Adventure Run

Being in the mood for some adventure, I hatched the idea to drive over the Little Mountain at the Jeff Busby State Park on the Natchez Trace. With an elevation of 603 feet (the second highest in Mississippi), I thought a run to the summit would be a good workout. It was. But first, let me tell you what happened on the way over.

Several times on my drive, I passed up chances to stop for another cup of coffee. Finally I did stop when I got to Stewart. There is a nice service station there and though I don't go that way often, I always stop there. They have that good movie house popcorn. This time I only wanted coffee. I knew if I bought popcorn, I would not wait until after my run to eat it.

I parked and went inside lamenting having to leave the Led Zeppelin song, "A Stairway to Heaven." Inside, there was only one other customer, John Schneider who played Bo Duke on The Dudes of Hazzard. I recognized him instantly and asked, "What are you doing in Mississippi?"

"Shooting a movie," was his answer. Then he said something about coming from the Natchez Trace a road his has traveled a lot for the past twenty-five years or something to that effect. 

Almost always I have my phone with me, but this time I had left it in the truck. He left. I left a minute or so later. Outside, I saw that he was on his way to a large motorhome at the adjacent pumps that the eighteen wheelers and big campers use.

"I know you're busy," I yelled out. 

He stopped and turned around.

"But could I have a selfie?"

"Sure," he said and walked back.

"My wife will never believe me if I don't get a pic," I told him.  

I thought that was awful nice of him. I'm sure he gets tired of being bugged, but I'm glad I asked, and I was pleasantly surprised at his graciousness. I have since heard of lot of really nice things about him.

The sign at the bottom of the "mountain."

Yes, I made my way to the foot of Little Mountain. It is a pretty good pull up that thing, but I'm not sure it's any more difficult than the big hill on Humphrey's Highway. They are definitely in the same class. Little Mountain is just a touch longer and gets steeper towards the top whereas the one in Carroll County flattens out towards the top. So why make the seventy-mile drive? One, you are out of traffic at Little Mountain. Two, there is a nice trail that I ran down. The woods are beautiful. Three, There are some bathrooms here and there that add some comfort. Four, there are other roads in the area, and I shuffled some of them.

After the hill run, I went under the Trace and onto a gravel road and ran and ran and ran. I found an old Baptist Church that had a Confederate veteran buried in the cemetery. I did not pass a single automobile on the gravel roads, but saw trees, old house places, and spring flowers breaking out of the thawed ground. Spring is coming.

I finished with eleven miles. It was nice. I got to meet Bo Duke, spend some time alone, and run new roads. What's not to like. Thank you, Jesus, for a good day.