Our Nashville to New Orleans Trip:  Part 1

 ​                The bicycle trip began by taking apart and strategically fitting our bicycles into the trunk and backseat of our car then heading for Jericho, Vermont for a talk and discussion on environmental issues.  Continuing on to Philadelphia we stayed with Reds and Maureen, old friends of David's, and while there we were able to reconnect with other high school friends.  As friends do, we all have different political views and ways of living but our deep friendship is what holds us together  Before leaving Philly we toured the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum near the Philly airport and the Bartram Gardens (John Bartram was a botanist in the 1700's).  Both of these areas are worth the time to visit when exploring the city of brotherly love.  We continued our Philly tour by going to see one of the top jazz saxophonists in the world, David Murry, with Rick and Reds.  It was hard to keep up with the city pace and Mary and I found ourselves going to bed at two in the morning.  We were ready to drive to Nashville and already we were exhausted.  When touring on a bicycle flexibility is needed and this was the case as we were leaving the city.  The original plan was to park our car at Reds and Maureen’s, rent a car, drive to Nashville and at the end of the trip take a train back to Philly.  When Joe, another friend, drove us to the car rental they would not accept a debit card but only a credit card.  Thank goodness Joe insisted on waiting to make sure everything went as planned and drove us back to the car.  Our spur of the moment option was to drive our car down to Nashville and try to figure out where to park it for a long period and how to get back to it when our travels were over..

The Philadelphia airport as seen from the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge

It's amazing how this refuge flourishes so near the airport and all the traffic

The John Bartram House and Gardens  

Mary and I toured the area around the Philadelphia Art Museum.  There were a number of walking trails including  along the Schuylkill River

Downtown Philly as seen from the Schuykill River

The 'Boathouses' along the Schuylkill have been used by local boating clubs since the 1800's and are all lit up at night  

                The car trip to Nashville was long but uneventful and we found the music city crowded and commercialized.  It reminded us of Bourbon Street in New Orleans with music blasting from every direction and many people walking around under the influence.  We passed a man with one leg and he asked us to listen to him play a song and we stopped.  I told him we didn’t have money (we only had larger bills tucked away for our trip) and he said it didn’t matter and he began, “That’s alright mama, that’s alright with you, that’s alright mama any way you do”.  We dug down and found a few dollars in change and thanked him.  The pedestrian bridge (photo in the header) offered a view of the city as we finished our Nashville tour and headed back to the motel to get ready for the bike trip.

​                We parked our car at a ranger station at Leiper’s Fork about 20 miles from the beginning of the Natchez Trace.  Since it was getting late and no one was around it looked like an ideal place to spend our first night.  There were some round bales of hay under a tree in a nearby field and pitched the tent out of sight between the bales . 

                The Natchez Trace Parkway, finally completed in 2005 (trace- from the French word tracier meaning to follow a course or trail;  to make one’s way) is now a 440 mile road road that runs through a National Park from the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi which is situated on the Mississippi River.  The Trace has long been used by animals, hunter gathers,  Native Americans, and settlers for many years.  Now, there are few cars on the parkway and riding along on a bicycle offers a great amount of time for reflection and contemplation on the history and implications of this famous trail.  The terrain is rolling hills and as the first miles pass us by the temperature starts to rise up into the 90’s which is unusually hot for this area in late September.  When traveling on a bike it is important to believe in the generosity and kindness of humanity, in fact your success depends on it  regardless of different lifestyles or points of view.  After our first night of camping we needed to charge our phones after making the many calls to set up long time parking and information about the Trace and we exited the Trace and went to a Dollar General.  The manager helped us find a receptacle and was so helpful in letting us hang out in the air conditioned store out of the heat for a while as our phones charged.  

