Thursday 23rd May 2013 Miles Today 255 Total 4687
After leaving the town of Natchez we set off on an ancient American trail called the Natchez Trace. The trail predates the US in that it was used for centuries by the native Indians and then latterly as a link between the fledgling US and Natchez and hence the gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi.
It is now a preserved scenic byway route and like the Blue Ridge parkway, can not be used by commercial traffic. As such it is pristine and quiet as well as being a very beautifully picturesque road.
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| Flat, scenic and empty. |
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| Cattle Egrets, harassing, errrrr a horse. |
Today we managed to ride around half of it, about 250 miles. We came across this: I said it was to commemorate the girls that used to fight over me. Karen told me to wake up and informed me it was the location of a significant battle for the town of Raymond during the American civil war.
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| An idiot abroad. |
Much of the trail went through swamps like this.
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| Most of the trail was like this. |
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| A local bog monster perplexed by the pretty lines on the map. |
We came across the usual wildlife but this made a welcome change.
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| It moved pretty quick when it realised that Karen had her camera out.Karen lost her bottle when it entered the long grass. |
We turned off the trail at a place called French Camp. It was a hut, dated 1820 called the Council House and was used as a negotiation center whilst the Indians were being squeezed out of their territories.
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| French Camp on the Natchez Trail. |
We are holed up tonight in a place called Starksville. Tomorrow we head towards Memphis and Graceland's.
The Natchez is a great ride. The bits of history are quite interesting - imagine the balls it took to venture forth into these wilderness areas and carve out a life. And much of what was built was wood, and so is decayed or destroyed. The small pieces that remain are doubly important. Glad you were able to see some of it.
ReplyDeletelol at "An Idiot Abroad" just brilliant!!
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