Day 8
April 8, 2023
Today's excursion from Baton Rouge was west to the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge. There are a bunch of trails through the preserve and it has an interesting backstory as well. More on that later.
First stop was the Atchafalaya Welcome Center for some advice, maps and free coffee. There's a road that parallels the levee on the western side of the Atchafalaya River. There are a bunch of smaller trails off this road that held promise.
The Atchafalaya River Parkway heads north from the visitor center. It's mostly gravel and in decent shape. The first parking area had a trailhead kiosk. The thing is, all I saw behind the sign was high grass and standing water.
The next stop was an ATV only trail in much better shape.
The gravel road becomes Parish Road 3-95 and the condition degrades rapidly. I had gone from a road in good shape to a partially flooded dirt road. I was fine on sections like this...
But, when the entire road was mud, I started sliding back and forth in the road.
There came a point where no trail was going to be worth risking getting stuck. I didn't relish the idea of actually turning around and going through it again. That's the levee on the right. There's a gravel road on top. There's also plenty of signage warning people not to drive on it. With the choice of either drive the levee and hope no one catches me or hope I don't get stuck in the mud, I chose to drive the levee.
On the other side of the river, there are also signs for the preserve. The road on the other side couldn't be any worse. So, I crossed the river and took a chance. It turned out to be a well maintained gravel road with minimal potholes. I reentered the preserve and started north.
As you can see, the standing water was encroaching on the road. This was taken out the driver's side window.
The federal refuge gave way to the state's Sherburne Wildlife Management Area. The only difference I saw was in the signs. Eventually, I came to a sign for the Sherburne Shooting Range and the Little Alabama Bayou.
I'll be the first to admit I'm no expert when it comes to guns. I heard four different pitches while I was walking the bayou and the range certainly seemed quite active.
As for the Little Alabama Bayou...
As I was walking back to the car I heard a familiar sound of freight train in the distance. A few minutes later I came to the bridge across the Atchafalaya River. Just missed catching a train on the bridge.
To get to this parking area I had to drive through a gap in the levee. The folks at the visitor center tell me gaps are minimal, but there is always a supply of material to hastily close the gaps if necessary.
Before the 1,400's the Red River used to flow almost parallel to the Mississippi River. As rivers do over time, the two came closer together and eventually met. The Red River downstream from this joining became the Atchafalaya River. While the rivers mixed and mingled, it didn't vastly change how much water was going where.
That is until a steamboat captain by the name of Henry Shreve saw an opportunity and acted on it. The Red River was clogged with 180 miles of debris making it unnavigable. Working with the Army Corp of Engineers, Shreve would slowly clear away the debris, making commerce on the river possible. Upriver, Shreve Town was named in his honor.
The Red and Atchafalaya Rivers connected to the Mississippi in a place know as Turnbull's Bend. It's what's referred to as an oxbow where a a river curves out, then back instead of a straight line. Shreve wanted to remove the curve, effectively shortening the Mississippi River by twelve miles.
One unintended result of this new alignment was a gradual increase in volume flowing down the Atchafalaya River. By the 1950's the increased volume was becoming a real concern. A series or dams now control the flow from the Mississippi to the Atchafalaya River. All these levees I had been passing were built to keep communities downstream from flooding.
Just upriver sits the town of Krotz Springs. Charles Krotz bought 20,000 acres of land and built a sawmill. A logging community quickly grew around the mill. Krotz became convinced he was also sitting on vast oil reserves and started drilling. Instead of oil, he struck water, thus the town's name.
I stopped here for gas and some lunch. Billy's is a combination gas station, convenience store and deli. I passed on the Boudin.(pr; BOO-dan) It's pork, rice, vegetables and some other pork pieces you probably don't want to know about. As for Cracklins, it's basically the Cajun version of pork rinds.
A line inside, always a good sign. Though to their credit, they had three people taking orders so things kept moving.
I would have loves a taste of the Pecan Praline coffee, but wouldn't want to commit to a full cup.
Instead, I stuck with some black coffee and a delicious grilled shrimp po'boy, enjoying it in a small municipal park.
After lunch, it was a straight shot east back to Baton Rouge along Hwy 190. In the town of Lavonia, I passed a sign for an indian mound. There was no clear place to pull off, so I took this from the neighboring Dollar General parking lot.
With plenty of time on my hands, I simply drove downtown to the Baton Rouge levee.
Gotta love he sense of humor of the person who named this the Red Stick Amphitheater.
In the evening I did venture back to Teddy's Juke Joint. Instead of a band, it was a woman who goes by Jelly B. She sings blues and soul songs to a backing track and sends it out live on her Tic Toc channel. Decent voice, but I would have preferred a live band.
After a nice chat with Teddy and the few regulars, I said my good-byes and headed back to the motel.
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