Day 6 - April 17 - Hattiesburg, MS to Lake Jeff Davis Campground, MS - Crossing the T.....Part One

April 17, 2024

Day 6 - April 17 - Hattiesburg, MS to Lake Jeff Davis Campground, MS

Humid Beings

John’s Story

The humidity this morning was at least 90%, as scientifically determined by using an iPhone to query the Weather Channel. It was impossible not to sweat. Even Ed sweat. It cut down the need for frequent stops to make our bladders flatter.

Onto the Longleaf Trace, the longest rail trail in Mississippi at 43 miles. The trail is well maintained and quite smooth but for the occasional root bump. Especially closer to Hattiesburg there were many signs with the names of trail sponsors.

After singing the praises of the ups and downs of hills yesterday, we were back on the flats for about 36 miles not long after leaving the hotel. It’s nice to be away from the traffic for a while, but if I had to ride a trail like this all the way across the country I’d lose my mind.

For most of the length of the bike trail, it is paralleled by an equestrian trail.

If bikers have to yield to horses at the crossings, what does that say about our relative positions on the evolutionary ladder of transportation?

Yesterday I opined about my dislike for the fragrance (spelled o-d-o-r) of ligustrum. A couple days ago Bill identified one of my flowering plants as privet. I just discovered that privet is in the genus ligustrum. Whereas it was an occasional bloom two days ago, it is fairly lining the trail now. Tree-sized privet plants. That’s what I’ve been smelling!

Since the privet here is wild, I assume it is eaten by free-range zombies, unlike the urban zombies which prefer honeysuckle and domesticated ligustrum species….

…although I did spot wild honeysuckle along the trail.

I have a second grudge against honeysuckle. It eats fences. When we lived in Bartlesville, OK, our back fence was a mass of honeysuckle. When the fence blew down in a thunderstorm I discovered only the rotten, digested remains of the wood. Before I rebuilt the fence I nuked the honeysuckle, which was not easy!

When I saw these saplings early along the trail, my first thought was tulip tree.

Later along the trail I started to see occasional flowers on the ground that looked artificial. I finally stopped to determine they were indeed organic.

I put two and two together and confirmed that these blooms are from a tulip poplar. Funny thing is, whenever I found them on the trail, there were no nearby tulip poplars. I wonder how they got there. 💭

Now for the rest of today’s blooming’ lineup.

I can hazard a guess here. Either blackberry or wild roses.

Now let’s hear it for today’s fauna.

I don’t know if mushrooms count as fauna, but here they are. The striped one may be a turkey tail mushroom. Something fungal in the jungle.

I’m not sure if that critter counts as a duck or a goose. At any rate the kid (also fauna) on the electric mini bike wasn’t willing to get close enough to ask.

I’m pretty sure the Jetsons live Around here somewhere, and they drive a Citroën.

We pulled over to let a pickup truck carrying 5 uniformed soldiers pass. The truck was signed Mississippi Military Department. I looked it up. It’s a state agency, part of the executive branch, and includes the Army National Guard, the Air National Guard, and the State Guard. Why they were patrolling a bike trail is another mystery.

Typical station along the Longleaf Trace, with restrooms, water, shelter and a place to sit in the shade.

Last milepost before we left the Trace to find Lake Jeff Davis Campground. We discovered an unmapped (at least on Google Maps) bike trail that took us right to the campground. We probably won’t be going back that way tomorrow, but if we did I’d be sure to take a picture of the signage warning bikers of the 12% grade ahead (luckily downhill in our direction of travel).

Our corner of Lake Jeff Davis has a three-tree cypress swamp.

We changed campsites when discovered that our original choice….

To top off my day, I lost the little screw-on cap that holds the business end of my tire pump together. I think it worked itself loose while riding (I have it strapped to a pannier on top of my flipflops), so when I put it on the stem to pump up my tire it instead let most of the air out of the tire. Luckily I can use Ed’s pump.

I’ve ordered a replacement pump from Amazon and it will be delivered to my sister-in-law in Lake Cormorant, MS. We’ll be there next week.

And now you know the rest of the story.

Ed’s Story

Had a great night sleep last night… 7 1/2 hours straight was almost a first. After a waffle house breakfast we packed up the bikes and hit the road.

Actually, we are only on a road for about a mile, and then we turned onto the Longleaf Trace. A 43 mile bike path, heading north west out of Hattiesburg.

We actually got on the trail at its 5 mile point. It heads further east back to the University of Southern Mississippi.

John continues to be visible even after riding 5 miles. Like a glow-in-the-dark. But what’s that above him?

It looks like someone hung a US flag right over the trace.

Some interesting trail sites.

Some nice folks put a rest stop right along the trail; a very nice one too.

The Air Force will go anywhere to try to get recruits. I guess they’re hoping to get cyclists.

When we reached Sumrall, I found a grocery store where we could restock our food supplies. We turned left, start riding, climbed a steep hill, kept riding, and then I realized oops wrong road.

We backtracked, found the correct road, and made it to the grocery store. Replenishment complete we worked our way back to the Longleaf Trace.

John likes to take pictures of flora and fauna, so I figured I would take a picture of him taking his picture.

The Mississippi River gorge, or a stream with a gorge in Mississippi? Your guess is as good as mine.

John trying to decide if this is a good campsite.

We decided not to primitive camp tonight, but to get the amenities of water and power.

Today’s ride was 41 miles.

Tomorrow we are headed to Brandon, MS, to stay with John’s nephew Adam. It will be our longest ride to date (67 miles) and the hilliest (2728’ of climbing).

Until tomorrow, happy biking!

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 288 miles (463 km)

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