Spent sun up til sun down workin like a dog. Actually I worked in the dark a bit, and worked harder than a dog - my two simply laid in the sunshine all day watching me.
It was 55 degrees in the house when I got up. I love it. It was 19 degrees outside after I ate breakfast and headed out around 7AM. I like it when I can enjoy breakfast on the weekends and not feel rushed. I immediately started chopping wood. It warmed up to 28 around 10AM and I had to take my coat off. I laughed out loud when I realized I was working in 28 degree weather in a t-shirt, but I wasn't a bit cold. A book I just read about the Alaskan bush describes how the body gets acclimated to temperature so easily. The author lived out in the Interior for a season and had regular temperatures of -60 degrees without the windchill. He got so use to that that he said when it approached -10 degrees as long as he was working all he wore was a long-sleeve thermal top. He could just be outside without working in +10 degrees with only this on. Amazing. I don't think it ever got above 40 today here - a far cry from -60. In the heat of the day at noon the christmas station I was listening to said it was 37 - a perfect winter day - not too cold - not too hot - perfect for working outside.
Got a lot done today:
- chopped a face cord of wood
- fell and sawed up a 26" diameter dead pine that I was afraid was going to land on my shed
- finally got around to sawing some stumps down to ground level
- changed the oil and performed winter maintenance on the lawn mower
- finally got around to putting the doors back on my workbench
- built a rock wall around a bed (approx 50 linear feet)
- changed the oil in the truck
- changed the oil in the car
Now its time to go sip hot chocolate by the fire!
Alabama Pinhoti Trail
It's been a while since we have hiked the Pinhoti, so I was itching to head back for a 5 day trip. I had hiked a majority of the Woods Trails mileage on the Alabama Pinhoti, all of it hiked on the southern half from Sylacauga northwards.
http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/sitemap.html
Trip Statistics
Miles hiked: 45 (? - who cares)
Number of people seen on the trail: 0
Number of hunters seen off the trail (campgrounds, etc): lots
Number of times shots were heard: at least a dozen
% of the AL Pinhoti now complete: 85% (? - who cares)
Having this many days to hike: priceless
Trip Overview
On this trip, I hiked between Morgan Lake and Burns Trailhead, and loved every minute of it. The weather was absolutely perfect for hiking - sunny and around 60 for daytime highs and starry and clear and right at freezing for nighttime lows.
I could not believe the difference between the southern and northern portions of the AL Pinhoti. The southern half was fairly decent hiking, but nothing spectacular, although the ridgeline hiking heading up to Cheaha was nice. The northern sections we hiked on this trip were amazing - certainly well described as an extension of the Appalachians. I could see why some have pushed so hard for the AMT starting from Flagg Mountain, AL . I hope to be able to start the GA Pinhoti next year and claim that trail on my life list one day. It was neat to be on a trail that connects the southernmost point of the US to Newfoundland via the ECT.
Many microcosms of micro-ecosystems were present on these sections. We would hike in sun-baked Alabama long-leaf pines along the ridgeline, dip into the moist and dew and moss encrusted boulder strewn creekbed gorges of valleys lined with mountain laurel, and then follow hardwoods around mountain traverses, all within 30 minutes. Certain sections of the trail were relatively flat, easy bottomland walking along beautiful wide flowing creeks with water as clear as anywhere I have seen in the lower 48, while at other times we were huffing and puffing up PUDs as if on the Appalachian Trail.
Trip Report
When I arrived Wednesday night, it was dark, and so I just got to hang out and enjoy finishing up my latest book about living in the bush in Alaska. We ran into a few problems getting to our TH since we needed to take Forest Service roads, some of which were closed due to the building of new bridges. This took some time to figure a way around them, which we never really did, so we ended up sleeping in the back of the truck that night.
Looking up at the stars that night was surreal. The sky was as clear as it could be, and you could see every constellation known to the autumnal sky. Unfortunately, the camera got left in PA on a trip just a few weeks ago so I was not able to capture any images. This was a bummer since so many beautiful things could have been memorialized into my mind.
Thursday morning we decided to start at Pine Glen campground, hike past Highrock Lake, past Lower Shoal Creek valley (gorgeous!) and into the Alabama Pines for 12 miles on the day. Our campsite at Birds in the Pines sat atop a ridgetop knoll and faced due west, so we got a spectular viewing of the show that night entitled "Crimson sunset over the southern appalachians". Or maybe it was "Auburn sunset over the southern appalachians." I'm not really sure what the title, and we could not have asked the one hunter we saw that morning because he was equally confused. He had a BAMA license plate, but was wearing an Auburn jacket. Go figure.
