Our last summer reward before Keighly started school was a trip to Red Bluff.
Red Bluff is located in Morgantown, next to Columbia, MS. It is a
large bluff that is constantly eroding revealing it's heavy mineral deposits. Mostly, it's just several shades of red clay.
Wow! What a view! A lot has changed since I came here as a teenager. The road used to go right by the bluff. In fact, they kept having to move the road back because of erosion. The main road is now bypassed, so the road to Red Bluff dead-ends on either side. When we arrived, there was a fellow under an EZ-Up giving out water. VERY nice of him to do that.
A view down in the bluff.
According to this site, at the top you can see for about 30 miles and it is about 400 feet down.
The view from the opposite ledge in the above pictures. Our plan is to climb out along the ledge along the left to end up back where we started from in the first picture.
One last picture while we are still fresh and clean!
The descent is easy. You go down a trail on the north side all the way to the bottom.
Once at the bottom you reach a stream. It gets larger and larger as it's fed by other streams seeping out of the ground.
Eventually you reach some railroad tracks where the stream goes under the tracks through a culvert to a waterfall on the other side.
If you keep going, the stream gets bigger and bigger and it eventually empties into the Pearl River. Everywhere you look there are huge chunks of clay that washed down all the way from the bluff, most of them about the size of softballs.
On our way back up, we walked down the railroad tracks. I had heard there were some wrecked boxcars not far down the tracks. Sure enough, we found them! But everything was over-grown so much that we didn't explore them and headed back.
A huge chunk of clay beside the tracks!
Speaking of huge, this brighly colored grasshopper was HUGE!
The way back up the stream to the bottom of the bluff is very pretty and scenic. It is cool because of the tree canopy and the stream, and miraculously we did not see any snakes.
After a quick break for some water, the kids were anxious to start climbing. They hit it hard and quickly learned about climbing in sand: three extreme steps equals one actual step. The sand moves so much it is a LOT of work to actually get anywhere. While we started climbing out using this more direct route, we only got so far before a large rock kept us from climbing any higher. Having the kids there, I didn't want to take chances, so we went back down to the bottom and took a less dangerous route up the treeline. The climb was much easier, but now that we were out from under the tree canopy of the stream, the sun was killing us. Ian was getting tired and rode on my back several times (which was killing me).
Eventually we make it to the last little edge we need to cross before reaching the top. Scary! It is just wide enough to get your foot on, then drops off on both sides!
I got Ian to sit still long enough for me to help Keighly up onto the ledge, then grabbed Ian and put him up. I followed.
Whew! We made it!
As always, a big positive thumbs up! I clearly remember my feelings at that exact moment when we reached the top: exhaustion. While I did bring water, I just wasn't prepared to really tackle it the way we did.
We were all very tired by the time we reached the top.
The man who was giving out water was still there. We all tanked up and refreshed and thanked him profusely.
Keighly and Ian slept on the way home.
Other Red Bluff links:
Red Bluff WatercolorRed Bluff and a Little MoreAdventure Riding to Red BluffHaunted Red BluffRed Bluff at lastOfficial Mississippi Film guide: Red Bluff
One day while getting ready to swing, Ian found a baby squirrel that had fell out of the big pecan tree in the middle of the middle-house's back yard.
Although fascinating, I was careful to make sure no one touched it. Amazingly, neither of our dogs found it. The next morning it wasn't there, we hope the mommy squirrel came and got it.
