Day 95: Bogue Chitto State Park, LA

That's pronounced Bo-guh Chit-uh, in case you were wondering.  That's where we are camping tonight.  The rate is supposed to be $20 for a site with water and electric, but we were charged a $6 transaction fee for using our credit card.  That's more than a bit odd, as there was also a sign in the window saying that they no longer accept $20 bills (Huh?)!  Since we will be back in Mississippi tomorrow, we didn't make a stink about the transaction fee, but we were a bit miffed that we weren't told about it before we paid (hopefully there is some way to pay without having a transaction fee).  But it turns out that there is a free laundry at the bathhouse, which is directly behind our site.  So it's still a pretty good deal.

I thought I'd share a couple of our impressions of the south.  The first is that we are starting to think that beer cans grow wild here, as we seem to see them everywhere we go.  The second is that you can't believe any of the weather forecasts.  The forecast has been for partly sunny skies the past two days, yet we haven't seen the sun more than 15 minutes total in that time.

Alea and I split the riding today, as our main objective was to bypass Hyde Park Campground in Easleyville, LA.  It was the logical place for us to stop today, but there were some bad reviews of the campground, particularly about how they've treated other cyclists.  So we figured we'd send them a message by not even giving them the chance for our business.

Back to work after a fuel stop.

So I rode the first 50 miles, which was on lightly traveled roads of mostly low rollers, but a few moderate roller coaster hills thrown in for good measure.  Alea did the final 15 miles with some moderate rollers and a fair amount of traffic, with some drivers getting a bit too close for comfort on the roads with no shoulders.  Tonight's campground is several miles south of the Southern Tier route, so we stopped our cycling just outside of Franklinton, LA.

Last night we met two couples who were headed east doing the Southern Tier together (they started in San Diego).  I only met Karen, who was their dedicated support person.  She was doing all of the driving of their self contained RV (I'd guess it is about a 25-30 foot unit).   Her husband is riding a road bike and the other couple is riding a tandem, if I got things right.  I only saw them briefly as Lana and I were going for a walk toward Audubon State Historic Park and they were headed to the RV park.

They also were planning on camping here tonight, and for the same reason.  But they were also cycling the 18 or so miles from the campground to Norwood (we drove there, picking up where we had left off the day before), plus the several miles off route to Bogue Chitto State Park.  So it could very easily be a 90 mile day for them if they stick to their intended plan.

 The supposed highlight of the park is called Fricke's Cave, which isn't a cave.  Supposedly it is more of a gorge, but that doesn't accurately describe it.  I suspect that years ago it looked quite different, as at the trailhead there was a picture of the site that looked to have been taken from a 1930s colorized post card.  What is there now is a badly eroded red sandstone bluff.  But it was a pleasant enough hike along a raised boardwalk, though it was somewhat treacherous, due to wet leaves and moss covered boards.  And having Lana straining at the lead didn't make things any better.

A portion of Fricke's Cave.

I suspect the main draw here is the river, which is popular with canoeists and tubers.

We have a great campsite, with a level pad and near the bathrooms, showers and laundry.  It's fairly private, provided that nobody occupies the site next to us.  Otherwise, we can't see any of the other neighboring sites.  We should be able to sit out again tonight with the add of a Duraflame log, provided that it doesn't rain (it has misted off and on for hours today).