WWDD? in Savage Gulf Tennessee.

WWDD? (What Would Davy Do? ).
This trip was a one-nighter to the land of Davy Crockett - Savage Gulf Stat Park. Savage Gulf is located in central Tennessee in South Cumberland Mountains.

Me, Kevin Gervais, and Nadim Kazi went out for a one-nighter to test our gear, and our limits, and to see some pretty cool land formations and scenic overlooks.
It was a fairly un-eventful outing. The trail well maintained and well used. It wasn't as 'isolated' as we might have liked. The campsite was almost full and we could still hear, faintly, sounds (siren, chainsaw/motorcycle) from a distant small town.
We hiked a total of ~8mi. On the way in we hiked along the ridge of the gulf and had some really cool scenic views. We went in at the Stone Door Ranger station and hike 3.2mi to the Alum Gap camp area.

I bought and used a Henessey Hammock instead of the tent and loved it: lighter, easier to setup/teardown, don't need a clearing/flat, doubles as a chair.

The menu was the usual, Uncle Ben's rice, Oatmeal, protein bars.
We left sunday morning and took a different trail out that looped back to the trailhead. We drove out and did another small hike in to see some Falls (the 'Greeter Falls').
We ate lunch at Shoney's in Kimball TN on the way back to Huntsville.

Sipsey Trip (May 16/17)

Thompson Creek Trail Head to Needles Eye (1.5mi.):

We actually got rained on during the drive out and the whole Trip was pretty close to being cancelled before we got there.

Other Scouts:
They did very well all things considered, noone got injured or complained too much.
It was easy for me to forget how dis-oriented I was my first time down the trail - not to mention the entire area.
I was amazed at what some of them were wearing for footwear at times on the trail....air shoes and pool shoes.
We got to the site around 1pm. After setup and getting water, etc.
I was happy that they asked my opinion a lot since they knew I hiked there Before.
It was 2:30 and the head guy (the organizer) decided we'd all hike out to 'The Big Tree'. He'd been there before and wasn't concerned about the distance or time it'd take. I was concerned and offered my two-cents "get's darker ealier in here". At first, me and Matthew, opt'd out; Matthew didn't want to go and I wasn't much up to it either so I told him "we're going to opt-out". Then, Matthew changed his mind and we decided to go, trusting The leaders judgement about distance/time - mistake.
About 1mile in, already sweaty and tired, we bumped into some hikers coming the other way and I picked-there-brain about time/distance to 'Big Tree'.
They said it was another 3.5 miles. That was when I decided to grab Matthew, and head back, after notifying a couple of the other Dad's.
( I was a bit 'beside myself' with my lack of motivation in contrast to some Of the other Boys and Dad's who were obviously more out of shape and less better equiped than myself. But I wondered how many of them only went along Out of peer pressure over good judgement).
...Anyway, about 1/4 mile from the campsite it started to Thunder, then rain. We got back to our tent just before it 'opened up'. One lightning strick hit very close and scared the b'jeebus outta me just as I was getting in the tent. We took a nap, dry and warm . The rest of the group got back about an hour later, soaking wet, and they didn't make it to the tree.

They were probably lucky it rain when it did cause I think they would've had To contended with the darkness too had they gone on.

I struggled with whether I should be more vocal to the other Dad's about the time/distance or to just leave it to the head-guy (scout leader/organizer).
I left it to the head-guy after putting in my two-cents about the daylight (seeing as he'd been there before and I hadn't). I think he thought it was Closer than it actually was though.

Sipsey Trip (April 25/26)

We parked at the main trailhead (instead of Borden creek) and It's only about 1mi. to Falls Creek Falls (Matthew struggled a little - but it was just the right distance for him to no be miserable).

We used our air-shoes to cross the Borden Creek fork, which I almost walked Right passed thinking we still had a ways to hike. I missed the sign-post entirely. Funny how the place seems To have gotten smaller.


We got there early and found a really cool campsite in a cove just off from the river.