Speaking of hunters, it was rifle season through a 15-mile section that traversed the Choccolocco WMA (say that five times fast). We thought we would have problems with hunters, so we were decked out in blaze orange. Turns out we saw one hunter, who wasnt even on the trail, the whole time. Don't get me wrong - we saw plenty of hunters at Coleman Lake campground, but that is pretty much where they stayed - in campgrounds and less than a half mile from a FS road. Typical lazy hunters. I would venture to say I am more cognizant of my surroundings in the woods than they are - 95% of the time I see them before they ever see me, and 75% of the time I am able to sneak by without them ever seeing me. Of course I do have a lot of practice on this - I hike every year in season in PA, which has the highest number of hunters per capita than any US state (and probably in the world for that matter).
Friday we awoke and knew we had several road crossings to deal with: US 78, I-20, US 281, and US 431. Unfortunately, despite being several miles from the tracks, the nearby train kept us up the prior night. Because of this and the road crossings, we figured this section would not be terribly scenic. Boy were we wrong. The section crossing over these roads was scenic, and within just a mile or so you felt like you were back in the middle of nowhere, and could not hear the traffic (of course 281 and 431 only average about one car an hour anyways). When we crossed 281, we entered a 400+ acre area that had been demolished by 2008 tornados. The destruction was unbelievable, but it was also amazing to see just how fast the forest was starting to regenerate itself. The cleared area also gave us excellent 360-degree views for at least a half mile, which was nice. Friday night we humped it 17 miles back to our truck and then flip flopped north to spend the night at Coleman Lake campground.
The next morning we got up and hiked south once again, passing by Shoal Creek Church, the oldest and last standing log hewn church in AL, which dates back to the early 1800s. This are still a handful of worship services there each year. We passed a shelter, and apparently just missed a AL Pinhoti YoYo hiker. Would have been neat to talk with him. We walked through more diverse trailbed, past Sweetwater Lake (gorgeous!) and followed Shoal Creek into Pine Glen campground. Just before the campground, I came within inches of stepping on a Garter Snake (?) sunbathing in the middle of the trail. At the campground several construction workers were putting in the bridge. One particular self-proclaimed "fat lazy truck driver who would rather drink beer and eat honeybuns than walk like we were doing" commented that he admired our tenacity but also "had it figured out: only people with money can afford to walk and not work." Carpe hikem.
We then flipped north again to Burns TH (this flip flopping, while it sounds like a pain, was really no big deal, and was almost necessary due to the bridges being out), where Pops left me to head home due to obligations the next day. I continued on for 5 more miles, stopping to have a second lunch at the dam at Choccolocco Water Reservoir. I sat there and took in the sunshine and alluring remoteness of it all, despite being only 1.5 miles from a county road. I daydreamed about where on the lake I would put my log cabin. I stopped in to sign the register at the second (of only 4) shelters along the trail, and then headed up the mountains, switching back and forth above the lake. I then descended sharply, followed a creek to a beautiful campspot where 3 creeks joined in a melodious choral ensemble, and bedded down after 13 miles on some of the softest pine needles AL had to offer.
The next morning I got up at first light, putzed around camp not wanting to leave, and headed off into the waking day, enshrouded by a blue mist that beckoned me back to the AL hills. A few hours later I was back at work.
http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/sitemap.html
Trip Statistics
Miles hiked: 45 (? - who cares)
Number of people seen on the trail: 0
Number of hunters seen off the trail (campgrounds, etc): lots
Number of times shots were heard: at least a dozen
% of the AL Pinhoti now complete: 85% (? - who cares)
Having this many days to hike: priceless
Trip Overview
On this trip, I hiked between Morgan Lake and Burns Trailhead, and loved every minute of it. The weather was absolutely perfect for hiking - sunny and around 60 for daytime highs and starry and clear and right at freezing for nighttime lows.
I could not believe the difference between the southern and northern portions of the AL Pinhoti. The southern half was fairly decent hiking, but nothing spectacular, although the ridgeline hiking heading up to Cheaha was nice. The northern sections we hiked on this trip were amazing - certainly well described as an extension of the Appalachians. I could see why some have pushed so hard for the AMT starting from Flagg Mountain, AL . I hope to be able to start the GA Pinhoti next year and claim that trail on my life list one day. It was neat to be on a trail that connects the southernmost point of the US to Newfoundland via the ECT.
(The Pinhoti is now 338 miles long, with approximately 170 of those miles being in AL.)
