Those of you who follow this blog might recall how much I enjoy riding Rails-to-Trails bicycle trails. In fact, a goal of mine had been to ride all of the Rails to Trails Hall of Fame trails before I died. It has become obvious that this won’t happen; too old too fast! However, I have ridden the KATY Trail, Razorback Greenway, Arkansas River Trail, Great Allegheny Passage, George S. Mickelson Trail, Virginia Creeper National RecreationTrail, High Bridge Trail, and the New River Trail, all combined to comprise several hundred miles! 

Arkansas’ Rail Trail, the Delta Heritage Trail, however, never appeared on the radar; it’s not publicized, nor is it a Hall of Fame trail. But, it has been beckoning as of late. Since Kay was busy prepping for a girls’ trip to the Gulf coast and the weather expected to be relatively cool, the next few days provided a great opportunity to camp, cycle, make a few photographs, and enjoy some “alone” time.

Before leaving on Tuesday morning, camping and cycling equipment had to be inventoried before being packed. Gosh, that’s a lot of stuff for a 2-3 day camping trip—too much stuff, in fact. However, it was all packed into the car, the bicycle carrier installed, and the TREK DS4 bicycle loaded. I was off for the Delta Heritage Trail Visitors Center at about 11 AM.

The easy drive followed a route through Little Rock, towards Memphis, and then to Brinkley, where it followed US Highway 49 to the Delta Heritage Trail State Park Visitors Center, just off the highway. After checking in, camping equipment and paraphernalia were transported, by hand, to the walk-in primitive campground (reminder: take Kay’s little blue wagon next trip) at Mile 2.0 of the trail.

The tent was pitched, and because of the forecast of exceeding high winds, the rainfly was tied as well as staked. Sleeping pads, sleeping bag, and clothes and toiletries were stowed inside, and cooking equipment and supplies were spread out on and around the campsite picnic table.

With daylight “left to burn”, bicycle tires were aired up and I rode from the campground at Mile 2.0 to the beginning of the Trail at Mile 0.0 and back.

By then, around 6 PM, the wind had increased to the point that I had to move the cooking setup inside the tent. Dinner was turkey spaghetti with fresh spinach incorporated. After adding a bit too much boiling water, the spaghetti was moved to a homemade COZY and left to rehydrate. It was surprisingly very tasty. The rest of the short evening was spent watching YouTube videos.