Our site even had it's own waterfall off sorts. I was able to hold out my cooking pot to fill it up. Would've made for a great shower too.


We setup our hammocks and I took a little cat-nap while Matthew explored before setting up.

I took a lot of pix. The poison Ivy was out in-force. A caught a 'tick' crawling up my leg, but the bugs were at a minimum, probably didn't even Need to use bug-spray. In fact, I only put it on, as a precaution, 'after' i caught the tick. We didn't use any that evening or the entire next day.

We had Zataran's dirty rice mixed with Tyson chicken chunks for dinner.
Had a small campfire and went to bed early.
I didn't have a watch. We woke up, had coffee/cocoa/oatmeal, packed up and hiked out - didn't do any additional hiking Sunday morning. We got back to the car at 10:15am.

The noise from the waterfall/shower, and the surrounding rock structure drowned Out any of the night noises. Which is good, or bad, depending on Your point of view.

I didn't sleep well until I put on my long underwear (which I was glad I brought). Not that I was cold, it just felt comfortable.
The tent (Sierra Designs - Flashlight Clip2) was great, the way It's designed/sloped directs all the condensation out the front but still retained it's heat. Was easy to get in/out of - even for two people.

There was a large group of about 20, from B-ham, that left the trailhead just minutes after us. I was afraid they were going to stop at the falls also but they continued on in and we didn't see them again.

Kevins Jericho Report

Tim,
The Walls of Jericho trip didn't happen too much as we had planned.
Nicholas weaseled out Friday to spend the weekend with his mom. Even my dog was too sick to go. So I went by myself with the expectation not to spend the night - but I brought a full pack (30 pounds) incase I decided to stay over. I hiked from the Tennessee trail head. It's 4.3 miles from the Walls.
It was a pretty hike even though I couldn't see anything from the overlooks when I started because of the mist and low clouds over the mountains. I walked down about two miles with one rest stop on the way.
It was 50 degrees when I left but seemed to get warmer as I hiked down.
It was 47 when I got back up. The trail is plainly marked and well
maintained. I crossed one horse trail and two small streams. On the way down my toes were jamming against my new hiking boots on the steep trails. The trail is rated moderate and it's a fair rating. After two miles and 600 foot elevation drop I rested with my pack off. I put my pack on and had troubled getting going again (both physically and
psychologically) so I decided to hike back up rather than get any farther down. It would have been a nine mile hike and I've never done that in a day and I wasn't looking forward to spending the night by myself in the woods. I had to rest a few times going back up. It was slow going resting against trees along the way to catch my breath. I took my pack off and had a Cliff bar when most of the 600 foot drop was recovered. I could see the mountains by then because the clouds had lifted.
I saw no cars at the trail head starting out and one car in the lot when I got back about noon. I never saw any other hikers. I swung through the Alabama trail head parking lot driving home and there were about 15 cars in there at noon. It's 3 miles down to the Walls from the AL trail head and the board said to allow six hours and expect a strenuous hike.
I think it was a good hike to get me in better shape. It was only a 4 mile round trip hike in about 2 hours 45 minutes hiking but it was stepper hills than I've done before. And I feel a little defeated since I didn't make it all the way down. It was hard to stay motivated hiking by myself. I kept thinking of all I had to do at home so my mind wasn't on the hike. But after I got home I had a good Easter weekend -planted some herbs and vegetable plants with Tina and went to church on Sunday.
I'll use that 4.3 mile stretch (from TN trail head to Walls) as a measure of my fitness because I plan to do it again sometime when I'm in better shape. Although I think I could do a day hike with a lighter pack from the AL trail head with no problem if I just wanted to see the Walls (which I do).
Let me know when you are planning your next trip and I see if I can join in...

