Nuts to hiking, or hiking to nuts…

Emma and I headed out this morning and drove to the Tuxachanie Hiking Trail in the De Soto National Forest north of Biloxi.  It’s located along US 49 near the town of McHenry. 

I didn’t know until I got there that the trail is actually 11 miles one way and culminates at a WWII German POW camp. 

There are two rustic tent campsites along the way, but since I no longer own a tent, that was out of the realm of possibilities for us.  (not to mention that backpacking miles into a campsite is WAY in my past!)

As the morning progressed, the sun really heated things up, and Emma was happy to find a little stream along the way.  Her lapping up a drink sent out some nice ripples in the water.

A nice thing about this trail is that there were mile posts along the way.

After about a mile and a half, I said nuts to continuing.  It was just too hot for me.  I was surprised that I ran into three other hikers/joggers along this trail.  It’s really not close to a major metropolitan area, and it was a Monday morning.  Good to see that our National Forest trails are being used.  Once again I’m happy to report that there wasn’t any sign of people defacing things or ruining the trail.

I enjoyed this tree in bloom along the way back.  Don’t know what kind it is, but the individual blooms were quite large.  I checked a book I have on local flowering flowers, shrubs, and trees, but it wasn’t listed.

Both Emma and I were happy to get back to the car, turn the AC on, and head for my next destination… The Pecan House.  It was only a couple of miles down the road.

I really like pecans, and so I was interested in visiting this 28 year old establishment.  (take note of the floor)

See those samples of pecans in front of the owner?  There were seven varieties available to taste: fried and salted, honey roasted, orange glazed, praline coated, key lime coated, Cajun spiced, and cinnamon glazed.  I ended up choosing the honey roasted, along with a jar of marinated mushrooms.  The pecan halves are bigger than anything I’ve seen before, and are delicious!

Now for the interesting facts about this store.  The floors are made from the floor planks used in the 1917 Brown Miller Pickle Company that was located in Wiggins, MS.  At one time, it was the biggest pickle plant in the country.  The outside walls of the Pecan House are constructed from the cypress wood slats that were used for the huge pickle barrels at the plant.  The rusty streaks on the boards are from the metal bands that held the barrels together. 

 

Amazingly, the outside walls and the floors of the Pecan House survived hurricane Katrina.  The roof, and everything inside blew away in the 140 mph winds of the 13 hour storm.  Isn’t it just amazing how these tenacious folks have continued rebuild and push on?

On our way home, I tried to find a wildlife management area, but did not succeed.  I did come across this train coming along the local tracks and post this picture for my friend, SAM. 

 

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy