Trail Maintenance January 2010

Despite the frigid early morning temperatures, a few hardy souls showed up at the Gum Pond trailhead at 8AM, Saturday January 9, 2010, to begin a new year of maintenance on the Mitchell Ridge trail.

Charlie, Owen, Larry and I enjoyed the half mile hike to the trailhead, marveling at the icicles covering the bluffs. We passed over the Hagood Creek bridge and hit the trail to find a Sleeping Beauty like mass of Muscadine vines forming a curtain right over the entrance to the trailhead.

We hiked up the trail passing “Ivan” along the way. Ivan is a three foot chunk of sandstone which fell from the top of the bluff wall during hurricane Ivan in 2004 and henceforth so dubbed by the club. This southern end of the trail has particularly dramatic scenery.

We stopped to photograph the next challenge for our trail maintenance crew and one which will require many more folks to help out. A whopper of a tree had fallen but was hung and frozen in place along a small ridge in the rock face of a 25 foot bluff, which is of course directly over the trail. We took a photo and carefully skirted our way around it and proceeded to the first and only steep climb along the trail. It was icy with powder snow everywhere so we took it easy and safely gained the top of the ridge.

The trail was in good shape, just some small blowdowns. Although the ground was frozen we were able to kick apart and toss the small dead branches aside. We used the bow saw to successfully whittle down and eliminate the rest. Larry swept up after the three of us, hand pruning all the more aggressive briars and tough whippy little shrubs in the path. We managed about three miles in and came across one big pine directly in our path where we stopped to cool down and have lunch. We turned back there and enjoyed the hike back to the trail head with Charlie and Owen scouting out a good campsite near the creek, perhaps for next month’s work day. We sure could use some help.

Come and enjoy the scenery and bring lunch. Our next maintenance is February 6th and details will be posted on the club website.

Thanks ya’ll.

December Trail Maintenance

Mitchell Ridge Trail Maintenance,
December 5th 2009

Although it has nothing to do with trail maintenance, I could not resist old Houston jail with its Christmas bow!

The snow was pretty as we drove up FS road 208, on our way to the Braziel trailhead.

It was melting fast in the treetops, so we stopped along 208 for a shot of the road. As we turned left onto Forest Rd 223 we noticed Danny behind us. Shortly after we arrived, Foster and Charlie drove in. Since there were only a few of us we left the come-along and took hand pruners, a bow saw, the one-man crosscut and the ax. The one-man saw actually converts to a two-man saw by means of a metal pin and second wooden handle. This is a very handy and efficient tool.

We waited for a few minutes in case anyone else volunteered (where were you?) and left around ten after eight. I stopped to photograph the guys at the trailhead.

Last month we had started at the south end where the scenery is more dramatic. However the north end of the trail with the snow covering everything was gorgeous. We found three large trees down and cleared them up by the time the snow had vanished.

Come join us next month if you’d like some good old-fashioned exercise. We’ll be there!

Sougahoagdee Falls

This was the club's October hike. From my point of view, this was a very nice trip and the falls were fantastic. Here's some photos that I made before my camera's neglected batteries gave out.

http://picasaweb.google.com/KE4ROP/SougahoagdeeFalls#

If anyone wants to add any photos to this album, let me know, and I can set you up to post yours in the same album.

Thanks to everyone on the trip for a great hike.

Mike

Club Picnic at Houston Recreation Area

The club held it's annual picnic at the Houston Recreation Area in the Bankhead National Forest on Saturday, July 18, 2009. The weather was unseasonably cool, which made for some great picnicking and camping weather. Click here for some photos from the event.

Our Travel Bug

The lastest entry from our travel bug:

This is an automated message from Geocaching.com
You are receiving this email because you are the owner of this listing. Location: Minnesota, United States.

dlgps retrieved Sipsey Wilderness Hiking Club Bug (Travel Bug Dog Tag) from A Bridge to the Past at 7/12/2009 Log Date: 7/12/2009 This little tb is just down the road from a great wilderness area. We have a few caches there that are on our "to do" list so we will see if we can get him in a good cache in Rice County, Minnesota Cannon River Wilderness Park.

Visit the Sipsey Wilderness Hiking Club Travel Bug web page:
http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=77bed2b6-0b8d-4929-a0c7-d1eef9ac3fe5

Our bug is stuck up North, and has been for some time. Maybe someday it will return to the South.

Club Picnic

The Sipsey Wilderness Hiking Club will be holding its annual Club Picnic on Saturday, July 18, rain or shine, beginning at 10 AM at the Houston Recreation Area in the Bankhead National Forest.

We have reserved the (only) pavilion for the whole day. Follow the signs to the beach or boat ramp and the pavilion is located just past the beach.

We can swim in Smith Lake and should have a couple of boats and kayaks available. The picnic starts at 10 and we will have the food around noon. The club will reimburse members for the $4 per day vehicle fee imposed by the rec area.

Houston Rec also has a campground. Some club members are planning on staying over on Friday night and probably Saturday as well. Foster expects to arrive by 4 PM on Friday and will leave a note somewhere obvious with clues as to where we are camping.

The club will provide paper plates, cups, napkins, plasticware, and fuel for the grill but everyone should bring their own grillables, drinks, and maybe an extra something to share. In the past, people have brought chips, salsa, beans, salads, fruit, and cookies and so far we have avoided the situation where the only choice was seven different kinds of potato salad.

Directions to Houston Recreation Area from Double Springs:

• Travel about 9 miles east on US 278 to County Road 63 south. There is a gas station/store on the corner.
• Turn south on CR 63. After 1.8 miles, by the post office and old jail, the road forks.
• Take the right fork which is CR 61. The access road for the rec area is another 1.6 miles on the right.
• Turn right and the entrance is about another mile.

Forest Service Closes Caves to Protect Bats

The Forest Service has closed most of the caves in the southeastern U. S. to protect bats from White Nose Syndrome. This includes the Sipsey Wilderness Area and the Bankhead National Forest. More information is available by clicking here.