Trip Report
When I arrived Wednesday night, it was dark, and so I just got to hang out and enjoy finishing up my latest book about living in the bush in Alaska. We ran into a few problems getting to our TH since we needed to take Forest Service roads, some of which were closed due to the building of new bridges. This took some time to figure a way around them, which we never really did, so we ended up sleeping in the back of the truck that night.
Looking up at the stars that night was surreal. The sky was as clear as it could be, and you could see every constellation known to the autumnal sky. Unfortunately, the camera got left in PA on a trip just a few weeks ago so I was not able to capture any images. This was a bummer since so many beautiful things could have been memorialized into my mind.
Thursday morning we decided to start at Pine Glen campground, hike past Highrock Lake, past Lower Shoal Creek valley (gorgeous!) and into the Alabama Pines for 12 miles on the day. Our campsite at Birds in the Pines sat atop a ridgetop knoll and faced due west, so we got a spectular viewing of the show that night entitled "Crimson sunset over the southern appalachians". Or maybe it was "Auburn sunset over the southern appalachians." I'm not really sure what the title, and we could not have asked the one hunter we saw that morning because he was equally confused. He had a BAMA license plate, but was wearing an Auburn jacket. Go figure.
Speaking of hunters, it was rifle season through a 15-mile section that traversed the Choccolocco WMA (say that five times fast). We thought we would have problems with hunters, so we were decked out in blaze orange. Turns out we saw one hunter, who wasnt even on the trail, the whole time. Don't get me wrong - we saw plenty of hunters at Coleman Lake campground, but that is pretty much where they stayed - in campgrounds and less than a half mile from a FS road. Typical lazy hunters. I would venture to say I am more cognizant of my surroundings in the woods than they are - 95% of the time I see them before they ever see me, and 75% of the time I am able to sneak by without them ever seeing me. Of course I do have a lot of practice on this - I hike every year in season in PA, which has the highest number of hunters per capita than any US state (and probably in the world for that matter).
Friday we awoke and knew we had several road crossings to deal with: US 78, I-20, US 281, and US 431. Unfortunately, despite being several miles from the tracks, the nearby train kept us up the prior night. Because of this and the road crossings, we figured this section would not be terribly scenic. Boy were we wrong. The section crossing over these roads was scenic, and within just a mile or so you felt like you were back in the middle of nowhere, and could not hear the traffic (of course 281 and 431 only average about one car an hour anyways). When we crossed 281, we entered a 400+ acre area that had been demolished by 2008 tornados. The destruction was unbelievable, but it was also amazing to see just how fast the forest was starting to regenerate itself. The cleared area also gave us excellent 360-degree views for at least a half mile, which was nice. Friday night we humped it 17 miles back to our truck and then flip flopped north to spend the night at Coleman Lake campground.
The next morning we got up and hiked south once again, passing by Shoal Creek Church, the oldest and last standing log hewn church in AL, which dates back to the early 1800s. This are still a handful of worship services there each year. We passed a shelter, and apparently just missed a AL Pinhoti YoYo hiker. Would have been neat to talk with him. We walked through more diverse trailbed, past Sweetwater Lake (gorgeous!) and followed Shoal Creek into Pine Glen campground. Just before the campground, I came within inches of stepping on a Garter Snake (?) sunbathing in the middle of the trail. At the campground several construction workers were putting in the bridge. One particular self-proclaimed "fat lazy truck driver who would rather drink beer and eat honeybuns than walk like we were doing" commented that he admired our tenacity but also "had it figured out: only people with money can afford to walk and not work." Carpe hikem.
(The only photo we got - taken with a phone.)
We then flipped north again to Burns TH (this flip flopping, while it sounds like a pain, was really no big deal, and was almost necessary due to the bridges being out), where Pops left me to head home due to obligations the next day. I continued on for 5 more miles, stopping to have a second lunch at the dam at Choccolocco Water Reservoir. I sat there and took in the sunshine and alluring remoteness of it all, despite being only 1.5 miles from a county road. I daydreamed about where on the lake I would put my log cabin. I stopped in to sign the register at the second (of only 4) shelters along the trail, and then headed up the mountains, switching back and forth above the lake. I then descended sharply, followed a creek to a beautiful campspot where 3 creeks joined in a melodious choral ensemble, and bedded down after 13 miles on some of the softest pine needles AL had to offer.
The next morning I got up at first light, putzed around camp not wanting to leave, and headed off into the waking day, enshrouded by a blue mist that beckoned me back to the AL hills. A few hours later I was back at work.
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