Club Trip to Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee

This blog post will be related to trip plans for the June 26-28, 2009, hike to Fall Creek Falls State Park near Pikeville, Tennessee. The club has considered a hike to the park for several years, so maybe this will be the year that we'll get to go.

It will be about a four and a half hour drive from Double Springs, according to Yahoo Maps.

Here's some links that you can check to learn more about the park:

Wikipedia on Fall Creek Falls State Park

Friends of Fall Creek Falls website has some detailed hiking trail maps.

The State of Tennessee appears to have more than one website for the park, but this one seemed to be the most complete.

There are three different types of camping in the park-regular drive in campsites, backcountry camping and a walk-in camping area. The regular campsites are $20 per night, and those with sewer hookups are $25. The walk-in and backcountry sites might cost less, but Ill have to call to find out. There's 228 sites, so it's a fairly large campground.

Unfortunately, the camping areas are undergoing some major renovation. Areas "B" and "D" are closed, and these sections make up a large number of sites. Normally, the park takes reservations, but this year, they are NOT accepting reservations. State parks can be very popular in the summer, so take that into consideration. If you want to call the park for more information on camping, the number is 800-250-8611.

This is information that I've gathered so far, I'll add to it as I find out more.

Update: Called the park today, May 5th, and they said that despite the information to the contrary on their web page, they do not expect the two campground loops to be closed when we visit. However, it IS still first come first serve-no reservations available. They told me I should call closer to the date we are planning to visit.

Update: June 2, 2009. Trip cancelled due to the no reservations policy.

Whiteman's Canoe Trip Down the Locust Fork

Our club chairman, Gary "Whiteman" White recently made a trip with some friends down the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River. The club has obtained exclusive video of the trip from an unnamed source. Click below to see the action:



Even though he "tumped over", he safely self-recovered his canoe a couple hundred yards downstream.

Mitchell Ridge Trail - Mostly Clear

Nine of us started out for a day of trail maintenance from the south end at 8 AM, Saturday, March 7, 2009. Ignoring any remembrance of the strong winds during the previous week and confident that no large tree would dare to have fallen in our way, we carried only the smaller hand tools plus an axe, a pulaski, and a 36 inch bow saw.  It did not take long for the forest to show its disdain for our hubris.

Those of us who have been working on this trail for some years were well aware of two very large and very dead pines looming over the first quarter mile of the path, the kind of trees where you say "I sure hope this falls away from the trail".  Maybe we should have wished a little harder.  Both trees had fallen directly in the way.  The first must be 18 inches in diameter and the second over two feet.  Not only were the tools on hand completely inadequate for the task, but we will have to lug in our two-man crosscut to deal with that second bad boy.  Oh well, job security.

The good news from a hiking perspective is that the first tree is on the ground and can easily be stepped over.  And a small detour is already forming around the big guy.  So these are not such serious obstacles.

 

At the north end, we encountered two other blowdowns.  Johnnie almost single-handedly hacked his way through one of them and rolled it down the hill.  But we decided to leave the other one for when we have the crosscut saw.  It is easy enough to just step over this tree as well.

 

On the more positive side, with nine people to snip away all day with hand pruners and loppers, we were able to seriously discourage the resurgent briers and muscadine vines that were converging on the path.  Having the pulaski with us, we were also able to fill in some of the booby trap holes in the middle of the walkway, leaf-covered depressions that could unexpectedly swallow a foot or twist an ankle.

March's volunteers included club members Gary, Johnnie, Foster, Larry, Mimi, Doris, and Shelby and guests Charlie and Sara.  The sun in the afternoon made it just a little warm for this sort of activity and slowed us down a bit.  It was 4:30 by the time we finished.

 

All in all, the trail is in very good shape.  If the weather is not too warm in April, we plan to remove the three downed trees.  Otherwise, we will tackle them in the fall.  Maybe they will have rotted away by then?

