This past weekend it rained all but for a few hours on Sunday morning. That's when we took the opportunity to go explore part of DeSoto National Forest just a few miles north of Biloxi. A friend had shown me, on an aerial, the place to pull of Hwy 15 where a trail head is. The first quarter mile of the walk is through a pine savanna that was burned last year. From the forest floor were a number of wildflowers, grasses and shrubs trying to reclaim themselves. The elevation started to drop. The forest quickly changed from airy pine trees to a dense canopy of magnolias, american holly and swamp titi; in the distance you could hear rushing water. Soon, the trail made an abrupt turn to the right (north) just atop a fifteen foot tall sandy bluff held together by a massive network of tree roots and moss. The trail took us another half mile north, winding through and around a number of small streams and forest ponds until we found a great little sandy beach. The sands are bright and the water is like iced tea. The tea color comes from tannin, a natural dye produced by the large number of oak trees. I fly fished a little but the storms started rolling in so we headed out. I'm looking forward to going back.
