[part 2 of trip report]
Taking 63 back north 5.8 miles, I found the New Hope Baptist Church and turned right down CR 3159/FR 255/Hickory Grove Rd. Whatever cable Champion Paper had up is no longer there, and the road was smooth easy trail [for an Alabama dirt road anyway]. Just before the bridge there's a pull off that I parked in; the bridge itself has some definite *
erosion issues*, but I didn't plan on taking the car across it.
Brushy Creek was flowing pretty good, and that kept hopes high for additional waterfalls along the trail to Sougahoagdee. Before taking to the trail, I stopped to photographed the *
cascades by the creek* along with a plant who's blooms remind me of Astilbe, but i'm not sure that's what it was. About 15ft up the 'trail', an old road bed, I turned right and found the real trail hidden at first in underbrush. I should have guessed I would have seen this old road bed again, and it pops up several times, once in a particularly good way...
The trail started off very level, right alongside Brushy Creek, and is wide and seems very much used or either very well maintained. There was plenty of evidence of hogs digging around quite a bit here and along other portions of the trail. Half a mile in or so, I found Blue Flag Iris growing, but not yet in bloom. I also began the trek through a '*
rock garden*', though there are no rocks to step over on the trail itself. There are several sizable boulders here, the area is quite pretty, with plenty of Hemlocks for canopy and a wide trail at this point. The trail started to gain elevation, and not long after, I came across *
Waterfall #1*, a good 40ft fall if I had to guess.
After a rocky stream crossing, the trail turns uphill again, and while the sound of some rapids in Brushy Creek made me curious for a photo, there was no real safe way to the edge at this point. The trail splits here, though it's easier to follow to the left, which puts you back out on the old road bed that I assume was the same one I saw when I started. After a blow down that you have to completely go around, the trail then ventures off to the right across a stream. However, stay the course on the old road bed and follow it to *
Waterfall # 2*, a slender 15-20ft drop through a crevice in the rock before reaching a shallow pool below. Taking the road back, and across the stream I found the where the split meets up. Briefly turn back to the right, and you'll find a slippery-to-get-down-to 8ft waterfall, *
Waterfall #3*. The trail opens to some views of Brushy Creek with it's rocky bottom here, before turning uphill again, and again you're on the old road bed, complete with ferns and a few blow downs, but nothing impassable.
After about 15 minutes of walking the old roadbed, I headed downhill, the amount of land between the high rock face and Brushy Creek diminishes quite a bit, and it gets buggy, with the first mosquitoes I'd seen the entire trip, and a horsefly that didn't make much effort to bother me. The views of the rock face here is awesome, with yellows and reds coming into play with the coloration. A *
high rock shelter* is sandwiched in the middle, but it would have involved some climbing that I wasn't interested in at the moment. What seemed like 5 minutes later, I came across some pink ribbon leading off to the left....not Sougahoagdee, but this nice stair step style waterfall, *
Waterfall #4*. The pink ribbons lead up and over a hill with no discernible trail until it dumps you on an old road bed again, and then the ribbons disappear.
Back at the falls, it's not 100 yards to the next waterfall, which you can see from the trail by waterfall #4. *
Waterfall #5*, however, is one I would put in the 60-70ft range. It's a narrow waterfall, with a very small pool at the base, and a rock that seems almost placed perfectly where the splatter hits it from above. Another 5 minute walk, another waterfall, this one in the same height category, maybe a little higher. *
Waterfall #6 is possibly my favorite of the unnamed falls along the trail, and I would love to see it with more water coming off of it. From here, though, I could here the roar of something else...
Taking the waterfall across the stream, I came to *
the only fire ring* I'd seen along the entire trail.
Through the dense foliage, you could see Sougahoagdee from here. *
This was worth the trip!*.
Another angle of *
Sougahoagdee*. Of the waterfalls I've seen in Bankhead/Sipsey, this one is my favorite so far. The serenity, the fact that I heard nothing other than birds out here, no cars, no people. I wish the previous campers here had been more thoughtful and taken their trash back with them, but I cleaned up after them at least.
Here is a photo of *
the waterfall pool*. You definitely don't see water this clear everywhere in the state.
Of course, I have to have a photo of *
where water meets rocks*. For a point and shoot camera, I'm incredibly happy I somehow caught the blur of the water!
The large bluff off to the left was quite a view, and I would have loved to have [carefully] explored the ferns behind the waterfall. A good deal of the ferns along a 'path' closer to the base of the waterfall have been trampled to bits, albeit by people or other animals. As for not exploring, I know the snakes are out, and I was remote enough to have been in trouble if I'd gotten swiped by something. I came across *
this guy* on the way back to the car.
All in all, a great hike, and I look forward to doing it again, hopefully soon!
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Waterfall Videos!!
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