Chimney Peak

Trailin'

2007-04-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

No posts in a while. Been busy. Finally getting to do a little hiking today. A little loop on the Cave Creek and Pinhoti up atop Mount Cheaha. I've been to the state park there many times, but never hiked more than a few hundred yards on any of the trails. I expect it'll be crowded ... perfect warm weather and not a hint of rain.

Pushing south

2007-03-20T04:56:00.000-07:00

Over the last two weeks, I've seen workers pulling up track along the old Norfolk Southern rail line south of the Chief Ladiga Trail. The line runs into downtown Anniston and on to the Amtrak terminal there. Understandably, I've started to get a little excited. Today, The Anniston Star confirmed the reason for my excitement. They report (sorry, The Star's Web site is for subscribers only) that NS is working to abandon the line, and that the City of Anniston is arranging financing to buy the land for an extension of the trail.

The trail extension is part of a larger plan to turn the Fourth Street Train Station into a multi-modal facility with bus, taxi and train services. “(The trail will run) south through the Fourth Street terminal at the multimodal facility and will hopefully be a spot for cyclists,” (City Manager) Monk said.

The story says weather also has delayed paving of the eastern end of the trail theough the wilds of Cleburne County. Officials there are hoping to be done by September.

Arson in Bankhead?

2007-03-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

Firefighters extinguished a blaze in the Bankhead National Forest Sunday, according to a story in The Decatur Daily. The paper says investigators believe it may have been intentionally set.

Dugger burning

2007-03-02T06:22:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Forest Service and local firefighters Thursday were battling a blaze in a portion of the Dugger Mountain Wilderness, according to The Anniston Star (sorry, The Star's Web site is subscription only). The paper reports that severe weather warnings kept firefighters from doing all they needed to battle the flames Thursday. Hopefully the rain yesterday helped some. The paper said 425 acres had burned Wednesday and Thursday.

The fire appears to be in the Wilderness' northeastern corner, near USFS Road 500 and north of the Pinhoti Trail, with some flames burning on private land north of the National Forest.

UPDATE (8:36 a.m.): On its Web site, the Forest Service says the Pinhoti Trail is closed through the Dugger Mountain Wilderness, and that drivers are asked to limit their travel on FS Road 500 due to the fire and efforts to control it.

Happy trails

2007-02-26T06:30:00.000-08:00

Two items from The Birmingham News over the weekend, one each on my two favorite trails, the Pinhoti and the Chief Ladiga.

Columnist Brenda Cummings compares the Pinhoti's ascent of Mount Cheaha and Dugger Mountain to a climb up Alaska's Mount McKinley, and the Alabama peaks come off pretty well. Having just done Dugger, I can't disagree with her. She writes:

Mid-February, never mind the temperatures, is unquestionably the best time to get into the woods and on top of hills and mountains in Alabama - no hunters, no snakes, no foliage to obscure the vistas.

In a state travel calendar, Lynn Edge leads with the Woodland-Calhoun Century Challenge, set for March 24. Compared with the Cheaha Century Challenge, the Woodland is the lesser-known of Calhoun County's annual 100-mile rides. It's sponsored by the City of Anniston's Parks and Recreation Department, and is in its 15th year. The route takes riders over part of the Chief Ladiga, and has 25- and 50-mile options for those who aren't up to the full hundred. Click here for race information from the city, with a link to a printable registration form.

I'm back

2007-02-25T08:45:00.000-08:00

So, after nearly a year of neglect, I'm turning my attention to this blog again. Perhaps it's the impending arrival of spring, with its slate of big outdoors events in northeast Alabama that has me posting again. Or maybe its deep-seated feelings of guilt. Regardless, I'm here again to share what's in the news about the outdoors in Alabama, and a little about my own fun. Thanks to the one or two visitors per week I've been getting for the last year - your faith is an inspiration.