Kevins Sipsey Report (3/23/09)

Hi Tim,
How was your trip to Texas?
Nick and I ended up going to Sipsey Wilderness for an overnighter. We hiked about 5 miles each of two days.
Trails:
The trails were not maintained well. We hopped over 200 downed trees and crossed 12-15 streams. Had to walk in a stream as part of the trail going down towards the Sipsey River? The trails were a little muddy in spots but very few rocks and roots. Forded the Sipsey river once and crossed back over on a downed tree (the one downed tree we appreciated).
We had to do a little bush whacking to use that tree as a bridge, but it saved us time and effort not having to convert to shorts and water shoes. We saw only about 12 other hiking groups- 1/2 day hikers 1/2 campers. We averaged 1.8 miles moving the first day and 2.0 miles moving the second day. The trail intersections were marked well. Only a few times did we wonder if we were on an actual trail because some of it looked like a beaten down side path. I suspect once the forest undergrowth springs to life some of those trail sections will be harder to manage. It's definitely a wilderness.
Weather:
Weather was great. 60-70 days and 40 at night. Nick was warm all night.
I was warm at first and just right for remainder. Nick got hot hiking back the second afternoon. No rain to test gear or wits.
Gear:
My pack (Teton Sports Scout 3400) killed my left shoulder (which was still a little sore from a week ago). It's for sale on eBay now. Nicks new pack (Granite Gear Vapor Trail) was good except his back got sweaty.
Each of our loaded packs weighed in at 30 lbs. The MSR Sweetwater worked great! Our new (Hennesy) hammocks worked well for me and pretty good for Nick. He got hot because of the pad he was using. We still have to work out appropriate pads but the comfort level was much better for me than ground sleeping. My GPS worked well - only lost signal a few times but kept us informed of where we were as we double checked our map.
Food:
We had wraps for lunch and Ramon noodles with chicken in a pouch for supper. Nicks stove worked great.
Companionship:
We did NOT bring the dog but could have. Nick is a great hiking companion. He only complained once about the heat, and he didn't push my slow hiking style. He cooked while I tended a camp fire. He hung the bear bag too. He's faster than me at setting up and tearing down camp but slower to get up in the morning so we were about even. He had good suggestions while hiking and listened to my suggestions as well.
General Observations:
A lot of cliffs with shallow caves along the trails we did. 201, 206, 209, 202. Saw a tree growing on a large rock with its roots extending to the ground. Saw a cabin in the woods with a living journal dating back to 2001. So we added an entry. Saw one water fall about 60 feet high. Only saw two water bottles, two wrappers and two cigarette butts on the trial. The Sipsey is a nice river. We saw a few pretty vistas along the trail - we wished we had a camera.
When we got home we showered and hit the local Chinese buffet!
We're still planning something for Easter weekend.
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Weekend Outing 2/28/09

We went out this weekend and braved the weather.
Matthew had just returned from the scout shop and was excited (he got his
'Arrow of Light' just last weekend. He starts his first Boy Scout meet tonight).
I had Everything ready to go and wasn't doing anything else, so we drove
Out to Bankhead, took Katie along too. The trailhead (Borden Creek) was really muddy.
There Was a scout troop there that laid claim to all the sites near the trailhead.
We took A short walk down the trail without the packs.
We almost didn't camp at all when I remember a small 'Car-camping' area.
So we drove out there and setup. There were two other campers there.
We stayed warm ok, I barely slept at all.

And mostly listed to my ipod (podcasts) - was glad I brought it.
Before we struck camp:
We went on a hike on some wilderness trails. By the time we
Got the tent setup, things moved quick and before long it was dark and we were tired.
I did a reading from the gospel according to Tolkein – The Hobbit.
Afterwards, Matthew asked what time it was, I told him 8pm, he thought it to be closer to midnight.
The snow started abou 4am.
The snow was pretty. It'll be a memorable experience for the kids.
Check out the Pix:
http://picasaweb.google.com/timothyegg/OneNighterCarCampAndPhotoOp?feat=directlink

That morning we just shoved everything in the back of the Yukon a took off.
I still have to unpack. I'm off work today.
Sorta cool (or not) to see all the Natl. Headlines about the snow in
Bama and know We camped out in it.