It takes about 3 hours to get to the campground (Clear Springs, Homochitto National Forest, Roxie, MS), but by early afternoon, we have our camp setup, lunch eaten, and there's still lots of daylight to do some exploring. There is plenty of Crimson Clover growing in these parts.
The DS riding here is easy. You can find hundreds of miles of gravel and 2-track roads that are well maintained. There aren't many rocks here, and the drainage appears to be decent as we rarely encounter washouts or other challenging obsticles to navigate. You rarely see any other vehicles on these roads. Mike is still a relative newish DS rider, and this is a perfect place for him to practice and hone his skills.
I led us on a nice 60 mile loop that put us back at the campground for 5 pm. What do you know? It's 5 o'clock here!
Tonight, it's my turn to cook. Bowtie shrimp and pasta with some veggies.
It's a bit warm, so we skipped the campfire but the full-ish moon provided plenty of light for after dinner spirits and some sampling of blues and classic rock music from Mike's rather extensive collection (THOUSANDS of songs).
Friday, I woke up pretty rested. I borrowed a USB powered fan from my wife and set it up on my tent loft to blow on me - that helped with the warm temperatures. After coffee and breakfast, we geared up and hit the trails, this time running generally south.
We packed a sandwich for our lunch and I stopped at a small waterfall I found for us to eat. Uncharacteristically, I took no pictures. 120 miles later, we arrived back about 4:00 pm. The campground is still empty (we had the entire place to ourselves last night), and with the temperature in the low 80s, we dcided to take a dip in the campground pond. Quite refreshing if I don't say.
About 5:30 pm, we finally got a neighbor with a dual sport bike, he came over and introduced himself, and joined us for dinner. It was Mike's turn to cook and he grilled some stuffed chicken thighs. We ate that with a salad and some leftover pasta from last night. Good eats!
We threw a few sticks we found at the campground on the coals for a small "ambiance fire", and enjoyed some more music and fellowship for the evening.
Saturday morning, we awaken to cloudy skies and a small threat of rain. Since we are leaving this evening, we packed up our tents and stowed everything in Mike's truck. We paid for another night of camping (only $6.00 each) so that we could leave the truck/trailer securely at the site for the day.
Today, the Southern Mississippi Dual Sport Rider's group is having a get together and ride, and we decided to join them. We were 17 riders all together.
I recognized a few guys that I had met and rode with in these parts a few weeks earlier. Obviously with a group this large, I was concerned about herding the cats. But I was pleasantly surprised to quickly learn that these peeps know how to ride. There was a variety of skill level and pace, of course. But everyone sorted themselves out quickly and the 100-ish mile ride for the day went very smoothly.
Mike and I started toward the back of the pack. That is my usual tactic - watch from behind and see how these new to me people ride. After the first stop, I started filtering a bit closer to the front, and being more conservative, Mike stayed toward the rear.
This is a cool old bridge that crossed the Homochitto River.
The route called for 3 water crossings. The bottom here is loose-ish sand.
Some had better luck than others. It was a bit much for that heavy Ducati.
The beach on both sides is deeper sand, and my bush pig took a nap climbing out. Thankfully, I had plenty of help.
About noon, we pop out of the woods and stop at this place called Granny's Corner for lunch. Mike and I had packed a sandwich, not knowing what to expect. We bought a soda pop and joined the group.
After lunch, the route took us over this low water crossing at McCall's Creek.
And then we circled back around north and west toward our meeting place, stopping at another old metal bridge. I've been here before.
I had a good time riding with these people.
At the end of the ride, we stopped in Bude, MS at this old hole in the wall for a treat. Strawberry syrup on softserv ice cream is not ideal, but it was tasty none the less.
From there, Mike and I rode back to the truck, loaded the bikes, and headed home. All told, it was about 300 miles over 2 1/2 days. I think I spent about $75.00 for the whole thing. You can't beat that with a stick.
Nothing earth shattering or inspirationally moving. Just a good dirt bike trip on a whim. And that's plenty good enough for me.
Stay thirsty, my friends.....
