July 27, 2017
to Gloster - Homochitto National Forest: Through rolling woodlands
“That was a long 9km” Rachel says as we near Glosten. “Ahh, it’s miles” Patrick remembers now. We’ve been cycling with distances measured in kilometers for so long, mentally changing kilometers to miles, that now we need to do the reverse.
We sleep well in our tent and on our new loaner sleeping pads that Cascade Designs sent out to us. It actually cools down enough during the night to where we need our sleeping sheet to cover-up early in the morning. It is very humid though, we learn not to leave stuff out during the night because light dew is on everything by morning. After packing-up we join Perry in her house to have coffee and eat our oatmeal. Then it is time for goodbyes and Perry waves us off and tells us after leaving the driveway there is a dip in the road and then the hills begin. We have joined the ranks of so many cyclists who have enjoyed her hospitality. It is nice to have this kind of instant-friends.
We follow State Highway 86 to Wilson, which is mostly closed-down, then turn on the busier route 16 headed north for Centerville and Gloster. We cross into Mississippi and stop for a photo at the welcome sign. Too bad though that there is not one for Louisiana.
We had hoped for a cafe in Centerville, but the restaurants we see are either closed-down, or are not serving breakfast at this time of day. The main road largely bypasses Gloster, but there are two shops, at the Dollar General we find most of what we need for our dinner tonight. Just outside of town we enter into the Homochitto National Forest. Googlemaps shows a campground at the Brushy Creek Guest Ranch, and a nice email conversation a couple of weeks ago while we were planning this ride confirmed they also welcome tent campers. The main road to the ranch is closed though; they are rebuilding the bridge. There is a long detour, but the host thinks we should be able to get through on our bikes.
Well, that turns out to be a bit dicey. The road is really blocked by a lot of mud and a creek while a crew is rebuilding the bridge. When we tentatively ride up though the workers are very friendly, put a couple of boards across the creek so we can cross and even help us carry our bikes and bags through the muck. A mile long dirt driveway takes us to the ranch. It is a very nice place set up for people with horses. There are cabins for rent and campsites. Each campsite has a horse corral and there also are larger stables to put the horse. There are other campers, but we see no obvious reception so we just pick a nice shady site and situate ourselves figuring someone will stop by eventually. The afternoon is spent staying out of the sun as much as possible. There is a small pool with rather green water to cool off, a nice bath house and green grass. We have our small Helinox camp chairs and plenty of books to read.
A little later Ashley stops by to welcome us to their guest ranch. She and her husband bought this place two years ago, it is a beautiful property surrounded by the Homochitto National Forest. She is very interested in our trip and even refuses payment. For dinner we plan to do macaroni with a Dutch spice package that we carried since Lima. We guess we will have to carry it one more day, because just as we start cooking one of the ranch hands comes over to tell us they are fixing enchiladas and they will bring us some too. We get a large plate of good hot food, two large jars of iced-tea and three large pieces of chocolate cake. Rachel wants the recipe for the cake! What a meal and what great Southern hospitality!
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Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 35,982 km (22,345 miles)
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