On Sunday, I took another ride up into the hills north of Natchitoches. This time, to make up time I went up the interstate, close to the picture taken above. This is the old Allan-Marthaville Road. Long since detoured and re-routed. Which path did I take? Of course the old one. But not for long.

I spied a nice trail to my right that went down a pipe line. I didnt see any posted signs so I proceeded. This is definately not the place to be when wet.



I hate logging. Unfortunately, it looked like this area needed it... It looked like a lot of the pine trees had bugs. The others were just cut for timber, I reckon.


Where I came from...

Where I'm going...

It hasn't rained in a few days. I reckon there is a spring on top of the hill. The machines going back and forth probably helped heave the water out of the ground...

I picked up a cool little hitch hiker on the pipeline. I love praying mantids. I bought a cup of them one time from a garden supply store. You put them in your garden and they eat the pesky bugs that eat your crops in your garden. I had something like 100 in the cup. Had hundreds more the next year. The year after that... didnt see a one.


I hate ignorant rednecks who kill innocent snakes. This guy was in the middle of NOWHERE! Pisses me right off.... killing these awesome snakes. This snake was in the middle of no where with NO houses within miles. But, it was run over and rattles cut off and from the look of it, beaten with a shovel. It would have never hurt anyone.

This is a canebrake rattle snake, a subspecies of the timber rattler. This one is about as big as they get in the wild. This ole girl was probably 20 years old or older. Stupid ass rednecks. Its a shame people are afraid of animals so much smaller than them.


I had seen some horse tracks in the sand a few miles back... when I rounded a curve I was suprised to see these folks.


I had stopped at an intersection to consult the map, giving the folks time to catch up so I could ask them questions...The ol coger on the second wagon asked if i "needed the mules to 'rastle that ther bike." I said nah, i reckon i'm good. They asked what if I was lost... I told them I'm not lost but I dont know where I'm going... they got a kick out of that so I explained my trail and that I am just exploring new places to go and connecting more dirt. They were like... oh... alright!I asked what they were doing and they said just enjoying the sunday and out for a ride. (atleast I'm not the only one)They lived just up the road at the house in the photo... on a chicken farm. Chicken farmers.

I picked a smelly spot to stop... Chicken manure.



I wanted to check out a town I had never been to before to make sure they had gas just in case. Yep. $4.10/gal when prices are 3.90 elsewhere. Cool little general store. When I pulled up, the pumps had a little sign saying to double the cost when pumped. Cool.Onward.Was checking a "road" that showed up on my GPS. It was grown up and gated/fenced at one fork and sure enough on the other. It was fun and tight.Nice hog wallow on the Old Marthaville Rd



The fence. The GPS indicated the road went between those trees. Shoot. Turn around...And ride through this....



Miles later.... I thought this was cool... looked better in person for some reason.

Diseased chicken farms! Keep out. Makes you wonder what you are eating....

A day on the trail (7-13-08)

Five new friends set out to check out some of western Louisiana's great country roads. These consist mostly of dirt roads and tracks through farm land and national forests.


We began by meeting in the McDonald's parking lot.

It took us all of 1.5 miles to get to the first bit of gravel.



This is Nicky's first dual sport ride. She has all of about 2 weeks worth of road riding experience. She did great, and enjoyed every minute of it. I applaud her for powering through the sand with a smile on her face.


We pulled up to a section of ruts, where, when wet, eats bikes whole.


We stopped and waited.... for a few minutes..... for Jim on his big BMW 1200 GS. I turned back to go check on him and sure enough the ruts got him sideways and brought down his beast. Even with his age, he was still able to hoist the bike up by himself.



Down the road is Spanish Lake, an interesting place... Back before the locks (dams) on the Red River and the construction of I-49, Spanish lake would flood yearly with the rise and fall of the Red River. This provides "some of the best soil in the state." You can't see it from any of my pics, but if you are ever on I-49, north of Natchitoches you will come to a flat plane with hills to your west and swamps on your right, this is all part of Old Spanish Lake. Now that I-49 has been built, farmers do not use the western side of the land. This is because they have to travel many miles to their land that was split by the interstate. The floods no longer come because the river levels never rise high enogh. Its become a bit of a worry that the soil is losing some of its nutrients...If you notice the hill, the edge of the lake can be followed for miles, surrounding the Red River Plain.


We took a quick rest stop. Here's Nicky's husband on his DR650.

This road is fast. Straight, smooth and fast. In this pic, I was doing about 70mph kickin up a dust storm.


It took a couple minutes for the gang to catch up, but here is Josh on his DRZ400 Super Moto.

The trail continued and got nice and sandy. Jim finally had enough, called it quits and headed back to easy gravel and pavement. He still only had a couple hundred miles to go before his first break in scheduled maintenance.

Another useless blog.

I know blogs arent usually looked at, but I thought I would start one to be able to show family and friends what I've been up to.

So, if you are family or friend, you should already know a little bit about me. For those who are just checking out the blog, here is a little bit about me.

My name is Scott, I am a student at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Besides being a full time student, I am a husband and a dad.... full time. I've managed to keep my insanity, eh, sanity... by having a few hobbies. Mostly, being on the internet dreaming up the next trip. I also ride my motor bike and work on my 4wd. I also go camping and hiking on occasion. Many a thing I want to do, but do not have the money to get into. These include rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, ATVs, enduro motorcycles, mountain biking, photography and international travel.. and the obligatory "etc."
I've tried to shift to family activities and trips, but I do have to get away some times.


My wife and I in Costa Rica during our honeymoon.


My daughter and I at the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. There was about 4inches of snow covering the ground and the dunes.