day trip ride, and they direct us to the Emerald Mound, the 2nd biggest Indian mound in the US, approximately 8 acres. We continue on the Trace and traffic is still mostly non-existent. Lots of historic sites along the way, including parts of the original Trace and lots of "stands" (Inn/Tavern/Grocery Store/Blacksmiths) for people using the trace. We amuse ourselves by counting road-kill, mostly snakes, squirrels and armadillos (fairly surprising due to the lack of traffic). Also some live turtles. We stop in Port Gibson at about mile 40 for some beer and Sonic sandwiches. We make the Rocky Springs NPS Campground around 1:30. Hunter takes the hike through some of the old Trace to view the old town, a still operating church and the cemetery being the highlights. Hunter mostly constructs a fire from wood scavenged from other campsites; even Mac would have been impressed by it. I catch the sites the next morning on the way out. The springs don't spring any more, but in the early 1800's there were some 2,000 people living here, about half of them slaves. We are struck by the number of infants in the graveyard.

 

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Tour of Hattiesburg & Natchez

Left town about 7AM and decided to stop in Hattiesburg for lunch. Pretty dead with USM on break but asked some locals and found a place called The Brownstone for a good local IPA and PoBoys (crawfish for Hunter and alligator for me). Got to Natchez and took a tour of some nice Antebellum homes. Not much open on Sunday but manged to find Blues & Buscuits! Good buscuits, not much beer variety, and no blues but nice ambiance. Went to the Castle Pub on the grounds of one of the mansions. Really great ambiance there high falooting with the ritch folk. 55 miles tomorrow morning hoping to beat the heat.

Brief History of The Natchez Trace

Hunter provided this brief history of the Trace for those of you with a historical bent. Hope we don't have to sell our bikes in Jackson and walk back to Natchez!
Natchez Trace History

Two Sloths on The Trace

Only two Sloths on the Natchez Trace ride from 5/27 - 6/2. Bill Hunter and I (John Stacklyn) will be doing about 300 miles out and back from Natchez, MS to north of Jackson and back. Starting from Natchez on Memorial Day and riding to the Kosciusko bike-only campground. So far weather looks hot and humid (typical Mississippi May weather) but we hope to find some cool blues and bar-b-que in Jackson where we hang out for a Friday in the middle of the ride.Will be blogging as Hunter's smart-phone permits.