new orleans - natchez trace trail - blue ridge parkway

Hello everybody,

My next story tells about my trip from New Orleans to Waynesboro through the state of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama (very limited), Tenessee, North Carolina and Virginia.

Total cycling distance : 28 000km or 17 500 miles


So on Wednesday, may 27th, I leave New Orleans. I decided to cycle around the lake in the hope to avoid the traffic between NO and Baton Rouge. For a part I succeed.

I camp along a bikepath where I meet Dan and his daughter Caroline. They are so nice to bring me a warm breakfast the next morning. Some good brussels wafels, milk and so on. It is very much appreciated and one of the many signs of kindness I have received during this trip.

A few days later I am invited to a church where I rest a bit and get some food. I also attend the bible study for a while. Quiet different from back home.

I reach Natchez on saturday, may 30th, and it is here that the 440 mile long Natchez Trace trail that will lead me to Nashville.
This road is made by the CCC in the 30s.
On sunday, I meet Chris, a cyclist who is now at the end of the trail. He is happy to have it done and give me his guidebook and several dried food packages.
There is also a turtle passing over the road. When I come closer he hides in his home and does not move again. Not even when several cars pass and almost hit him. I take him up and put on the other side of the road.

I make a side trip to Vicksburg to see the civil war battlefield there. This was once called the gibraltar of the south and when general Grant conquered it it spilt the confederacy in two. Now the north had a good way of importing goods and it also meant that the plan Anaconda was put in effect.
The USS Cairo was one of the pantserd ships from the north which contributed a lot to conquer the Mississippi. It is a nice town to be in.

In Kosciusko I stay wit a member of WS. He is a doctor and I get a free tour in the hospital. Being a nurse it is very nice to see how they work here. I notice there are a lot more nurses than back home. In belgium there is 1 nurse for every 10 pat in daytime and 1 nurse for 20 pat at night. Here there are almost twice as much.
Gary and Donna, thank you very much for hosting me.

On thursday, june 4th, I am surprised with a storm. I shelter at a antebellum home that is a museum aswel. I talk to the manager and he lets me stay in one of the cabins. I do not know if it is as old as the house but it sure looks like it.

Tupelo is a small town along the trace and I just go in to buy food. Than I remember it is the birthplace of Elvis Presley. This weekend they celebrated his homecoming concert in 1958. I think it is when he finishes his military draft from Germany but I am not sure. There is a parade with nice cars and off course many Elvis imitators. It is not very spectaculair but nice if you totally not expect it.

I meet two cyclists a bit further down the road. Pieter is from Holland and it is nice to talk in flemish again, He met Kevin in 1982 and they are friends ever since. He wanted to cycle in the USA before he gets to old. Kevin is doing this bike ride for the 15th time. Pieter is also a bit suffering from the heat and humidity while I am not bordered by it. It seems like I am adapting well but later in the trip when the temp rises I will be suffering a lot to.

I visit the Lewis museum at the Lewis Meriwether campsite. Lewis was 1 of the captains of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805. The first big expedition that crossed the USA after the Louisiana purchase and mapped the whole route. As a reward he became the gouvernor of the Louisiana territory. On his way to Washington he most likely committed suicide here on this spot.

I reach Nashville, the country music capital, on tuesday, june 5th. Just now there is a big country festival going on but after 2 days I am full of country. I must admit it is different from what I expected it to be.
Caitlin and Darren, my hosts, take me to a party where there is some performances and a fire bottle dance. Especially that last one is amasing.
We go also to a "all you can eat"restaurant with typical southern dishes. It is great. I loved the banana dessert. After that we laid for an hour in the grass. Not able to do anything.
In contrast of the festival I see a free shakespeare musical with some short play in between at one of the city parks. It is in the evening and fun to see. I must admit my shakespeare english is not good.

