Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Natchez Trace Parkway - Tishomingo State Park to Tombigbee State Park




 Click on any photo to enlarge.

First on the list this morning was a 2 mile hike on a trail in Tishomingo State Park. After crossing the really neat swinging bridge, I headed up the trail. 




I was actually in search of an Earthcache for my geocaching fun. Somehow in my travels up and down the ridge and past some marvelous rocks, I missed the cache site altogether. Oh well, just an excuse to go back some day and do it again. Here’s a pic of one of the rock overhangs I was hiking above, below and beside. With the trail done and some good exercise had, I headed out of the park but not before stopping for a quick geo find at the gate.





I back tracked a couple of miles to go see the Cave Spring I had skipped yesterday. Silly me, it didn’t look too impressive from the road. I should know better by now. Besides, it was a virtual cache site so I learned something new and got a smilie for it!!
 
Next stop, the park beside the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. Ever since I found out that one can boat all the way from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico I’ve been trying to figure a way to do it myself. Maybe by canoe….haha! Okay, so maybe not! Somehow me and a canoe coming up against the wake of the large barges might not be a good idea.



Pharr Mounds (MM 286.7) is a really interesting stop – 8 burial mounds spread over 300 acres. It’s not even possible to see all 8 from the roadside site and despite being one of the most important archeological finds in the area, the field is being used for hay…what’s with that!



On to Donivan Slough (MM 283.3) which would look really wonderful in the spring or summer, today it was just a little bit ‘brown’ to say the least. I do much better at tree identification when they have leaves on them! Another virtual geocache to add to my collection and a quiet 10 minute walk to stretch my legs.

Next on the stops was Twentymile Bottom Overlook (MM 278.4). It’s incredible how the NPS has managed to make the Trace come alive with their signs. I really felt sorry for the poor Rev. Johnson after reading what he wrote about his day. Made my 4 days of non-stop rain seem minor in comparison.


I’m all for walking as much of the old Trace as I possibly can and the short walk to the graves of 13 Confederate Soldiers was more than appreciated. It amazes me that so much of the trail still exists after all these years. 


 



A quick stop at the Parkway Headquarters building outside of Tupolo to sign the guestbook and grab another geocache and I am done for the day. Off to go book in to Tombigbee State Park for the night.

I’m actually making progress albeit slowly. Ha, a total of 38.4 miles of the Parkway done today…just a little faster than the pioneers could ride on horseback.

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