DailyHistMaymesterTrip.blog

Today was a very beautiful day for a walk and a very dirty day for my clothes. I woke up at 5:50 AM took a shower, got dressed, had breakfast, and went for a little walk afterwards before getting on the bus. I ate some scrambled eggs, small biscuits with jelly, a bagel, and an egg and cheese burrito. I drank some coffee, apple juice and low-fat milk. I had a very hearty breakfast because I was Hungry. I love my breakfast, and it is my most important meal. We left the hotel at exactly 8:05 AM. This photo is of the clouds covering the mountain ranges. Shows just how high up we are and how high up the mountains ranges are.

Another important thing to mention is that after driving for 20 minutes our time zone changes back to what it was at the start of our tour. We got back our one hour that we lost on the first day of the trip. We were looking for a spot to get some snacks and water, but after we took our exit, we could not find a truck stop for almost 30 miles. We finally found a quick-trip station, so we decided that it would be our lunch stop as well. I decided to get me some pizza with jalapeños, but I did not read that it said it was jalapeño popper flavored pizza. It had bacon on it and that is why I could not eat it, so I gave it to somebody who could eat it.

We reached the pinson mounds at 12:00 PM, and it was pouring outside. We went inside the visitors center as quickly as we could before we got soaked. One cool thing I noticed about the visitors center from the outside was that it seemed like a mound as well. As we got inside, I seen a gift shop with a whole bunch of cool items that could come in handy for the trail. I seen a walking stick, some hoodies, shirts, maps, and some keychains. On the other side, I noticed a whole exhibition of artifacts and abstracts. One of those artifacts was the canoes that were used by prehistoric Native American tribes. As I looked farther on into the abstracts I learned that the Pinson mounds were created by those same Native American tribes between 100 A.D and 500 A.D. during the Middle Woodland period.

After we all got done looking through the museum part of the site we all were invited to watch the 30 minute video on the Pinson mounds. From the video, I learned that the mounds had many different meaning and maybe even other meaning that we are unbeknownst to. For example, Archaeological research suggests the site was primarily used for astronomical observations, rituals, and gatherings. Some were even used as a burial. These mounds span a total of 400 acres, it is the largest collection of Middle Woodland mounds in the US. It includes 17 earthen structures, most notable Sauls’ Mound, which is the second-highest serving mound in the country at 72 feet.

This is what the Sauls’ Mound looks like from the ground. I was truly amazed at seeing this sight because when I looked at this mound my thoughts went straight to the fact of how they were able to make such a big mound. Taking dirt back and forth in handmade buckets would take some motivation for sure. Additionally, when I think of why they made this mound and all the others I get this feeling that they knew something that I do not know even today.

The mound sat so high that when I got to the top my feet were having a hard time standing up. There was almost some 100 stairs to the top of the mound. I could see just about the whole trail from the top of the Sauls’ Mound.

I could not see many of the mounds because we had to leave early due to the extreme weather conditions in the site, but Mound 12 was one that I did get to see. This mound was 4.5 feet high, and upon archaeological investigation it was found that it was a burial site. The wood charcoal recovered from the site proved to be radio carbonated at A.D. 460, indicating its construction near the end of the Middle Woodland Period.

The trail looked like one of my dreams come true because I always wanted to be able to walk through the wilderness unscathed. The trail looked unreal because there was so much green everywhere. Me and some of my other colleagues even found a yellow snake with black and brown patches all over its body just sitting on the edge of the trail. I did not even notice it, but one of my colleagues was the one who told me to watch out because there was a snake. I had to look hard to spot the snake because it was camouflaged so well.

We made it to our last hotel of the trip at 3:00 PM, so we all settled into our respective rooms and freshened up. We all were given the liberty to find our own places to eat because just in walking distance of our hotel were like 6 different places to eat. I went to the Shawarma House near our hotel because it was halal, so I ordered me a beef shawarma combo with water. It was absolutely amazing! Some of my friends ate at Dairy Queen and some of my friends ate at Chipotle. After I got done eating I went back to my hotel room and got ready for bed and tomorrow.