We were pretty well hidden after setting up the tent between the bales of hay

There were very few cars on the Trace

The Nashville Skyline as view from the pedestrian bridge (this bridge is the photo in the header photo)

 
                That night we stopped at Shady Grove, one of many free camping areas along the Trace.  Our second night of camping was so peaceful under the many species of oaks that surrounded us.  As we proceeded the next day the temperature rose even higher and while stopping at the Gordon House rest area we decided to look for a good place to set up the tent.  A great advantage to traveling on a bike is when camping in  a non-camping area  the bicycle can be hidden out of sight and looks as if no one is there.  Mary thought that no one would go behind the Gordon House and it would be a perfect place to set up the tent under a huge oak tree.  What more could you want, restrooms, electricity, protection under the oak tree and out of sight.  It was during the night that Mary and I started scratching and in the morning it was even worse.  There were bites all over us and we looked like we had chicken pox.  As we rode the next morning, we scratched as the temperature rose and we pulled into Jackson Falls to see the falls and for a break.  The falls were just a trickle because there had not been any rain for two months after too much rain in the spring.  When we were leaving we met a woman who worked for the National Parks and was on a two month camping vacation.  As we talked we noticed that she had the same bites all over her and could not stop scratching.  She said, “They are oak tree mite bites”.  If it’s not one thing it’s another.  What in the hell are oak tree mites?  This is where technology comes in because even in the middle of nowhere we could look it up on the internet.  These mites fall from oak trees and when they land on a person they can bite.  The good news is they can’t really live on humans and will go away.  The bad news is they go away in 2 weeks or so and how long is ‘or so’ anyway.  The other bad news is that you shouldn’t scratch the bites which is impossible.  We started admiring the oak trees from a distance.  

It was good to keep moving so the black vultures didn't think you were dead

Reading at night became one of favorite passtimes

At an overlook a jazz drummer couldn't help setting up his drums and playing

​                Our next stop was an old phosphorus mine.   Layers of limestone from shellfish were laid down over millions of years and were rich in phosphate deposits.  The phosphate was loaded into carts and pulled along a mini track by “Dinky” engines which were small train engines.  At one time there was over a thousand miles of track in the area but as the phosphate mines were depleted the tracks were no longer used.  Phosphate is key to all life forms.  The formation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) acts like a battery as stored energy and when a phosphate is removed to form adenosine diphosphate plus phosphate energy is released to be used for various life functions.  

​  Plants are able to produce ATP through a process of photophosphorylation using sunlight as an energy source while animals utilize glucose as the energy source to produce ATP.  Farming became very important in the area  because the soil was so rich and was known as the ‘Black Belt’  but after a number of years the soil became depleted of phosphate. By the late 1880’s it was discovered that mined phosphate could revitalize the soil, however after a number of years the mines were also depleted and farming declined.  By the 1930’s the soil was exhausted with the phosphate reserves gone and was known as ‘cotton poverty’ coinciding with the Great Depression.  Today we are met with the same situation on a global scale.  Land is cultivated and farmed depleting the soil’s phosphate but is now replenished by mining phosphate and shipping from afar increasing the throughput (throughput is explained in various articles throughout the website) in our agricultural system. When soils become compacted, phosphate can enter our waterways stimulating algal growth, yet another huge issue.  Scientists now are looking at phosphate reserves declining to a critical point in the not so distant future.  The Law of Diminishing Returns will mandate our future phosphate use and it might be prudent to look at edible forests where plants work together to produce our food which reduces soil exhaustion, shipping and will reduce the cost of food before the depleted phosphate reserves becoming another overwhelming problem.

An old phosphate mine of days gone by

Growing cotton relies on fertilizers 

To replenish the depleted phosphate mining, refining, and shipping of phosphate are required (high throughput)

                Our destination for the night was the Meriwether-Lewis camping area, named after the famous explorer of Lewis and Clark fame.  During the evolution of the Trace, stands or inns sprung up along the trail that offered food and lodging to weary travelers.  Lewis had been appointed as governor of the Louisiana Territory and was traveling to Washington, DC in 1809 when he stopped by Grinder’s Stand where he was either murdered or committed suicide.   The temperature was in the high nineties and when we reached the entrance we found that the camping sites were still over a mile away.  When it’s the end of the day and almost a hundred degrees a mile can be a long way.  It was decided that we would leave early the next morning to beat the heat and sure enough we were up at four in the morning, had coffee and oatmeal and were on the road heading down the Trace.
 