I leave on saturday and late in the afternoon I met Earl. I was just sitting in a townsquare of a little village Watertown. He invited me stay at his place. We talked for hours and I ended up staying one more day. We discussed European and American politics, habits, morals,.....
Earl, thank you for hosting me and I enjoyed the weekend a lot.


The next days I use to cycle to the Smoky Mountains NP and the blue ridge parkway. It is during these days I have very little motivation to go on. Partly to blame is the heat, humidity and poor scenery but it is also mental fatigue for being on the road now for 12 months. One day I only cycle 16 miles.

I reach the Cherohalo skyway which is beautiful and I start enjoying my trip again. It is a official scenic byway. The highest point is 5400 ft and when I reach it I am sooking wet from sweating.
It is here and not in one of the several deserts I have crossed that I am out of water. Luckily many motards pass by and they give me enough water to get by.

I visit the Cherokee museum in the village of Cherokee. This is also the reservation of the few Cherokeae Indians who escaped the forced removal of all Indians east of the Mississippi in the 1830's. This happened under president Andrew Jackson although several of the tribes had fought with him almost 20 years earlier. Many indians died and this is now called the Trace of Tears. I had hoped to find a lot of info but it was a bit disappointing.

From here I went in to the Smoky Mountains to do a 2 day hike. I go light wight and leave even my outertent behind. They do not predict rain so. But that night of course there is a major storm that last for 6 hours. At the end I have 4 gallons of water in my tent. I dry my stuff and hike back down. I had enough of hiking for a while.

I start cycling on the Blue Ridge parkway. Also a CCC road for 467 miles which connect to the skyline drive in the Shenadoah Valley NP. These are the smoky and appalachan mountains and they are very beautiful. This road is worth of being a destination on it self. Much better than the Natchez Trace Trail.
In the first 35 miles I will have to cycle to the highest point of the parkway. It is at 6047 feet and I start at 2020 ft but it does not go straight up. When I was at 5000 ft it came down again to 4000 ft and I could start all over again. The rides down are great but you know that every feet you go down you have to cycle up again. It is fun and frustrating at the same time.

There are many tunnels on the road and also many old buildings. I see how the mountain people use to live. There are just living cabins but also a mill powered by water, farms, a metalworker,.... Many falls are just of the parkway. Just great to see.

On june 24th, my birthday, I take a rest day. It is really a lazy day where I do not nothing. In the evening I have some good beers with nice company. Thank you for that Christine.

I also meet Andre, a Swiss guy, who lives in the USA for 20 years now. He treats me on a delicious lunch : some real american burgers and grilled corn. We swim in his little pool which is very refreshing.
He gives me good info about the parkway. He has also many maps which helps me out for planning the next part of the trip.
I can call home here and finally congratulate my sister with her pregnancy. I have known this for some months now but I just learned a day ago that my brothers girlfriend is pregnant to. They also want to get married. Normally it would be this summer but because I extended my trip they had to prospone the wedding. In my defense I did not know they were planning their wedding when I extended my trip.

I make a side trip to Bedford where the National Memorial for D day is. It is here because this is the town that had the highest casual list per capita from D day. Most of the man just joined the national guard in the 30's to get the 1 dollar a month fee. This helped them out during the big depression. They were chosen to be part of the first wave that landed on Omaha beach and 19 man of Bedford died that day. Several more in the next days.
I read the book several years ago and was very interesting. I did make the mistake of thinking it would be a museum and hoped to find a lot of info. Of course a memorial is not a museum. I was a bit disappointed but it was my own mistake.

I also had a scary encounter with a black beer. At dusk I was walking around near my campsite just to relax. I heard a sound in a tree and looked in the hope to see a nice bird or so. I was a black beer at least 5 ft high but he came down very quickly. Luckily he was as frightened as I was and he just run in to the forest. It is my 16th black beer I see and the one I will most remember.

So now I am in Waynesboro at the end of the Bleu Ridge parkway. My plan was to leave today and cycle the skyline drive but it is raining and I will stay here one more day.

greetings,

nico