December 2023
Recently, I had a nice Dual Sport ride in the Homochitto National Forest of Southern Mississippi. My friend Mike P and I went there last month and enjoyed it so much, we decided to try again. The weather was terrific: a bit chilly over night, but sunny and dry during the day. Again, we camped at Clear Springs, a USFS campground near the community of Roxie, MS. Arriving on Monday afternoon, we basically had the entire campground to ourselves for the week.
The riding in southern Miss is easy. The roads are well maintained and the map on the GPS map is largely accurate. We managed about 450 miles over 4 days of riding. More than 100 miles in a day on the gravel is usually a bit much for me, but again, the roads here are pretty fast, and an average moving speed in the upper 20s yields bigger mileage totals.
It rained 5-8 inches over the entire region about 3 days prior. But it cleared up and the forecast changed for the better. When you are retired, and get a window of opportunity, you take it
I hope you enjoy the pics.
Day 1: Truck ride `175 miles to the campground, about 50 miles of gravel in the afternoon.
We loaded the bikes on the trailer fairly early in the morning, and trucked it to the campground without stopping, arriving about noon. We chose the same camp site we had last month (the best in the campground, in my opinion), and after lunch, we setup our tents and then gathered enough firewood for the entire trip (a FULL trailer load). With a few hours of daylight left, we mounted the bikes and took a little ride. No pictures, but we basically rode a simple 50-mile loop.
There are no restaurants nearby, so we planned to cook each night at the campground. Tonight, Mike prepared Italian sausage and Ravioli. This is a delicious One-Pot dish.
I forgot the salad dressing, but a little salsa worked just fine.
After dinner, we got a good fire going.
A good start to the trip.
Day 2: 140 miles of gravel.
It cooled off last night and I woke up to about 45 degrees and chilly. We stoked up a small fire and after coffee and breakfast, we hit the trails.
We rode generally west toward Natchez so that we could stop for lunch.
Old Man River is pretty low this time of year.
This section of Natchez is called “Under the Hill”, and all of the buildings are 19th century structures that were built to support the river port. This is a restaurant called The Camp. We’ve eaten here many times before and the food is very good.
After lunch, we pick up some gravel roads in the flood plain just north of town. We ended up in the small largely abandoned village of Rodney, MS.
This entire region is rich in Civil War history. After the Union captured New Orleans, they moved up the Mississippi River to basically end the war. At the time, Rodney was a small river port town. A skirmish started from a misunderstanding and a union boat fired onto the town. One cannon ball remained lodged into the brick work at this church and remains there to this day.
We walked respectfully through the church, which was constructed in 1831.
It gets dark early these days and we are a good distance from the campground, so we start heading generally southeast. This is Noland Hill Road and I enjoyed riding this very much. This road is a great example of how decades of wagons and other vehicles have worn away the Loess Dirt that serves as the top soil in this region.
We are having a terrific time.
Mike’s CRF450 has an aftermarket fuel tank, holding 3.1 gallons. We finally got to a fuel station in Fayette, MS on the way back to the campground. He took 3.0 gallons. I wasn’t worried as I carry almost 5 gallons – plenty enough to share.
I was more worried about fixing my afternoon sweet tooth!
We got detoured heading back to the campground due to some bridge closures (the GPS can’t tell you that), and ended up taking a bit more pavement than I liked. None the less, we arrived at the campground about 30 minutes before dark.
My turn to cook tonight. Pork fingers and Zucchini squash on the campfire.
Potatoes in the frying pan.
Bon Appetite!
Another terrific day.
Day 3: Rinse, Lather, Repeat.
It got downright cold last night. I woke up to about 37 degrees, but thankfully, very dry. We stoked up the coals from yesterday’s fire and again, took our time with coffee and breakfast.
Mid-morning, we hit the forest roads heading generally south this time. We stopped in Crosby and ate our picnic lunch prepared at the campground this morning. In the afternoon, we stopped at Lake Okissa to look around.
We circled back north, crossing the Homochitto River at Eddiceton, before turning west to the campground. It was a great ride and again, we are not seeing anyone in the forest. No deer hunters, no riders, no one.
Tonight is Mike’s turn to cook. On the menu – Chicken burgers and brussel sprouts with bacon and maple syrup over the fire.
Moto-camping tip: A toasted bagel makes a terrific bread for a burger.
A dry front has passed through the region today and the temperatures are dropping quickly. Mike is using one of our mattress air pumps to stoke up the fire – that works terrific!
We burned a good bit of wood and drank a good bit of shampoo keeping warm that evening. Tomorrow is another day.
Day 4: One more day of riding – 125 miles.
Last night, I was glad I remembered to pack an extra blanket as I threw it over my sleeping bag. The daybreak temperature was 33 degrees and I was very reluctant to get out of the bag, although my bladder had other ideas. We stoked up the fire and huddled around it over breakfast and coffee.
The sun rose up over the trees and it started warming up nicely, so once again, we hit the gravel. Today we will run north again, but focus on the roads near the Natchez Trace.
It is so nice to be able to do this during the week, without the pressures of weekenders. We kept zig zagging around and found the Trace at lunch time, so we stopped to enjoy our picnic there.
Then after lunch, we continued northwest to Port Gibson for fuel and ice cream (no pic – darn it!). Some guys on the Southern Miss Dual Sport Facebook Group were touting a road near here, and so we decided to give it a try.
This is Shalfer Road and it has a rich history associated with the Civil War.
Bar far, this was the most challenging road we have found in Southern Mississippi. But the grip was good and we took our time getting to the Widow Creek Bridge.
This is a cool road.
Now getting later in the afternoon, we found our track from the morning, and rode it back to the campground.
My turn again to cook. I get the beans and chicken thigh started on the fire.
Saute’ the onions and peppers.
Chicken Fajitas!
Tomorrow, the weather will start to change. In the morning, Mike and I will choose to just pack up and go home. We’ve had enough fun for one trip, and the next one is always just a short time away.
But tonight, we still have time for a nice fire after dinner.
Mike has a truly incredible collection of music, centered mostly around classic Blues tunes, which I think suits him nicely. Mike is a man of science and a purist, and as I sat by the fire mostly quiet, I started to think about that a bit. In my view, all music today, regardless of genre, originated from the old Blues tunes, and there is ample evidence to support this. I think it would be hard for me to convince my 28 year old son that a lot of the R&B he listens to now came from this very place where I am sitting. As simple technically as it can be, the old 3-Chord Riff has indeed withstood the sharpest test of time, and rightfully so.
And that made me think further: truly good things that matter last. Over time, they may alter slightly in disguise, but that doesn’t diminish their purpose, impact, or importance. In the context of this, things that don’t last usually don’t matter much. This can be said for ordinary tangible things, as well as inanimate things. Among the latter most noteworthy are relationships. Good relationships that matter last. And I am honestly humbled and proud of all the good relationships that I have. Like Mike, I consider myself a man of science. But I’m here to tell ya: Karma is indeed very real. We get out of this life precisely what we put into it. So if your output is disappointing you, I suggest you change your input.
Right now, my output couldn’t be any better.
Stay thirsty, my friends.