We exited the Trace to get food at this place that was on a list, I guess the information was a little old

If we did get off the Trace we had to contend with 'Highway 61' 

I couldn't help take this picture in Collinwood of a Ford truck made in the year I was born

​ 
                We pulled into Collinwood, Tennessee and rented a small cottage.  Yes!  There was electricity, ac, a bed, hot water and TV.  It was history in the making as the whistle-blower started the possibility of impeaching the president.  The only negative of staying in the cottage is that we had to leave at the crack of dawn to again, beat the heat.

                Mary had read about a wall built by Tom Hendrix in honor of his great, great grandmother, Te-lah-nay.  As a young Choctaw girl she was forced from her home to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears (in the Choctaw language -  ‘path where eyes cry a lot’ ) and vowed to return.  With help from settlers she walked back to her home and often on her journey she had to hide for fear of being sent back to Oklahoma.  Te-lah-nay had a vision to build a wall in honor of all who were lost and all who had survived  when forced from their homes and her great great grandson carried this vision to fruition.  We turned off the Trace onto a small county road with no signs and when we arrive at the wall there were no signs, however there was no mistaking that this was the wall.  As we entered the path that ran between the walls the question ran through my mind.  How could a person build such a wall?  Mary and I went our separate ways and sat down on one of the benches to try to take it all in, the ancestry, the spirituality; it was in a way overwhelming.  Tom had passed away a few years ago and now his son has taken up the torch.  At the entrance there was a small sign that said there were books on Te-lah-nay’s journey for sale at the house so I walked up and knocked.  Tom’s Irish wife came to the door and in conversation expressed how proud she was of her late husband and her son and then I walked away with the book in hand.  Once I was back on the bike I couldn’t stop thinking about the relationship between the Native Americans and the white settlers moving into their area.  Under the presidency of Andrew Jackson the Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced many Native Americans from their homes in exchange for land west of the Mississippi.  They were promised support in their move but given little, consequently many died along the way.  On the other hand, there were also those settlers who were appalled at what was happening and tried to help by offering food and blankets. There were settlers who intermarried and in the case of Te-lah-nay offered her to stay as part of their family while on her journey back home.  The difference between the races wasn’t as clear as the differences between the idea of sharing the resources and the idea of controlling the resources.  We are faced with the same difference on a global scale and now it is critical for the fate of our survival to choose the right direction.  

This massive wall seemed to go on forever

Pictures cannot even begin to describe what is here - the spiritual presence, the will forces, the honoring of the ancestors - it was indeed a highlight of the trip

There were places to sit along the way where one could try to take it all in

                We arrived at the Tennessee River and crossed the longest bridge on the Trace.  On the other side of the river was the Colbert’s Ferry camping area where we set up camp and rode 2 miles down to the river to where the original ferry had crossed the Tennessee River.  The view of the river and bridge was well worth the extra effort. Both settlers and Native Americans capitalized on the increase of traffic by operating stands and ferries along the Trace.  At this site Levi Colbert, a Chickasaw chief ran a famous stand, Buzzard’s Roost, while his brother George ran the Ferry, the only way to cross the Tennessee River at the time.  Up at four in the morning and out on the Trace, we covered over 20 miles by 8:30 with less than 20 miles to go for the day.  The temperature kept rising and we found ourselves finding creeks and soaking our shirts and then putting them on and stopping every mile at the end.  At one point Mary laid out on the grass and I said, “What about the chiggers?”.  Mary replied, “I don’t care about chiggers”.  I have had chiggers in the past and I thought she might change her mind if she actually got them. 

The longest bridge on the Trace crosses the Tennessee River

Mary crossing the Tennessee River​

I'm exhausted and I don't care about chiggers

            It was 2:30 in the afternoon before we pulled into Pharr Mounds.  Because of the heat It had taken us six hours to travel less than 20 miles.  Pharr Mounds had restrooms, electricity and we found an out of the way camping site.  The sites of ancient Native American burial and ceremonial mounds that are along the Trace were built by hunter and gatherers before the historic period during what is known as the Mississippian period.  These sites still offer Native Americans a connection to the spiritual world today.  “Being of modern Chickasaw…and knowing that the mounds and this civilization were created by my ancestors…it gives us a sense of belonging.”  (LaDonna Brown, Tribal Anthropologist-Chickasaw Nation).  These ancient Mississippian cultures gave rise to the historic period during which the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Natchez tribes thrived.            

