Centerville to Colbert Ferry

Click the map for route details

Spending the night in a motel was a good idea because it rained plenty last night, and the threat of rain was continually in the air all day, but amazingly I was never in it, even when it was around me all day. The thunderstorms in Tennessee just do not have the same panache as those in the prairie lands of the North. Downright puny in comparison.

Thunderstorms threatened all day, but never delivered

Since I had already gone off the ACA-prescribed route into Centerville, I continued along highway 48 into Hohenwald, a town about the size of Centerville, but up higher, as the name might indicate. Not much to report from Hohenwald, but they did receive the Governor's Three Star Award, which, considering that even my bank guarantees five-star service (...), may or may not be saying much.

Hohenwald is called Hohenwald because it is up high

From Hohenwald, I left my maps completely, but knew that highway 99 would eventually arrive in Waynesboro, so I just followed it south. Along this stretch, I grew a little worried at times that the thunderstorms would catch up with me and, since I was up pretty high on not very thickly overgrown hills, that I might get struck by lightning. But I was not caught, and I live to write this. Shortly before Waynesboro, I stopped by a kid who was holding a stop sign to make cars aware of his family's hay-hauling activities around the corner. When asked how far it might be to Waynesboro, he told me: "Ain't too fah; three, fo', fahve mahls," which, as I came to find out, meant three plus four plus five, or 12 miles. He was right on, just speaking in code.

I got to Waynesboro just before the thunderstorms did and sat them out at an establishment that shall go nameless, but has surely served billions and billions. From there, just a hop, skip, and jump over to Collinwood, which lies right by the Natchez Trace Parkway, which I had been looking forward to for some time now.

The Natchez Trace
There has been some concern that I am losing the Mississippi, drifting too far eastward, and indeed, it is not close anymore. The problem with riding right alongside the Mississippi, however, is that it becomes more and more industrialized and the roads along it turn into big highways. Therefore, since I am exploring the Mississippi on land and cannot drift down its waters or ride in sight of it, the Natchez Trace is the next best thing, even if it is relatively far away.

It is a trail that was originally formed through frequent use by Native Americans of the Natchez, Chickasaw, and Choctaw tribes, who used the route for hunting expeditions between the Mississippi River and the Tennessee River Valley. It was mapped by French explorers as early as 1773, and by 1810, it was a very well-traveled frontier highway that allowed farmers in the Ohio River Valley to market their goods. They would float their goods down the Ohio River into the Mississippi River, then down to Natchez or New Orleans, where they would sell their goods, including their floatboats for lumber. Then they would take the Natchez Trace back home.

The old Natchez Trace

The official marker describes it thusly:

"This early interstate road building venture produced a snake-infested, mosquito-beset, robber-haunted, Indian-traveled forest path. Lamented by the pious, cussed by the impious, it tried everyone's strength and patience."

So what is the worst: snakes, mosquitoes, robbers, or Indians? In any case, the first steamboat, the "New Orleans," arrived in Natchez in 1812, and this marked the beginning of steamboat travel along the Mississippi River, which was much more comfortable and faster than walking the Trace, which soon fell back to being just a forest path. Talk about a disruptive technology. Of course, steamboats were themselves disrupted later by the arrival of the railroad, which led to the downfall of so many river cities, but that is another story.

Today, the Natchez Trace is a 444 mile parkway that connects Natchez to Nashville and does not look anything like the old trace.

Now, you just take this road for 354 miles, then hang a left

So I have my path laid out until I get to Natchez. This should not be difficult to navigate. Where the frontier farmers walked, I will bike; far from the Mississippi, yet a part of it. Such is the influence of the Great River.

Today, I just went another 30 miles on the Trace, during which I entered Alabama and crossed the Tennessee River, the Mississippi's great sub-tributary (via the Ohio River).

Entering Alabama

The Tennessee River

Just on the south side of the Tennessee River is Colbert Ferry, which used to be a ferry site operated by George Colbert, who reportedly charged Andrew Jackson $75,000 to ferry his army across the river. A true American entrepreneur, and gutsy. Now it is just a boat launch and a ranger station, and the NPS has set up a couple of cyclist-only campsites. A nice thought in theory, the sites are in the worst possible location within a five-mile radius, I am sure. There are no showers and the Tennessee River has a big sign stating that swimming is not recommended because of the high bacteria count. I suppose I prefer particulate dirt over biological contamination, so I went without a bath and set up my tent in the Alabama steam that seemingly follows thunderstorms around here. Suffice it to say that it was miserable. I did not even take a picture of the site, it was tucked away behind a dumpster under some really wet trees with no grass on the ground. Not nice.

More on America's favorite pastime
Bob suggested that the good people of Quincy, IL, throw nuts at their road signs. I don't know, does this look like nut damage to you?

Nuts? Sounds screwy.

If you are in the mood, try shooting some signs yourself. Shotgun-style. What could be more fun?

Road Kill Tally
The armadillos' biggest day yet, quietly raking up 5 kills. The opossums didn't do so poorly either, with four to their total. Otherwise, kind of quiet. Maybe the rain cleaned the roads.

1. Raccoon: 84
2. Opossum: 52
3. Frog: 31
4. Skunk: 26
5. Snake: 22
6. Deer: 18
7. Squirrel: 18
8. Cat: 17
9. Turtle: 14
10. Groundhog: 13
11. Bunnywabbit: 10
12. Armadillo: 9
13. Mouse: 7
14. Fox: 3
15. Lizard: 3
16. Dog: 3
17. Mole: 2
18. Porcupine: 1
19. Chipmunk: 1

• Bird: 117