I did a dayhike of Section of 2 of the Pinhoti Trail on Saturday with a friend from work. We left one car at the crossing with Forest Service Road 500, and started out north from the Burns Trailhead. Weather was cool in the morning, and warm in the afternoon, with the wind whipping atop Dugger Mountain. Traffic was thick for Dugger; we met two solo southbound hikers, one with a pair of dogs and the other with one. Also spoke with a southbound group of three from Atlanta, a boy and two older men who'd hiked south up the mountain many times but never all the way through to Pinky's cabin. They said they made the ascent in about an hour and 45 minutes. Not bad. While we spoke to them, another older man passed us heading north to the peak. Once we were moving again we met him second time, having reached the summit and heading home.

Our own pace was a bit slower - about five and a half hours from car to car, with a couple of short trips off the trail for my friend, who is a geocacher. The trail was in good shape, with no serious blowdowns. Tight little buds were forming on the mountain laurel we saw - the forest will be blooming soon! Views northwest to Piedmont from atop the ridge were good, though the cloudy air kept us from seeing much farther. Once we reached 500, we left our (heavy) packs at the car and hiked a little farther to check out the North Dugger Shelter. Looks like a nice place to spend the night, and would surely be a welcome sight after a long day's march for a thru-hiker. Thanks to the volunteers who helped put it together.

Also, on Friday I rode for a couple hours on the unpaved portion of the Chief Ladiga Trail. I hadn't done this before and wanted to try it before crews finishing laying asphalt to the state line this year. There is some trash that needs to be cleaned up in spots, but overall the trail was a beautiful ride through quiet country. For those with off-road bikes, get out and ride this part of the trail while you can still experience it this way. I'm looking forward to the completion of the paved path, but the fun of a slightly bumpy, muddy ride won't be around for much longer.

In first gear?

2006-04-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

In an odd little story from the Cleburne News, we learn that work on paving Cleburne County's portion of the Chief Ladiga Trail might begin by Labor Day.

So, I added up the figures the story gave for different parts of the project, and if I'm right, paving 8.67 miles of trail will cost $817,101 (including $84,101 for bridge work). $94,000 per mile - can that be right? I don't have figures handy for the earlier projects to pave the Calhoun County portion of the trail - perhaps a knowledgeable reader can supply them?

About 80 percent of that will be covered by federal grants, but Cleburne County must pay for all the work up front, then wait to be reimbursed by the feds. Given that, I can see why they've waited so long.

Traipsin'

2006-03-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

I used to play in the woods next to our house when I was a kid, but we didn't have a national forest in our backyard. The Decatur Daily has this story today on the ordeal of three boys who got lost in the Bankhead National Forest. Here's an excerpt:

"When we were through, one of us thought we knew where we were," Tyler said. "We cut up through a pine thicket, thinking we would get back home that way. We went down a steep (incline) and came to a big creek.

"We were going to see if it would lead us to a road, but we had already realized then that we were lost."

Diggin' Dugger

2006-03-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

Hit the trail on the Pinhoti yesterday, heading north into the Dugger Mountain Wilderness from the Pink E. Burns Trailhead. It was a nice day, though I was convinced at one point it was going to rain so I turned around and headed back.

The forest still is mostly gray; the only green was in moss, ferns, pine and mountain laurel. Things are only beginning to bloom, such as this little guy. I imagine in a few weeks the woods will be blazing with flowers.

There was a pretty serious, tangled blowdown about 30 minutes in from the trailhead. I was able to climb up and around the side of it, but that wouldn't be easy for everyone. It will take some work and a few tools to clear. Other than that, the trail was in good shape. As always, the blazes seems to disappear as I approach the summit of Dugger, and the path becomes a little tougher to follow. That's always the point where I have to turn around for some reason, and the uncertainty of the trail makes that decision a little easier.

Trails beyond THE trail

2006-03-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

The AJC has a small note today on a Cobb County home builder who wants to give the county commission $30,000 to help with a $1 million expansion of the Silver Comet Trail into the county.

A $1 million segment of trail will extend the popular Silver Comet Trail from Oakwood Road north along Atlanta Road and then east to Paces Ferry Road, where it will connect to an existing trail to the Cumberland area. The project, which will cost about $1 million, is already under contract, said Cobb Transportation Director David Montanye.