Big Lagoon State Park near Pensacola, Florida

The club recently visited the Big Lagoon State Park in the panhandle of Florida. The highlight of the trip for me was the visit to the National Naval Aviation Museum at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. There's some photos in this album of the trip. Unfortunately, the weather for this trip was very wet; we probably had better than four inches of rain. I had to evacuate my tent the first night and move into Danny's travel trailer. Foster, Mimi and Larry, and Bart and Jennifer stayed dry in their tents despite the many hours of rain. Jean and Glen, Danny's sister and brother-in-law, stayed safe and dry in their travel trailer along with their daughters, Kaykay and Sunshine, and Danny's daughters, Chelsea and Emily. There were some periods of dry weather that allowed for exploring of the park. We tried out the observation tower, boardwalks, playground, and the Big Lagoon. Foster deserves kudos for finding this nice park.

Mitchell Ridge Trail - Clear!

On Saturday, February 7, four members of the SWHC plus four guest volunteers from Tuscumbia met for a day of maintenance along trail 210 in the Sipsey Wilderness, the Mitchell Ridge Trail. Present were Gary, Johnnie, Mimi, Larry, Eric and his three young sons, Ben, Kirtland, and Mason.

The recent wintry weather had not wreaked any serious havoc. Six large trees - three pines, two oaks, and a poplar - were blocking the path though not all required use of the crosscut saw to dispatch them. Most of the day's activity consisted of removing the numerous small limbs and branches that had fallen or blown across the way.

We began shortly after 8 AM and had the entire trail cleared by 3 PM. We worked from north to south. En route, we flushed a few early grasshoppers and even spotted a Mourning Cloak butterfly. The plants were still in their dormancy, not being fooled by the springlike temperatures.

Saddly, I must report as we were driving in at the start of the day, we saw that vandals had knocked over the trailhead display case at the Gum Pond Trailhead and set it on fire. Fortunately, the blaze was spotted and reported by two hog hunters before it could spread too far. By the time we arrived, Forest Service firefighters were on their way to extinguish the flames. Anyone having any information concerning this incident should contact the Forest Service at (205) 489-5111.

January 17 Club Hike in the Sipsey Wilderness

In spite of the cold weather, the club met for a loop hike in the Sipsey Wilderness on Saturday, January 17.  We started at the Borden Trailhead, crossed the bridge and followed the path down the west side of Borden Creek to trail 209.  We followed that along the river to the junction with trail 204 which we then took north to its end at trail 224.  We returned to the trailhead on 224.

The distance must have been about 12 miles and it took us just under 8 hours.  All the trails were in good shape except 224 which has a number of downed trees blocking the path.

The icicles on the bluffs along Borden Creek and the Sipsey were exceptional.  The winter scenery from Bee Ridge was a treat as well.

For more details, please see the complete Hiking Trip Report on the club's website.

Iron Bacteria in the Bankhead National Forest

Anyone that has spent time under the bluffs in the Bankhead National Forest has probably seen the bright orange stains that seem to seep out of the rock. The orange color is associated with iron-rich groundwater. The orange color is the result of dissolved iron in the water being oxidized by iron bacteria at the surface; it not a sign of water pollution. The naturally occurring iron bacteria change the colorless ferrous iron dissolved in the groundwater to a orange or rust-colored ferric form of iron. The ferrous form is somewhat soluble in water, while the orange ferric form is relatively insoluble. Deep in the earth, where oxygen and bacteria are not present, the colorless ferrous form is stable. But when this groundwater seeps out and is exposed to the oxygen in the air, the bacteria "feed" on the ferrous iron and derive energy from the chemical reaction. Where the iron-rich water seeps out of a rock, a soft orange deposit will build up at the site where these iron bacteria are working. Sometimes the deposits will build up over the years into mounds that look like soil. Some more photos of iron bacteria in the Bankhead National Forest are located in this photo album. These iron bacteria deposits are seen in the Bankhead National Forest because layers of rock that are normally 70 feet or more underground are exposed at the base of these bluffs. Bluffs of this size are not common in other areas of Alabama. Groundwater in more shallow layers of rock and soil has usually been in contact with oxygen and bacteria before it comes to the surface. More information about iron bacteria is located in wikipedia.