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...
Monday, April 13, 2009
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
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
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