Backroads Through the Bayou

© Dan Evon / RumBum.com

Jean Lafitte Highway, Black Bayou Road, Bayou Gauche Boulevard. Driving down the back roads of Louisiana's wetlands, it is impossible not to stumble upon a road that will take you into the heart of a forgotten wilderness.

© Dan Evon / RumBum.comAnd it is a wilderness. Surrounded on both sides by tall trees, slowing down gives you a glimpse into the thick and entangled Spanish moss that hangs above the shallow and dangerous waters of the bayou. Images of pirates, expeditions, and men with machetes cutting through the thick foliage, quickly appear then vanish like the ghosts that they are. Because here, in the wetlands, Jean Lafitte made his riches smuggling goods through the small channels and bayous that lead from the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans.

It is easy to imagine the dangers that these early settlers faced, because not much has changed in the bayous. A couple of broken down shacks sit at the waters edge where fishermen make camp, and the trails are marked with historic and informational signs, but for the most part, stepping into the bayous is like stepping back in time.

You can drive for miles without seeing other cars, without seeing signs or buildings. The road twists and turns, making its way up one channel, then veering to follow the next. It's easy to get lost, but getting directions is simple. There are only a few roads that you can take, some of which lead in, and some of which lead out.

© Dan Evon / RumBum.comIn the Brataria Preserve, there are a few paths that will bring you through, not over, the bayous. The water rises to just inches below the path, where alligators sit silently slightly out of reach. You'd expect there to be bugs, but there aren't many, and just before you breathe that breath of relief, you notice the spiders. Large, brown spiders that sit just over head in big, delicate webs.

You have to walk carefully, looking for snakes, spiders, and alligators, and even though there is a clear, albeit broken, path in front of you, the abundance of wildlife around you seems to be closing in.

It's easy to think about the pirates, the smugglers, the settlers and the Indians. It's easy to think about the dangers, the spiders, and the alligators. It isn't easy, however, to think about that job you have to go to at 8 a.m. on Monday morning. That can wait.