But here's the part that just makes my jaw drop: The AJC item describes a plan for a county-wide network of trails, and a requirement for developers to include trails as they develop property. Sitting out here at the other end of the SCT-CLT corridor, I can see that would be brilliant to do in Calhoun County now. I can also see that leaders here would never agree to it.

Dollars=miles

2006-03-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

Ever so slowly, the missing links in the Chief Ladiga-Silver Comet are filling in. Looks like the Cedartown-Rockmart gap on the SCT could soon be connected. There's money fo it, anyway, though I don't know if this would do the whole thing. The news comes from a story in today's Cedartown (Ga.) Standard:

The congressman presented the City of Cedartown with a $750,000 transportation grant for the Silver Comet Trail; money that City Manager James Stephens said will help further the efforts to complete the trail.

“The money will be used towards the completion of the trail. Right now it ends at E. Gibson Street, but once completed, it will run to the bypass then to Rockmart,” said Stephens.

Sharpening the axes?

2006-02-26T07:51:00.000-08:00

WildLaw's Ray Vaughan has an op-ed in Mississippi's Jackson Clarion-Ledger today, on the proposed sale of 14,618 acres of national forest land in the Southeast by the federal government. That includes land in south Alabama's Conecuh National Forest along the Blacwater River. From the op-ed:

In the Conecuh National Forest in Alabama, they propose to sell a mile of frontage (on both sides) of the Blackwater River. The tract is not really isolated (a multi-thousand-acre block of other national forest land is only 1,000 feet away).

Further, the Blackwater is one of the most important recreational rivers in the central Gulf Coast. Just south of this tract, the river flows into the Blackwater River State Forest in Florida, a major recreational tourism area. Disposal of this tract is clearly irresponsible.

Not surprisingly, Vaughan think this sale, and the others, are incredibly bad ideas. The Clarion-Ledger had this Gannett story about the proposed sales on Feb. 26. Vaughan's piece includes links to the following USFS news releases: http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2006/releases/02/schools-act.shtml
http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2006/releases/02/secure-rural-schools.shtml

Apparently the government is pitching the sales as a way to shore up programs for rural schools. How sweet. The releases say the lands to be sold will be "isolated" or "inefficient to manage." Something tells me timber companies and developers won't have any trouble getting there and "managing" things.

Green=green

2006-02-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Local government leaders in Georgia seem to get it. I wish the folks here in Alabama could catch up with their thinking. From an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story on sprucing up an aging suburban retail corridor, there's this passing mention of the Silver Comet Trail:

Dallas has spruced up its downtown. The projects include a $2 million streetscape, a $500,000 trail head project that connects downtown with the Silver Comet Trail, and a $2 million renovation of the old Dallas Theater, which was built in the 1920s and previously renovated in the 1940s.

Here in Calhoun County, we're still trying to attract the shopping centers that will be abandoned strip malls in 25 years. The Chief Ladiga Trail was a bold move, but I fear it's as far as leaders here were willing to go into the "eco-tourism" concept. Towns along the trail have yet to truly take advantage of it. Jacksonville could really use a connector from the Square to the CLT, but the city seems to have other things on its mind.

Inching along

2006-02-20T15:27:00.000-08:00

Just returned from an out-of-state trip with limitied net access to find this welcome item in the Cleburne News:

Completion of the portion of Chief Ladiga Trail in Cleburne County is a step closer following action Monday night by the Cleburne County Commission.
At the request of the county engineer, the commission adopted a resolution to solicit bids for the Chief Ladiga Trail bridge rehabilitation.

Now as long as someone bids, and the bids come in roughly in-line with the estimates, we might see some action. The story says the "mid portion" of the remaining trail could be done by mid-summer. Given that statement, I'll bet on late fall.

See y'all on the trail!

Pedaling along

2006-01-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

Looks like the Silver Comet soon will be closer to complete, according to this story in the Cedartown Standard."

State Senator Bill Heath (R-Bremen) announced last week that the city of Cedartown has been awarded $750,000 in Transportation Enhancement (TE) program funds for fiscal year 2006 (FY06) and fiscal year 2007 (FY07) for the 11th U.S. Congressional District.
The TE program funds have been earmarked for an improvement project that will close approximately one-half of the remaining gap in the Silver Comet Trail
between Rockmart and Cedartown. "

That leaves just the other 6 miles of the Cedartown-Rockmart route and the Piedmont-to-Georgia portion of the Chief Ladiga for a complete Anniston-to-Atlanta ride. I wonder what the status of the last CLT section is. Haven't heard anything lately.

