Capsey Creek / Kemp Branch

[DavidR]

I have to say that this was one of the most difficult hikes I've been on. I ended up only hiking the NE Capsey and a small portion of Kemp Branch. Having parked at the bridge on FS 266 (thanks montysano) I headed NE early Sunday. The trail was scarce right from the get go with fallen trees and thick bush. I had picked up a copy of "Edible Wild Plants," by Lee Allen Peterson and got to use it right away to identify a patch of Mountain Cranberries (see image 1 below). These were all over the forest as well as some other edibles I found (see my gallery http://www.alatrails.com/.../thumbnails.php?album=102). I say this was the most difficult due to the amount and frequency of downed trees and the new growth on the FS trails as a result of not being used (see image 2 below).

I tried to stay close to the river as much as possible, however I did use FS trails every now and then depending on which was the more passable of the two. The forest has almost completely reclaimed the trails in this area. I did not see any established camp sites or fire rings save a few in the upper rock face that someone has spent a lot of time developing ( see image 3 below). I camped right by the river on a small sandy area. That made for a very soft foundation and didn't harm any plants.

The weather is wonderful now. I was surprised at how warm I stayed both day and night. My new sleeping pad made a big difference and during the day I actually broke a sweat several times before shedding a layer of clothing. The leaves in the forest are changing an array of colors too (see image 4 below). As far as the plant life goes, this is an amazing time of the year in Bankhead.    


The only wildlife I saw were a few squirrels...lol and several hawks near the end. I came upon a random gathering of some type of large water fowl, but they always took off before I got close enough to see. The forest was torn up in many areas like the lower Sipsey, by hogs I assume. I've seen this rooting elsewhere. Does anyone know of other animals that do this? I also heard some coyote's around 2AM and 4AM and an owl of some sort.

Bottom line on this area.....Super difficult. The river is magnificent as always in Bankhead, but the trail system is overrun and much of the area has no trail at all. I spent a majority of the hike crouching down to go under overgrowtn or pushing through limbs and vines. If you're looking for a workout...this is the area for you.

Capsey Creek / Kemp Branch

Capsey Creek / Kemp Branch

Capsey Creek / Kemp Branch

Capsey Creek / Kemp Branch

Capsey Creek / Kemp Branch

Capsey Creek / Kemp Branch

 

[MobileBackpacker]

Thats pretty cool about the cranberries. I saw some blueberry bushes along the old northwest road last time i was there, not sure if those are native or not.

awesome shots, cant tell if that is a hickory or a big leag but the color is impressive.

How was the color along the river? the ridges were pretty nice a few weeks ago, cant wait to get back

[wildkat]

armadillos like to tear up some ground

[DavidR]

How was the color along the river?

The riverside was still in the transition colors. Nothing very vivid yet. The shot I posted was being spotlighted by the sun around 9Am or so. It's almost magical in the forest when natural sunlight illuminates a small area while the surrounding is a bit dark.

Thanks wildkat, maybe some of those guys were the culprit?

[wildkat]

I mostly say that because last month while camping I woke up about 5am to pee and about ten feet in front of me was a armadillo just going to town digging / rooting up and didn't care about my presence.

[DavidR]

Those diggin guys!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/bkcjVZ3StSk&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/bkcjVZ3StSk&rel=0</a>

[montysano]

It's almost magical in the forest when natural sunlight illuminates a small area while the surrounding is a bit dark.

Indeed it is.  

On Sunday, my wife sat down in one of those sunny patches and fell dead asleep!

Had you intended to bushwhack out to Co Rd 41 and walk back to the bridge?  Or was it just too difficult to retrace your steps?

[DavidR]

I had intended to loop back around the river and head SW from the bridge. After taking 12 hours of actual moving time to hike as far as I did on the trail, I decided that i could cover the same ground on 41 in about 2 hours or so. My plan became tentative at that point. I was going to regroup at my car and decide on the next step. When I got to my car it was 3PM. I knew I had about 2 hours to comfortably set up camp. I decided to just come home since I didn't have a location and anything I came up with would have required driving and/or hiking time.

Most of the comments I've read on Capsey allude to the hike being easy. I'm not sure what portion of the creek such posts are referring to but his section was far from it. What section do you hike montysano?

[montysano]

Most of the comments I've read on Capsey allude to the hike being easy. I'm not sure what portion of the creek such posts are referring to but his section was far from it. What section do you hike montysano?

I think we've hiked as far as "Shelter 1" on your map, so up to the junction w/Kemp.  But we hiked at lower water, so we could get down in the creek bed.

[JustADude]

David if you look at my thread from last week you will see that I described my hike near Capsey as "either real easy or real tough with not much in betwen". When we walked on  the old logging road it was real easy. After that it was pretty tough. I figured you would have a hard go of it, but thought you knew that. Next time we will both know what to expect.

[DavidR]

Haha. Yeah, next time I'm bringing a heard of beavers to lead the way...lol.

[JustADude]

I was about a half-mile down stream (and a week earlier) from where you were.

If you ask me what Capsey Creek looks like, I can't tell you too much. I was up on a bluff trying to look between the trees to see the creek. I actually did find one place to climb down, but because I was sorta time-limited I didn't climb down there because I was afraid I might go a good ways and then the bluff would move over against the creek causing me to either wade the creek or double back. The brush was average or maybe better than many places I have been, but we were walking on a slope wtih one bluff above us to the right and another below us to the left. It was no place for beginners. It might be a good place to canoe if the water gets deep enough but then it might be too rough. I just don't know.

[DavidR]

That is very good info. I thought about that when I posted...like gaggle, flock, etc... I just liked the mental image of a heard of rampaging beavers....lol.

[Jackalope]

I got in a lot of trouble over a herd remark once. But that doesn't have anything to do with this thread either.

[Uncle Wayne]

I was about a half-mile down stream (and a week earlier) from where you were.

If you ask me what Capsey Creek looks like, I can't tell you too much. I was up on a bluff trying to look between the trees to see the creek. I actually did find one place to climb down, but because I was sorta time-limited I didn't climb down there because I was afraid I might go a good ways and then the bluff would move over against the creek causing me to either wade the creek or double back. The brush was average or maybe better than many places I have been, but we were walking on a slope wtih one bluff above us to the right and another below us to the left. It was no place for beginners. It might be a good place to canoe if the water gets deep enough but then it might be too rough. I just don't know.

Here's a little bit of my experience on Capsey with Pully and his dad. http://www.alatrails.com/...dex.php/topic,1407.0.html

[montysano]

Speaking of water mammals: Capsey is the place where we saw a beautiful Southern River Otter frolicking in the stream!

[DavidR]

....the bluffs were so steep we couldn't walk the edge near the water in several places and were forced to climb above the bluff line and work our way through some of the thickest Laurel Hells I've seen in the forest.

I hear ya bro.

[SmokeDiver]

Great pics David, I can't wait to get back up to Sipsey next month. This crazy up and down temperature weather is making my gear list a might unpredictable. Not sure weather I'm gonna need my 3 season gear or the cold stuff.

[DavidR]

I'd say 3 season. It's not been cold cold yet. I still may be down for that Nov trip. I'll let you know as we get closer.

[Joshua Szulecki]

I hear ya bro.

I chickened out when Jay showed a friend and I the three part waterfall on the Capsey tributary, and will never live it down. There is that spot where you have to lower yourself down onto the ledge (which you can't really see) which is 20 or so feet above Capsey. I was tired and had already cut my knee, so I called it a day.