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Borrego Springs, CA

Monday, March 21, 2011

Nuts to hiking, or hiking to nuts…

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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. 

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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. 

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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.  Smile (not to mention that backpacking miles into a campsite is WAY in my past!)

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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!

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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?

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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, SAMSmile

 

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

22 comments:

  1. What a nice day to be out with Emma on the trail!!
    Glad you all had fun and explored this interesting piece of history/nature! Yes, Sam will love the train pic....its a great one. :-)

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  2. I think the tree in question is the State tree and flower of Virginia. The dogwood! Nice picture!

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  3. what a great day for a 'hike'..I love pecans!..and more than likely would have made a few purchases!!
    how thoughtful of you to take a train picture just for Sam!..you know he will love it!!

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  4. What a great day you & Emma had. I loved the story about the Pecan House -- great pics as usual. Going to have to check out MS the next time we go that way:)

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  5. I love trains. Thank you. 11 miles - wow. A mile would have been about all I could handle.

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  6. I would really be interested in seeing the German POW camp, but I don't suppose you can get there any way but to hike in? Eleven miles would be fine, but you would have to tent over somewhere along the way. My longest backpacking day was 21 miles and it nearly killed me!

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  7. Interesting building for the pecan shop. Just wondering, would you walk the trails alone if you did not have Emma with you?

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  8. Wow, blue skies and you were too hot??? Will love to have that happen!

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  9. Realy enjoyed the story about the Pecan House. My favorite picture of the day is Emma drinking from the stream.

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  10. Pecans are my favorite kind of nuts. I like trails that have mile markers--for those of us who don't have a smartphone with GPS that can calculate the distance walked.

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  11. I used to like hiking but now my knees give me problems so that is a thing of the past. I would have loved to see that pecan house but even more tasting the pecans ☺

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  12. Yep, Sam Loves the picture, it's a Kansas City Soutern RR freight, looks like it was making good time. Heres a secret to taking great train pictures, "Don't fire till you see the whites of there eyes", When I first started I would think I had the train composed in the viewfinder only to find out it was still a ways off, if you fill the entire frame with the face of the engine it will give you a great effect, Of course far off shots are good in places with lots of scenery. but for a straight at ya shot like that one another second or two would have given you a shot with a lot of train in it.I would have like to see what was left of the POW Camp if anything, just the history nut coming out in me. Be safe out there, and give Emma a hug from us. Sam & Donna..

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  13. Nice to see all that fresh green Spring scenery.

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  14. Thanks for sharing that hike with us. Sure wish you could share some of them pecans too. What kind of treat did Emma get???????

    Travel Safe
    Dawn and Denise

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  15. we too took s hike yesterday and the the showy blooms of the Flowering Dogwood (your tree in question) and we too loved the fruits of the red maples (your lead photo of them is great)...

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  16. Looks like a great trail. I especially love seeing all the green. We are headed back North in a slow fashion and I long to see the greens of spring.

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  17. Funny I was thinking 'honey roasted' and that's also your choice!

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  18. love all the rustic wood in the pecan shop! glad you had a nice day out!!

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  19. Nice day out! 11 miles one way is too far for me, especially in hot weather. Three miles round tip sounds good.

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  20. I'm also pretty sure that was a flowering dogwood...they are sooo pretty in the Spring. Now you've gone and done it..Sam will want 8X10" glossys of that train photo!!! Loved your walk..and the pecan shop..and the history lesson..Thanks!

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  21. That flowering tree sure looks like a dogwood. I love the praline pecans. Can eat my weight in them.

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