Sipsey Thru Hike

[Haveuseen1]

So I was thinking the other day, has anyone hiked all the "named" trails in the sipsey?

That got me thinking about working out the details to make a "thru" hike for the sipsey.  Anyone got any suggestions for a route that would pretty much cover every trail in one trip?  I cant remember what the mileage of the trails inside the SWA are and I realize there would be some parts of trails that would be covered more than once to connect to another trail. 

Any suggestions?

[Pathfinder]

I'll take a stab at it.

Begin at Sipsey River Trail Head by the Sipsey River Recreation Area.

1.  Follow Trail 200 to where Borden Creek merges into the Sipsey River.  (.4 miles/section, .4 miles/running total)

2.  Ford Borden Creek and follow Trail 209 to its other end at the junction of 201/206/209.  (6.7 miles/section, 7.1 miles/running total)

3.  Turn left onto Trail 201 follow south to the Randolph Trailhead.  (2.6 miles/section, 9.7 miles/running total)

4.  Make u-turn and take Trail 201/202 from the Randolph Trailhead back to the junction 201/202.  Take the right trail at the junction and continue on Trail 202 to where it ends at the Sipsey River.  (3.4 miles/section, 13.1 miles/running total)

5.  Ford the river and go left onto Trail 209 again.  Retrace your steps on 209 to the junction with Trail 204.  (1.2 miles/section, 14.3 miles/running total)

6.  Turn right onto Trail 204 and follow it to its other end at the junction of 204/224.  (2.6 miles/section, 16.9/miles running total)

7.  Turn left and follow Horse-Wagon Trail 224 to the junction of Trail 205.  (.9 miles/section, 17.8 miles/running total)

8.  Turn left onto Trail 205 and follow it to the Sipsey River.  (3.1 miles/section, 20.9 miles/running total)

9.  Ford the river and retrace Trail 209 back up to the junction of Trails 201/206/209.  (.4 miles/section, 21.3 miles/running total)

10.  Turn right (Northward) and follow Trail 206 to its other end at the Thompson Trailhead.  (3.7 miles/section, 25.0 miles/running total)

11.  From the Thompson Trailhead, take Horse-Wagon Trail 208 (Northwest Trail) to the Gum Pond Trailhead.  (7.0 miles/section, 32.0 miles/running total)

12.  Make a u-turn at the Gum Pond Trailhead back track on Trail 208 to the junction of Trail 210.  Turn right onto Trail 210 and follow it to the junction of Horse-Wagon Trail 223 (Gum Pond Trail), then turn right (northward) and follow Trail 223 to the Braziel Trailhead.  (8.2 miles/section, 40.2 miles/running total)

13.  From the Braziel Trailhead make another u-turn and back track on Trail 223 past the junction of 223/210 to the end of Trail 223 at the Junction of 223/208.  (1.9 miles/section, 42.1 miles/running total)

14.  Retrace your steps on Trail 208 to the Junction of 208/224.  (.4 miles/section, 42.5 miles/running total)

15.  Follow Trail 224 (Bunyan Hill Trail) to the Borden Creek Trailhead.  (4.8 miles section/47.3 miles/running total)

16.  From the Borden Creek Trailhead follow Trail 203 to its other end at the Flannagan Trailhead. (4.3 miles/section, 51.6 miles/running total)

17.  From the Flannagan Trailhead turn left and follow FS 208 (Northwest Rd) to the Gum Pond Trailhead.  Watch for motor vehicles on this road.  (3.0 miles/section, 54.6 miles/running total)

18.  From the Gum Pond Trailhead retrace previous steps on Trail 208 back to the junction of Trail 207.  Take a lefthand turn onto Trail 207 and follow it back to the Borden Creek Trailhead.  (7.6 miles/section, 62.2 miles/running total)

19.  From Borden Creek Trailhead follow Trail 200 through "Fat Man's Squeeze" and on back to the Sipsey River Trailhead by the Sipsey River Recreation Area.  (2.7 miles/section, 64.9 miles/grand total)

This route includes a total 10 sections measuring 4.9 miles that are retraced during the trek.

I don't guarantee the mileages nor the conditions found on the trails.