Surprise

2005-08-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting story:

But McDermott says he's never laid eyes on the nearly 400-foot waterfall that
park officials recently discovered in a remote corner of the Whiskeytown
National Recreation Area, 43,000 acres of wilderness in northern California.

Read the rest at CNN.

I wonder what's out there that nobody knows about in the Talladega National Forest?

Dippin' in

2005-08-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is still possible on the Coosa in Alabama, with all our dams, but it would be neat to find out.

The Rome News-Tribune, just the other side of those hills over yonder, today has this story about a couple of guys who are canoeing the Coosa's tributaries in Georgia. Here's an excerpt that hits the nail on the head:

McClanahan, of Rome, had more personal reasons for taking paddle in hand.
“I wanted to do it because my great-uncle did it in the 1920s,” McClanahan said. “Back in the ’20s and ’30s, I think it was a pretty typical thing to do. You feel closer to nature when you’re outside. You can’t feel that when you’re inside an office.”

Kinda makes you want to grab an oar, doesn't it?

No longer MIA

2005-08-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

If anybody's still out there reading, sorry for the lack of posts. A lot's happened since I set up this blog. Took a two-week vacation out of state and bought a house. I now live on the ower slopes of Chimney Peak, so the blog title's pretty dang accurate now.

If you've not abandoned me yet, hang in there. The informative posts will resume soon.

Red Pepper

2005-06-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Stopped by Red Pepper Trading Co. this morning. They were celebrating their grand opening. The store's owned by John Peppers and Rodney "Red" Tollison, who are indeed the guys behind CEI. They've sold their clothing to outdoors and other stores for about 11 years, and decided to open their own place. John Peppers told me they plan to open a chain of Red Pepper stores in markets the other chains have overlooked.

The store's stocked with outdoors clothing and equipment from companies like Columbia and Kavu, and work clothes from brands like Carhartt and Georgia Boot. There's also canoes, kyaks, fishing equipment, outdoor grilling supplies and more. Nice folks, good business plan and a nice store. Also, they were handing out samples of spicy grilled porck chops as you head in the door. Free hats & T-shirts, too.

Cashing in on the outdoors?

2005-06-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

Looks like there's a new outdoors outlet in town. Saw a sign the other day in front of a formerly-vacant shop here in Jacksonville for Red Pepper Trading Co. Next to the sign were stacks of kyaks and canoes. Drove by again tonight and they appeared to have a stock of paddles, etc., inside, as well as racks of clothing. Couldn't get a really good look, though, and wasn't sure if they were open or not.

When I got home I looked online, and it turns out Red Pepper Trading Co. is one of the brands of Confederate Enterprises, Inc., the folks responsible for all those Dixie Apparel T-Shirts you've probably seen on the backs of "hip" Southern teens. They're based just north of Jacksonville, in the Roy Webb community.

From what I read on CEI's Web site, they don't have any retail outlets of their own, and only deal with wholesalers. There was text on the site that seemed to indicate it hadn't been updated much since 2004, though, so that very well could have changed. Looks like they're offering more than their own clothes, too, with all those watercraft stacked up outside. I'll try to stop by there tomorrow or Saturday and post an update.

If this is largely an outdoors store, that'd be the third in town, counting J. Bradley Outfitters and Scott's Bikes, both up on the Square here in Jacksonville. Looks like folks finally are starting to cash in on the central location to Cheaha, Talladega National Forest, the Pinhoti, the Chief Ladiga, Terrapin Creek and the Coosa River. Bravo!

Mercury standards' risin'

2005-06-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

ADEM director Trey Glenn said Wednesday the agency would adopt newer EPA standards on the mrcury levels allowed in Alabama's lakes and streams. That's good news for fish and people who like to eat them. The existing standards date back to the 1980s. The Mobile Register had this story in Thursday's paper about the new standards. Nice work by Bill Finch, but it does get a little clunky with the technical terms.

