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.
Dust and Denial
Parked for the survey.
  Jean de Jean Bayou. Fishermen in a boat had just diappeared around the bend.
Nothing by under/over growth on the other side.
Dam on the Red River with locks for shipping I never see.
  End of the line on Red Bayou Road. The two ruts you see is the improved part compared to up the road.
The Old Cane River heading upstream to Natchitoches.
The "blocked" Cane River on the Red River side. At the point below the star are the horses in the next picture.
*
*
   I really liked this picture until Barry said, "My take on it is that one horse is standing on the back of the other horse".
The Lone Chimney at Rodemacher Lake.
    Ok, fisherpeople, you say I never give you any fishing info.
Thar tiz.
Jamie Gorman Rd.
Red Bayou Rd. North stopped.
Red Bayou Rd.South stopped.
N.Landing
Dam
U Turn
La.119
La.490
La.490
S.Landing
La.8
Z
"Z" marks Zimmerman.
"J" marks dead end bridge at Jean de Jean Bayou.
J
Review and follow along.
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