Tammany Trace

[bmccasland]

Last week while I was enjoying some vacation time away from the office, I took my bike across Lake Pontchartrain to ride part of the Tammany Trace, a rails-to-trails path that runs along the swamps, pine forests, and small towns (well, they used to be) on the north shore. http://www.tammanytrace.org.

The drawbridge across Bayou LaCombe was recently rebuilt and I had to see it. So I got on the Trace at the Caboose trailhead (sorry no pictures), which is where we usually start for the MS training ride, but this time I rode the other way. I have to admit the houses are prettier along the Trace the other way, and there's the brew pub, but I wanted to see the draw bridge. 13 miles later I was there (in honor of the TdF I wore my Sunflower jersey).
The nice Trace Rangers took the photo, and topped off one of my empty water bottles as I went through two of the three just to get there. The draw bridge is down "open" from sunrise to sunset with someone there to operate it if a larger boat needs to get through. There used to be a fishing village on the other side, but the Katrina storm surge wiped out the old buildings (and the old drawbridge).

On the way back I spotted a highway sign in the swamp. . Another contrabution to the scenery by Katrina. Not all is funky, right by the sign were some native water lilies .

For the most of the route I rode, the Trace is straight, and flat through the piney woods..

Didn't help much that I started my ride around 9:30 am, so was definitely bright and sunny, and hot and muggy when I got back to my car at noon.

After the MS cycling season, where we ride part of the Trace (access to the huge parking lot at the Caboose), I'll haul my bike back and ride it again, when the weather is cooler.