Bear Creek Mound site was occupied as early as 8000 BC and built around 1200 AD and was used for ceremonies and the archaeological evidence indicates the presence of a temple at one time

The Bynum Mounds as with other mounds were used as burial sites and also contained artifacts

There are eight mounds that are distributed over 85 acres.  

 
                Our next stop was Tupelo, Mississippi, only 25 miles away.  Mary had contacted Rufus, a member of Warm Showers.  Warm Showers is an organization consisting of people who open their homes to weary bicycle tourers to recharge themselves before continuing on the road.  Rufus was not going to be there but he told us where the key was and to give his dog ‘Lucky’ some pets.  We pulled into town and had to go to the hardware store for tape and low and behold, it is where Elvis Presley bought his first guitar.  It is told that his father gave him permission to go down and buy a gun but his mother said no, he could either buy a bicycle or a guitar and the rest is history.  , “That’s alright mama, that’s alright with you, that’s alright mama any way you do”.  After growing up listening to Elvis this was a quite a place to see.  It was still just a hardware store with little fanfare.  One of the store clerks said that Connie knows all of the history but is out to lunch so we went to lunch ourselves and came back for the tour. When we returned Connie was there and was excited about telling us the history and how she was extremely jealous of her sister who had  gone to see Elvis but she was just a little too young at the time.  I must have been around six years old when I first heard my brother playing 'I'm All Shook Up".  You might say I caught the Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu' at an early age.  When we arrived at Rufus’, Allister, a young man from England, was there and he was also traveling the Trace.  After catching up on the news, charging our phones, hot showers, great conversation and a good night’s sleep we were back on the Trace.    

The hardware store where Elvis bought his first guitar

It's all about the permaculture principle of stacking functions - we met friendly people who worked at the store, had a free Elvis tour and bought the tape we needed

Yes, this is the very spot that Elvis stood

​                The riding was pleasant and uneventful and we arrived at the destination, Witch Dance campground sometime before noon.  Ah, we relaxed, read, took a nap and went for a walk.  What a day.  About 3:00 in the afternoon Allister rolled in and we talked until it was time to go to bed.  The best thing about touring is the people you meet with all of their stories, different ideas and thoughts.

Getting 15 cents of gas into this little can for our stove is always tricky

Crossing state lines on a bicycle is a cause for celabration

This is the typical traffic pattern on much of the Trace

                When you are ‘out on the road’ it is always important to keep track of the weather and be flexible in changing plans and because of climate change this has become even more important.  We headed to the town of Mathiston where we planned to stay in a motel to avoid the thunderstorms forecasted and to budget our money we stayed at a cheap motel with many of the letters missing from the sign out front.  Despite the lack of affluence the owner was so helpful and positive and our stay was such a welcome relief from the elements.  It was raining the next day and we got a late start after taking care of business and shopping for food.

Painted turtle enjoying one of the many bodies of water along the way

Mockingbirds were everywhere but it was hard to get a picture

It was cold in Vermont but flowers were still in bloom on the Trace

​                At Jeff Busby’s camping area, since we were the only ones there, we picked the most out of the way site, set up and then went for a hike.  Through the years the Trace had lost its importance and in 1905 John Swain, a journalist, wrote a few articles on the lore of this famous trail.  Along with a campaign led by the Daughters of the American Revolution the Trace began to rise in popularity.  Jeff Busby, a US representative from Mississippi set in motion the wheels for the Trace to become a National Park in later years. His vision of public works building a road along the Trace came to fruition during the years of the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). When we returned the camping area was starting to fill up and we met a Motorcyclist also ‘on the road’.  It’s amazing how similar motorcyclist traveling ‘on the road’ and bike tourers are.  We exchanged stories and laughs then headed back to our tent.  In the meantime a camper as big as a house parked with its windshield overlooking our tent.  How do things like this happen?