Well Here We are out in the Middle of Who Knows Where on the Trace 4/22/2008

We left Tupelo this morning and started up the Trace and had a few caches to do along the way and stopped at mile marker 385.9 the Meriwether Lewis historic site and campgrounds a little over half way to Nashville. We got there about 2:30 and got a site and you really can't beat the price.....FREE. The only thing is there is no hookups and like we said in the title it's in the middle of who knows where. It's about 1 1/2 miles in off the Trace and you talk about quiet although there are quite a few more campers than we thought there would be. The drive up the Trace once we got into AL and TN was quite different as we started hitting steeper hills and a more winding road. The Terrain looked similar to NY as it had sheer rock walls and quite a few valleys and gullies.
Our first stop along the Trace was for a virtual cache located along a nature trail at mile marker 283.3. It was called Donovan's Slough, which was a woodland trail through a lowland where rich soil and abundant moisture support a variety of large, water-tolerant trees including tulip, poplar, sycamore and water oak. We walked the trail and got the answers to the 3 questions for the cache and were on our way.
Our next stop was at mile marker 286.7 and Pharr Mounds. It is the largest and most important archeological site in Northern Mississippi. Eight large dome-shaped burial mounds are scattered over an area of 90 acres (100 football fields). These mounds were built and used about 1-200 AD by a tribe of nomadic Indian hunters and gatherers who returned to this site at times to bury the dead with their possessions. Archeologists excavated four of the mounds thought to have been burial mounds but few human remains were found. Artifacts recovered here indicate that the builders of Pharr Mounds participated in the "Hopewell Interaction Sphere" a culture type characterized by a ceremonial burial complex and a wide spread trade network. Although centered in Ohio and Illinois, Hopewell influences have been discovered in many parts of the Eastern United States. The mounds ranged from 2-18' high and a great many artifacts were recovered from each one. Among them were projectile points, pottery sherds, sheet mica, pipes, ceramic vessels incised and stamped with distinctive designs, copper spools, bits of bone, a beautifully polished pipe of greenstone, and a sandstone slab used as a crematory. In one of the mounds a large grave was found containing 3 cremations. Who were these Indians? Near the time of Christ, probably between 100 BC and 200 AD, Indians living in this area built burial mounds for the most important of their dead. Anthropologists refer to them as people of the "Middle Woodland Culture". What little we know about them must be deciphered from the mounds. The builders of the Pharr Mounds probably knew little about farming. It seems they lived almost entirely by hunting, fishing, and the gathering of wild nuts, seeds and fruit. Although they traveled to hunt and trade they probably remained at a village most of the year. In 1978 a village site was uncovered here occupied 400 years after the building of the mounds. How were these mounds built..... in building a mound many thousands of cubic feet of earth were moved entirely by hand probably in baskets. They first constructed a large platform of clay. On this foundation they prepared crematory basins, built log tombs or dug graves. With elaborate ceremony the bodies were either cremated or placed in graves or tombs. Objects which reflected the importance of the deceased were often placed near the body. A large dome shaped mound was placed over the burials. Sometimes they placed cremations within the mound as it was built up. A final mantle of soil completed the mound.
We then saw the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and Jamie L. Whitten Bridge at mile marker 293.2 which makes 459 miles of waterway navigable between the Gulf of Mexico and the Tennessee River. Then it was on to our second cache, an Earthcache located at mile marker 308.4 Cave Spring. The description of the ground surface and the type of rock indicate that this cave was a result of solution activity. A long room or corridor was dissolved out of the rock by under-ground water. The roof of the room eventually weakened and collapsed. Indians may have used this site as a source of water and stone. The water is now unsafe to drink and the cave is dangerous. A sinkhole is forming in the limestone which is the basic type of rock in this area. Carbon-dioxide absorbed by rain-water as it falls forms a weak acid which dissolves the the limestone as the water seeps along fissures and cracks. These fissures are gradually enlarged until the surface materials, topsoil, and leaf litter begin to slump into it. We got what we needed for the cache which was answers to 3 or 4 questions and a picture of us at the cave.
Then we were off to another virtual cache located at mile marker 330.2 Rock Spring Nature Trail. This was a trail that led us across some stepping stones and Colbert Creek past Rock Spring and through the woods past a beaver dam and a beaver house to a location where we had to get the answer to the cache question. The area was very picturesque and quiet and the walk was lovely. We got the answer to the cache question and we were on our way back to the RV. We stopped next at mile marker 363.0 and Sweetwater Branch. This small branch receives its name the clean and fresh, or "sweet", flavor of the water. Thousands of years of erosion and flooding have gradually built up the fertile bottom lands that you see under cultivation near here. The branch is still carving and shaping the valley, you may follow the struggle of the trees and other vegetation to gain a hold in the shallow rocky soil in the bottom. Then it was on to mile marker 367.3 Dogwood Mudhole which we didn't actually see as it was almost a mile to the location which you had to walk.
On to Meriwether Lewis Campground and historical site at mile marker 385.9. Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774–October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark, whose mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis died under mysterious circumstances of two gunshot wounds in 1809 at a tavern called Grinder's Stand, about 70 miles (110 km) from Nashville, Tennessee, on the Natchez Trace, while in route to Washington to answer complaints about his actions as governor. Whether Lewis committed suicide or was murdered remains a mystery to this day.
We set up and had dinner and of course there was no TV to watch so I tried to do the blog without much success and Mom read. It was an early night into bed at about 9:00 and a good nights sleep. So we will close and say until tomorrow and we love you all and miss you.


Picture List:1-Campsite at Meriwether Lewis Campground, 2-View looking over the valley at MLCG, 3,4,5-Rock Spring, 6-Stepping stones across Colbert Creek, 7-Beaver dam, 8-Beaver house, 9,10,11-Views farther back into Rock Spring, 12-Meriwether Lewis historical sign, 13-Meriwether Lewis burial site and monument, 14-Grinder house where Meriwether Lewis met his death on the night of Oct. 11.1809, 15-Pharr Mounds sign, 16-Mound C 18' high and Mound D 12' high, 17-Mound H 2'high, 18-Mound B 18' high, 19,20,21-Donivan Slough signs, 22,23 Christmas Fern, 24-Dogwood Mudhole sign, 25-Sweetwater Branch sign, 26-Cave Spring sign, 27-Cave Spring sink hole sign, 28,29,30,31,32-Caves and sink holes, 33-Bear Creek Mound sign, 34-Bear Creek Mound.