If you want to know where the Alabama Dept. of Public Health says it's unsafe to eat fish because of mercury and other pollunatns, check out their fish consumption advisory.

Living at lunch

2005-06-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Lately I've discovered that having a good time in the outdoors doesn't have to mean packing up and heading out for the weekend. LaGarde Park and the Anniston Museum of Natrual History's nature trail aren't far from where I work. On my lunch break there's plenty of time to jet over to the museum and have a quick hike around the trail loop. It's a long way from backcountry - the noise of 18-wheelers on 431 is never far off - but it beats scarfing down a sandwich in the company's breakroom.

Is there somewhere near your workplace you can go to get away for a few minutes?

Welcome!

2005-06-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hi, and welcome to Chimney Peak. This site's dedicated to all the fun there is to be had outside in Alabama, particularly in and around Calhoun County, and anywhere else I happen to roam. I'll post news items I spot that outdoors enthusiasts and environmentalists,especially those here in Alabama, will find interesting. I'll also post short journals of some of my own trips.

Please get involved. If you see something you love or hate, use that little comment link below each post. And by all means, if you know of something I oughta post please e-mail me! (see link at right)

Below you'll find selected posts I moved from another, earlier Web log at another provider. It was too much work to move them all, so I'll give you just a sample.

By the way, the site's named for a mountain just east of where I live in Jacksonville, Alabama. I'm told it's the fifth-highest point in the state, for what it's worth.

2004-07-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Looks like the Chief Ladiga Trail could be finished soon, connecting to Georgia's Silver Comet Trail. That means you'll soon be able to ride a bike (or walk, or skate or whatever) from Anniston, Ala. to Smyrna, GA.
Cleburne County is getting $100,000 from the federal government to finsh its 9 miles of trail, The Anniston Star reported Tuesday. Subscribers can click here to read the story. The money will help refurbish a bridge over Terrapin Creek and pave the trail across the county.
That would link the trail up with the Silver Comet, which was apparently finished to the state line sometime last year, according to Trailexpress.com, which had this picture of Joe Anderson pointing toward Alabama from 3 miles west of Cedartown, Ga., sometime in 2003

2004-07-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Birmingham News had this story today about the Bush administration propsal to let governors decide whether to log national forests. Forest service spokeswoman Mary Gaines and Staff Writer Katherine Bouma seem to think that the 12,437 roadless acres in Alabama aren't significant, compared to the 666,000 total acres of national forest in the state. I'd argue that since Alabama has such a small area of protected land that makes our 12,000 acres all the more precious.
Bouma doesn't mention whether the Dugger Mountain Wilderness would be impacted by the rule change. I'll try to give Pete Conroy a call soon to see what he knows. Dugger's 9,220 acres would make up the bulk of that 12,000 acres.

2004-06-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

If you love the gear you carry as much as you love the outdoors, there's a new place for you to shop in Jacksonville.
J. Bradely Outfitters has opened on the Square, on E. Ladiga Street. It's a nice little shop, and is stocked with boots, packs, tents, rain gear, cooking gear, you name it. It should be a great resource to help people here enjoy the beautiful land that surrounds us.
The Jacksonville News had this story on the shop and its owner, Lee Scott, in this week's paper. They also get credit for the photo of Scott.

