Several days after the Zimmerman ride I was ready to go back and give it another try. I rode as much interstate as I could stand to get up there as fast as I could. I arrived in Boyce and headed north carefully looking for the tire tracks over the levee that led to what I presumed to be the south end of Old Louisiana One. I returned to the bridge over Jean de Jean Bayou, parked the bike and surveyed the barrier seeing if it could be negociated.
Maybe. First, though, I would walk the bridge and see what was waiting on the other side and if it was worth the effort.
No. It was completely blocked and overgrown.
I looked at the gps and there seemed to be other roads but none really existed. I reversed and went back across the levee to New La.1 and headed to the Texico station at the corner of La.8 and La.1 to again quiz my contact there.
He was not at the counter. The person that was there appeared to be a relative and was fast with answers to my questions. He said that there was nothing left of Zimmerman or the mill, filling in my questions before I could get them out. He said factually, I was at Zimmerman. I didn't believe a word. His delivery was so transparent.
Why didn't he just say "get lost"?
I left and went north to another frustration I had left from the previous trip, the blockage of Red Bayou Road by a "Keep Out" sign.
These roads are marked as public roads and it seems that individuals are gating them. Are they abandoned by the governments and left to whoever?
That is my guess.
I had done my map study at home and found that the north end of Red Bayou Rd. exited off of La.490 which was up La 1. I would attack Red Bayou from there. I found it and after miles of riding where only monster trucks had ridden, I arrived at the same signs that had greeted me from the southern approach. I was hot and tired and not too happy with the beating I'd given my bike for nothing. I decided I would take a break and check out the dam on the Red River at the end of La.490, since it was near. The park which is adjacent to the dam appears to be right across the river from Colfax. It is close to where the old Cane River flowed into the Red River before it was blocked (even Nature gets blocked around here). That is where I took the picture of the horses and the Cane's remnants.
The Cane now makes its way to the Red by way of the New Cane River which was Red Bayou. That is my theory. If I could have continued, I would have been able to cross it on Red Bayou Rd. I was also disturbed at not being able to access Lake Bourdeux. I was really feeling denied.
Leaving the dam I went back west on 490 and tried a little of Marcos Rd. heading north into the fields, following the Cane River. It got to be dirt and I was very tired of dirt, the kind with monster ruts and sand. So I reversed on this one, too. I was now done with the lowlands and decided to follow 490 north where it joined La.1 for a short distance. Turning west off La.1, 490 went straight up into the pines. I'm being honest, my ears popped. I guess going from the Red River Valley immediately to the top of the local Kisatchies did the trick. Pop. I laughed. My map showed 490 ending and I was prepared for that and practiced at U-Turns. I'll be darn, it didn't, it was a miracle. It continued as a gravel road and eventually joined La.119, the road I was very familiar with from riding the Longleaf Vista Road which is a scenic byway off of 119. I was on Janie Gorum Rd. There are a lot of things in this area named Gorum. In fact, after turning onto 119, I went through Gorum. I know only because I saw it listed on the map. 119 hits La.8 at Flatwoods. La.8 is a wonderful road. I headed east to get back to La.1. I needed a break and stopped at the North Lake Rodemacher landing. There I saw what appeared to be an old chimney by the side of the lake. Had there been a town here that the manmade lake consumed? Or were the residents run off by the rising water? Houseless chimney's tell nothing good. I was pretty down about the previous failures so I put aside these question. I had enough on my plate.
After refreshing a bit and tightening stuff up that had loosened with all the rough riding, I left the lake and headed back to Boyce and picked up La.1200 back to 121 and eventually 112 where I hooked up with Melder Road, a great way to get from Melder to Glenmora.
Getting home and downloading the gps tracks for the map, I noticed at that particular magnification, Zimmerman appeared to have been where I had been. Should I trust the map? Maybe I should have trusted the service station guy as the station is only two city blocks from the intersection of La.8 and Old 1, the map's location of Zimmerman. There is still a long length of Old One, from Jean de Jean Bayou to the railroad "Y" that I haven't seen. Or maybe it's just gone.
Finality is so final.
Must be Miller Time. |
