Two Against Nature

Our swamp tour piqued our curiosity of nature in the Southeast. We woke up in Baton Rouge and found a small highway off Interstate 10 West that ran along side the Atchafalaya NWA (National Wildlife Area). To call this a highway would be a massive overstatement and incorrect description altogether. Highway 975 North is actually a 17-mile gravel road with an abundance of potholes that kept us at a steady 30 mph. Scatterings of shanty towns lined the left side of the road and the Athchafalaya's dense forest covered the right. We kept seeing tropical-looking birds of vibrant blues, reds, greens, and yellows and then saw that the area was a protected bird habitat. We needed to get out and walk through the forest to experience this tropical oasis.

"Highway" 975.

The Little Alabama River was our first turnout.

These cyprus trees are everywhere in the southeast and can live for thousands of years.

Like the birds, we saw every shade of butterfly. 

No luck snapping any pictures of birds, but the butterflies were doable.

Please notice the giant confederate flag measured perfectly for the door. There is also a shooting range a half-mile down the road.

Past the shooting range there was a sign for a hiking trail. Black Sally has put up with a lot on this trip. Thanks girl.

The old wise caterpillar.

First snake sighting! It was so small and still we weren't sure if it was alive. Thankfully we brought golf clubs along just in case we ran into a snake or wild hog. Peter prodded the snake with his 7-iron and it recoiled.

Wolf with his multipurpose 8-iron in an opening of the Athchafalaya Forest. Don't ask us how to pronounce that.  

The sign calls this an American Sycamore. They were everywhere but this felt important because it had a sign.

You could mistake the loopy branches for snakes.

On our hike, a Green Anole (that's a lizard, folks) clumsily fell from an overhanging branch and landed inches away from Peter's feet. It scurried away in a way that reminded Peter of Frank from Rescuers Down Under.

Wolf saw this in Dallas, but this was the same type of lizard that fell from the treetops.

City boy releasing his inner nature.

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Peter was providing the directions and leading us on a great route through Louisiana nature. The next stop was Kisatchie National Forest on our way to the campsite in Sabine National Forest on the Texas side of the Louisana-Texas border.

We took a left on Lousiana St. Road 119. It is indicated as a "dotted road" on the atlas, which means scenic highway. Beartooth Pass was also dotted. 

Peter adding to the already scenic lookout.

We went on a short hike around the National Park. On our hike, Wolf spotted this gecko.

And Peter picked him up.

We were amazed he did not scurry off as Peter picked up the branch, but realized that he felt safe here as he was well camouflaged. 

We saw several turkeys in the park, but they would always scurry away when we got close. See if you can find it.

We exited Kisatchie National Forest and entered a long stretch of farm land en route to the Texas border. After collaboration, we determined this crop to be sugar cane. Peter connected the dots between the Sugar Bowl and this crop. Brilliant.

We crossed the Toledo Bend Reservoir into Texas.

We made it.

We set up camp in the Sabine National Forest. It was unbearably hot, but we had an electric hook-up so we headed into the town of Milam (pronounced MY-lum), to buy a fan. The only store open did not sell fans... just do-rags. We bought ice and two do-rags and headed back to the campsite.

Wolf in the morning. We slept better than expected with a mixture of rubbing ice on ourselves and dipping the rag into the ice water in the cooler. 

As we were leaving for Dallas, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to alleviate ourselves from heat stroke. 

So we jumped in the lake.

And played some catch.

A shot of our campsite in the morning. We took this picture after the swim and a quick outdoor shower. Off to Dallas and the Texas Rangers game.

Steely Dan - "Two Against Nature"