2004-05-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back. Actually I've been back since yesterday afternoon but I'm just now getting around to uploading my pictures and posting about my hike. I was too sore to type! There are pictures below, and you can see more of them by clicking here. First and foremost let me say that the Dugger Mountain Wilderness is spectacular! If you haven't seen it for yourself, get out on the Pinhoti Trail as soon as you can.
I like hiking largely for the solitude of being on the trail, but sometimes other people can be a welcome surprise. I sure was surprised when I showed up at the Pinky Bruns trailhead on Rabbittown Road Monday morning to find Pete Conroy, director of JSU's Environmental Policy and Information Center, biologist Bruce Hutchinson (who, with wife Francine, spent years cataloging the wildlife on Dugger Mountain and pushing for the federal protection it now enjoys. Pete pulled the levers in Washington that made that happen), Chief Ranger Earl Stewart and archeologist Molly Thrash of the Shoal Creek Ranger District, USFS, and a local resident whose name I believe was Arnold Coppock.
The group was making plans for the construction of a connecter trail from Pinky Burns' cabin (at right) and its parking area into the forest to link with the Pinhoti Trail. Currently the Pinhoti meets Rabbittown Road about 100 yards east of Pinky's place. So you've either got to hoof it up the road or crash through the woods a bit if you want to start out from Pinky's place and head into the Dugger Wilderness. They were also planning for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 5th, so mark your calenders.
After they were done making plans, I got a guided tour of the forest surrounding Pinky's cabin, from probably the best possible group of people. Molly showed me the concrete foundation of a house that burned years ago, that she said was owned by the Greenleaf family. That's the same Greenleaf family that once owned the now-closed Union Yarn Mill (Profile Mill) in Jacksonville. They also owned the large house in Jacksonville at the corner of Greenleaf and Pelham that was razed in 2001 and will soon be home to a shopping complex.
Bruce then took Molly and I through the woods to an abandoned mine site, where workers had constructed a huge dirt ramp where they'd haul up loads of rocks to dump into a hopper or crusher where they'd separate out the iron ore. There were four concrete bases with steel rebar sticking out from where the machinery used to be. Steel oil cans and even a rusty old toolbox littered the ground. Fascinating!
Bruce pointed out all kinds of interesting plants, including the ancient and threatened "ground pine", wild mint (which he said makes great tea), hydrangeas, St. John's wort (used to make Prozac, he said), sourroot (or sourweed? Bruce said Indians would chew on the leaves when they were short of water - pretty tasty )and a million others I can't remember. Then we got a brief tour of Pinky's property.
After my personal expert-scientist-tour-guides had left (how cool was that?), I was glad they'd been there. I'd probably never have found the trail from the cabin without them. As it was I still had to fumble around in the woods for awhile, dodging lots of poison ivy, before I found it again. Then I finally got my hike started!
Let me tell you, this made the first hike look like a stroll through the woods! For the first 20 minutes the trail climed straight up the side of the mountian. But after that things started to level off and I began to catch my breath. Whew! The forest so incredibly green, compared to the gray and brown I'd seen a month ago on Section 1. Spring has definitely sprung!
All those leaves blocked the views for the most part, so there were none of the stunning vistas I had on my Section 1 hike, either. Up toward the top of the mountain I could just catch a hint or two of just how high up I was. I will have to come back in the winter, because it looked like it would be an incredible view.
The trail crossed lots of little rills and streams, many of them trickling only because of the rain we had over the weekend, I'm sure. There were a coule of larger streams I passed that I could hear rushing loudly in the distance, but the trail never brough me within sight of them. The weekend storms had blown down quite a few limbs and trees, especially in one section of the forest near the top of the mountina where it looked like a hurricane had blown through.
At about 11:30 I reached a clear area that hikers use as a campsite, with a small fire ring (that's my water and backpack leaning against it to the right). I hiked on for a few more minutes, hoping to get that "payoff" view off the mountain, but it never came, so at 12 I turned around and went back to the campsite. I sat on the fire ring, ate two peanut butter and marshmellow fluff sandwiches, chips, and a ceral bar, and guzzled some water. I then changed my socks, and put on my long-sleeved shirt, because it was CHILLY up there! Then I started taking pictures and it was time to hike down.
I moved fast, because I knew I had to be on the road by two or Sherri would worry when she didn't hear from me. I stopped only to catch my breah and take a few pictures, mostly of all the wildflowers that were blooking, like these, which I thnk are hydrangea -- although they're not blue or pink like the ones you'd see in your yard.
A few minutes after 2 I reached Rabbittown Road, but not before I startled a black snake who got away from me as fast as he could. He was fast! I walked up the road to Pinky's cabin, and took the last sip of my first two liters of water. I didn't even break out the other Camelback -- carried all that heavy water for nothing! I took a few pictures of the cabin and then left, exhausted but relaxed.
Quite a day! If you've read this far, thanks for reading about my adventures. There'll be more to come as soon as I can get a day off!