I think this thread needs to be moved to the "Sipsey/Bankhead" area of the Forum.

[SmokeDiver]

Yeesh, the ruggedness of the area would make for some very weary travelers by the end of a thru hike. I come off of my Sipsey hikes feeling like I've been hit by a truck sometimes.

Can't wait to come back for some more though... 

[montysano]

Both things seem like  a great goal: a thru hike, and hiking all the trails.  But not at one time  

How about this:

In an early Bankhead Monitor, Lamar described a challenging hike.  

- down South Caney to the junction w/North Caney;

- down Caney to what he called Sweetwater Canyon, then up Sweetwater;

- cross the ridge at FS 228 near Adkins Cemetery, then down Lloyd's Canyon to the Sipsey;

- up Sipsey to the Rec Area.  When I read the article, I remember thinking that writing the words "up the Sipsey to the Rec Area" seems way easier than doing it  

From there, you could:

- Hike 209 and 206 to Thompson Creek;

- Take FS208 and FS224 back to Borden Creek;

- From Borden, take any of several possible routes to Gum Pond.


This sounds like a good mission for DavidR.  I'll await a report  

[DavidR]

You have my attention Montysano...lol. That does sound like a trip I'd like mainly because it's well away from the main attraction areas. I've hiked most all the official trails both current and not in use. I'm having fun now days finding off the trail areas and linking them together via streams or topographical features. I've done a quick mach up of what I think you're talking about for a route. I see that there are multiple ways to get into South Chaney Creek. The Cart O Craft has the waterway labeled as Chaney, Caney, and Cane. Some of the other points I found on other maps. Briartech was of no use the far South of Cranal.

One thing I notice is that a lot of that route that looks feasible is on FS roads. That being said, my GPS shows FS roads all over the forest that might have been there long ago, but aren't now. Another challenge looks to be the undulating elevation. This is my next hike in the works if it is possible. I wouldn't want to do 14 miles of heavy bushwacking though.

As for Haveuseen1's question. This route would add much more to the mix. Does anyone else have any knowledge of this area?

Sipsey Thru Hike

[Joshua Szulecki]

DavidR,

Pully and I have discussed this area a few times, and largely concluded this was an area requiring access from multiple directions and different days. There are reports of a third waterfalls *somewhere* in the area, although they are spotty at best. I've also heard some reports of a natural bridge/arch somewhere in the area, but again, spotty.

I don't think the route you are suggesting is a good idea for a single-trip hike, as it requires crossing significant stretches of private property. However, that is an area I've been very interested in for several years, because few people venture beyond the lower falls.

Also, Cart-o-craft screwed up on the latest map. In is CANEY, not CHANEY/CANE, and was correctly labelled as such on the original map.

[DavidR]

Joshua...you just made it even more interesting! Natural bridge! Way cool. I've just come to expect waterfalls in every canyon head...lol. I'd think I could do this route in 2 days at doubletime through bush and 3 days worst case at a slower pace. Maybe shoot for camping around mile 7 right in the peninsula and wrap it up the next day best case, worst case camp around mile 5, then 10, then hike out. After I finish Quillan this week I'm looking this area over. I'd like to see more documentation around the East Capsey Bankhead area as well. So much to explore!!!!!

[Joshua Szulecki]

Take that with a grain of salt. There is a lot of really lousy information floating around about Bankhead, mostly due to the "telephone" effect.

[Haveuseen1]

Ok 2 apologies.

As I wrote the original post I got rushed as I thought it was earlier than it was, and I thought I was in the Sipsey/BNF forum, not the general.

2nd, I left my GPS at work, and was going to use it to cover the trails I have covered.  I thought it was in my truck.

I think a through hike would be a real feat.  I have spent many days/nights in the Sipsey/BNF and after about 4 I am exhausted.  In all fairness most of my time is spent 50/50 on trails and off. 

  A true through hike would be almost punishing.  Maybe I will come up with a "loop" that would take 4 - 7 days, without much backtracking if that is possible.  As most if not all of you know there are some wonderful places to see and enjoy.

