Kinlock Shelter

[elbowman]

Hello All,

This weekend we made a side trip down to Kinlock Shelter and found a group camping under the shelter. I warned them to be wary of a ranger visit as it is a no camping zone 1/2 mile radius from the shelter.

My question is about access to the shelter. I have only taken the side path that involves a steep climb down and back up to reach the gravel road. Is there an easier way to reach the bottom?

I ask this because this group had alot of equipment set-up down there, and I was amazed that they could carry all that down that side trail.

If you keep following the gravel road, instead of turning right to the path at the top of the hill, will the road eventually make its way down to the bottom of the bluff?

Thanks. Eric

[Pully]

The road begins heading southwest after you reach the top of the hill and then goes north before crossing..Basin Creek..i think. I'm sure you could bushwhack back to the shelter but it's a lot easier and quicker to go the way you said, even though it is steep.

BTW, check out Uncle Wayne's pictures of the bridge across the creek on that road. http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2306594170053523474VXFhLA

[Joshua Szulecki]

Yeah, I think the really steep was is the only timely way to get in. I actually chickened out and didn't visit the shelter because all the times I tried I had my dog, and I wasn't comfortable with that descent. I suppose the difficulty in getting in there is good for the protection of the site.

[Uncle Wayne]

That's the best way in that I know of.  Here's a story I shared with toph about my first visit to the shelter.

My dad carried me to it for the first time when I was around 8 years old.  It was our  lucky  day as the U of A Natural Science class was on a field trip and  were visiting the shelter.   My dad, being much more thoughtful than I would ever have been, asked if they wanted us to leave.  The professor instead invited us to join them for his lecture.   As it turned out, he had been a part of the group who excavated the shelter in the late 40’s and early 50’s.  He told about all the artifacts they found (and carried away, Lawrence County has tried ever since to get them back) and the methods they used to classify the objects they unearthed.

 A little known fact is they discovered some artifacts that have been found in known campsites of DeSoto and his men.  He believes the cross on the famous rock was carved by one of DeSoto’s men who was traveling back through trying to find the gulf and passage home.  He believed it was possible that a group of DeSoto’s men may have wintered there after DeSoto’s death and burial in the Mississippi river.  There was so much stuff that caught my interest, it was like eating candy, I enjoyed it so much. 

He gave a tour of the shelter to conclude his lecture and  explained  the drawings on the famous rock just inside the shelter.  There were at least 4 sunburst carved inside the shelter on the back walls which looters and vandals have all destroyed now.

But one thing that was most interesting to me was he said confederate soldiers used the shelter as a hiding place after the war.  Winston county, as has been well documented, voted to remain in the Union and according to this professor, returning Winston county confederate soldiers had a price on their head. He pointed to the huge boulder just outside the shelter and showed us where those rebel soldiers carved the likeness of the  Confederate battle flag. Try as hard as I could I still could never see it but daddy said he did.  I look for it each time I visit but the boulder is moss covered now.

Kinlock has a special place in my heart for what my dad and I shared with the Natural Science class of 1961.

[Pathfinder]

The road begins heading southwest after you reach the top of the hill and then goes north before crossing..Basin Creek..i think. I'm sure you could bushwhack back to the shelter but it's a lot easier and quicker to go the way you said, even though it is steep.

BTW, check out Uncle Wayne's pictures of the bridge across the creek on that road. http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2306594170053523474VXFhLA

I went by myself to Kinlock Shelter today.  When I left the shelter I followed the road on to Basin Creek.  To my surprise the bridge across Basin Creek has been removed.  Does anyone know when it happened or why?

[Pully]

Wow, I can't believe the Forest Service would remove that bridge.  That had to be some tough work taking it out.

[Joshua Szulecki]

When was the last time anybody saw the bridge still standing? I don't remember hearing anything about removal, and there were no signs a vehicle had been down that road in some time when I was at the shelter in 2009.

[Roscoe]

I was at the bridge last spring. They are removing it because debris has been blocking the culvert.

[Roscoe]

It should be all gone now. I was at Kinlock shelter on 12/13 and you could here the heavy equipment working on it.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Thanks for the information, Roscoe!

[Uncle Wayne]

Very interesting.   I had heard it was on the agenda for destruction but had no idea it would be done this soon.  Original plan was to blow it up.  Is that how it was removed?

[elbowman]

I was at Kinlock Shelter last weekend and noticed a docbox by the gate. We opened it and inside was details about removing the bridge. It did not state the method for removal, but it did cite the reason for removal: to allow unrestricted passage of aquatic organisms.

Eric