2004-04-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, long time, no post. There's a lot of outdoors news coming in the next few days, so I'll soon make up for my lack of presence here lately. I know I've got a few loyal readers, and I need to keep y'all happy.
I'm planning another short Pinhoti Hike, probably on section 1 again, or perhaps section two or three. Spring has sprung since I last struck for the wilderness, so there should be lots of GREEN in my next set of pictures.
Thanks for reading!

2004-04-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

Looking for a way to enjoy the outdoors and celebrate Earth Day? Here's a link to a Birmingham News story about a volunteer effort to clean up Lay Lake on the Coosa River between Shelby and Talladega counties.

2004-04-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently this is a good weekend for group hikes. The Appalachian Trail Club of Alabama is sponsoring a guided Pinhoti hike for beginners on Saturday. The hike will be a few miles south of the JSU Field School hike, from the Pine Glen Campground to Coleman Lake.
They'll pick up hikers at Coleman Lake at 9 a.m. Saturday, shuttle you down to Pine Glen, and hike you back 7.8 miles to the lake. They're providing food that night for those who want to stick around, and will lead another hike around the lake Sunday morning for those who decide to camp over night.
Get more info on the ATCA hike by clicking here.

2004-04-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Folks, if you've thought about hiking, but were afraid to take off in the woods on your own and get lost, now's your chance to give it a try.
JSU's Field School will lead an organized hike through the Dugger Mountain Wilderness portion of the Pinhoti Trail this Saturday, April 17. The Dugger area is one of the neater spots along the trail, a federally-protected wilderness on one of the state's highest mountains, just a 20-minute drive from J'ville.
Get more info on this weekend's hike by reading this JSU press release. There's a bunch of info on the Dugger Mountain Wilderness at this website put together by JSU's Environmental Policy and Information Center.

2004-04-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

Tired of reading budget news from Washington? Well, here's something actually from the outdoors. I had a Friday off a couple weeks ago, and set out for the first time on the northernmost section of the Pinhoti Trail in the Talladega National Forest.
It was a four-hour hike through beautiful forest, in perfect weather. This creek parallels the trail for awhile near the beginning of Section 1, which begins at U.S. Hwy. 278 near Piedmont.
You can see more pictures from my hike by clicking here.
Learn more about the Pinhoti Trail at this excellent website, Hiking Alabama.

2004-04-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

Yet another post for the new-look blog, my third for the day. It's another news item.
In Washington this week, the House approved $2 million for the proposed Talladega Mountains Natural Resource Center. This would be a "one-stop-shop" for the US Forest Service, the Fish & Wildlife Service, Jacksonville State University's Talladega Mountains Field Schoo and other agencies. It would also be an information center for natural resources in the area such as the Pinhoti Trail.
The Senate must now approve the transportation bill that contains the funds for the project, and then the president's signature would make it final.
Click here to read a JSU press release about the project.
Anniston Star subscribers, click here to read a story about the project.

2004-04-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

This is a little old by now, but I'll make it the first link to a news item.
The Anniston Star recently had this story about efforts to connect the Pinhoti Trail to the Appalachain Trail. The Star's is a subscription site, so I won't paste the entire article here. Instead, I'll summarize the news for you. Basically, the Calhoun Commission endorsed the idea of using federal money to buy 1,800 acres of land in Alabama and Georgia along the border between the states.
It's a step -- though not a big one -- in connecting Alabama's 111-mile Pinhoti Trail to the 2,174 mile Appalachian Trail. The connection would make it possible to hike through the forests from Alabama to Maine. The commission is basically formally asking Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby to get $4 million from the federal government to buy the land.
If you'd like to see it happen, why not drop Sen. Shelby a line?

Since I got bored with my blog, I decided to change its name, look and focus. I'll now share all the news I here about the outdoors in Alabama.
This state has tremendous diversity in landscapes, from the last rugged foothills of the Appalachians, to forested coastal plain, to marshy swampland and sugary Gulf Coast beaches.
I'll also write about my hikes and other trips to the outdoors in Alabama. Stay tuned, there's more to come.