[montysano]

Suddenly, I can't find the issue of the Bankhead Monitor w/Lamar's hand drawn map.  But his route was like the attached.

Josh, according to my Carto-Craft, I don't see where there's a lot of private property.  

There's a FS road that goes from Co Rd. 2 back to Robbins Cemetery.  That might be the way to start; going down South Caney with a full pack would be tough.  You could walk out to the cemetery, drop down to Caney, then dayhike back up South Caney.  From the junction of North and South Caney to Sweetwater?  Who knows?  A friend got turned around down in there last winter; he described it as "rough as a cob"    To start out, he and I plan to go as far as Adkins Cemetery.

I've come in to North Caney upstream of the junction (see North Caney file below).  It's very beautiful, very rough, and hardly a footprint anywhere.

At Haveuseen1: sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

[McDowra]

Robbins cemetery is  actually Garrison-Payne cemetery when you get to it. PICTURES  The road to it is a little over 3 miles long and good enough you could drive to it in a 2wd pickup if they opened the gate. I have a good friend that is related to these people, and he has told me of trips here when he was a boy. The road use to continue on and cross the river on a bridge that is long washed away. This is where they would stop and look at a waterfall and that is about all I know of the waterfall there.

[montysano]

The road use to continue on and cross the river on a bridge that is long washed away.  

I was wondering about that.  I bet it used to cross the creek and then join up with FS228 aka Caney Creek Road.  

There's a big chunk of private land down near the end of 228.  Wonder who that lucky person is?

The whole area has huge potential, I think, and you would definitely be away from the crowds.  The North Caney drainage covers a large area.  Who knows what's up there?  We tried to hike upstream on one of our trips, and got turned back.  Very rough.

[Uncle Wayne]

As for Haveuseen1's question. This route would add much more to the mix. Does anyone else have any knowledge of this area?

Sipsey Thru Hike

My wife and I have hiked all the "named" trails in Sipsey but that's not hard to do.  The routes montysano and DavidR suggest are much tougher.  I've hiked almost this same route as laid out by DavidR but it's been years ago.  I do remember there were some very mean dogs at point #9.  We wandered inland just a bit to check out an old rundown cabin and saw a bluff shelter near it.  We found a  rock with a "double mortar " in it.  I only know of 3 others in the Sipsey.  The dogs forced us into the river to escape.  One of the closes calls I've ever had.

[DavidR]

Were the dogs feral or domesticated left on purpose as guards at the private property? I love dogs, but not when they're going to bite me...lol.

[Uncle Wayne]

Were the dogs feral or domesticated left on purpose as guards at the private property? I love dogs, but not when they're going to bite me...lol.

They were domesticated dogs left to guard a newer dwelling 100 yards south of the old cabin we were exploring.  After running us into the river, they went back to that house.  Last spring, my wife and I tried to follow the FS boundary back from the Wolfpen camp road to see if the bluff shelter was on government property and there were still guard dogs present at the dwelling.  They didn't chase us this time but sounded the alarm loud and fierce.  After they started barking, we decided not to follow the boundary any further so I still don't know for sure if the bluff shelter is on private land or not.  I believe it is though.

[SmokeDiver]

Also, Cart-o-craft screwed up on the latest map. In is CANEY, not CHANEY/CANE, and was correctly labelled as such on the original map.

You know whats weird? It's not uncommon for cartographers to intentionally put these types of almost unnoticeable spelling errors in the map on purpose. It lets them know if another map comes out with the same error that it was copied from theirs. I wonder if this is one of those "mistakes"?

[Joshua Szulecki]

I don't know SmokeDiver, I think it is a tad pervasive to be a copy check. Once would be believeable, but they did it multiple times in multiple locations with more than one incorrect spelling.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Josh, according to my Carto-Craft, I don't see where there's a lot of private property.  

I was referring to the specific route crossing private property, not the presence of such property in general. There isn't much there.

[montysano]

I was referring to the specific route crossing private property, not the presence of such property in general. There isn't much there.

I hadn't noticed that DavidR's route doesn't take the usual trail into South Caney, so yeah, he does cross some private property there at the start.  The inholding near Sweetwater Creek could be easily avoided.