Spring campout

[WolfVanZandt]

Ahkay. My group will be camping at Brushy Lake from March 12 - 20 and I wouldn't mind meeting some of youse mugs. Maybe we can get a group hike up with someone that knows their way around Sipsey.

[weathermansam]

I might be up for joining you the weekend of March 13th depending on the weather. 

[ednotmilkman]

worth a try as I'm interested too, although busy with work lately.

[WolfVanZandt]

Well, if I know that we'll have guests at a certain time, I'll plan for you. If someone just shows up, we'll make room around the campfire.

[WolfVanZandt]

One of the folks who is planning to attend has suggested that we camp at Dismal Gardens. I'm a little averse, because I'm trying to establish a presences at Brushy Lake, but if it would be a good site, maybe I could establish a presence at Dismal Gardens. The thing that makes me edgy about it is that it's a private campground and the camping fees may be out of our range. Does anybody here know what it costs to camp at Dismal Gardens? I haven't been able to find the information on the Internet.

[weathermansam]

http://www.dismalscanyon....ampsites/index.html#Rates

Also, there's the charge to get into the place.....http://www.dismalscanyon.com/admission/index.html

I went several years ago....the trail is incredibly short for my taste, and one of the waterfalls were nice, but the lighting was terrible.  

[WolfVanZandt]

Hmmm....yeah, the prices are getting into the prohibitive range - also the one tent/4 people per campsite, thing is a problem. Brushy requests that tents be kept on pads but they don't specify how  many tents (or peope) can be on a pad. Also, I would have to be sure that we would have showers. We'll probably take a trip over this time and check it out. If it looks better than it seems, we might move there next year (or if Brushy is packed this year).

As for the hiking conditions at Dismal is concerned, that really doesn't matter since we'll be spending more of our hiking time at Bankhead anyway. That's another thing, though. After 24 hours, we're not going to be spending a lot of time at the camp. Dismal might not go for leaving the campsite unattended.

Thanks for the Website, Weatherman. Why can't I ever find these places?

[weathermansam]

Hmmm....yeah, the prices are getting into the prohibitive range - also the one tent/4 people per campsite, thing is a problem. Brushy requests that tents be kept on pads but they don't specify how  many tents (or peope) can be on a pad. Also, I would have to be sure that we would have showers. We'll probably take a trip over this time and check it out. If it looks better than it seems, we might move there next year (or if Brushy is packed this year).

As for the hiking conditions at Dismal is concerned, that really doesn't matter since we'll be spending more of our hiking time at Bankhead anyway. That's another thing, though. After 24 hours, we're not going to be spending a lot of time at the camp. Dismal might not go for leaving the campsite unattended.

Thanks for the Website, Weatherman. Why can't I ever find these places?

I believe there's also campgrounds somewhere near Bear Creek.  That'd be between Bankhead and Dismals, but I have no clue about cost or anything.

------edit:

Here's a clue about costs  http://www.bearcreeklakes.com/info.html

[Joshua Szulecki]

It isn't cheap if I recall. I'd stick to Brushy or another Bankhead campground. Plus, Dismal is a decent ride from Sipsey, if I recall correctly. I was happy they allow pets, because a lot of private preserves do not.

I might be interested in some hiking on a weekend during that period. You *might* even convince me to camp a night if they have showers.

[WolfVanZandt]

O.o

Whoa! Bear Creek looks good! We have cabin weekends occasionally. I'll have to check that out.

Joshua, Brushy has showers - the catch with National Forest showers (and it take a little getting used to) is that, although there's plenty of hot water, the air isn't heated. You should have seen a group of us one born chilling March night at Lake Payne experiencing our first National Forest shower. And you're welcome to be as much a part of the Howl as you want. We have normal people in the group, too.

[WolfVanZandt]

As a reminder (And I really would like to meet some of you folks), the SEHowl is only a month away and, if you're in the vicinity of Brushy Lake between March 12 - 20, look for the blue Astro Van with the Were Wolf vanity plate and visit. It's beginning to look like we'll have a big group - mostly from the Southeast but possibly from places like Delaware and Oregon (assuming they get some obstacles out of the way). Our primary activity will be hiking so I might see you on the trail. If Brushy Lake is packed on the 12th, we'll be using Owl Creek as an overflow site - no showers but it's only a couple of miles from the showers at Brushy - when we camped at Buck's Pocket, we walked further for showers.

[weathermansam]

I may be at Brushy Lake that friday night, the 13th with a group of about 10 friends from Mississippi up for a 3 night 2 day hike in Sipsey.  Not set in stone we'll be there, but maybe we'll bump into each other. 

[WolfVanZandt]

Just a reminder -

If anyone is up at Bankhead between March 12 and March 21, I'll be up at Brushy Lake and around the National Forset and wilderness with a diverse group. Stop by and say "Hi" if you get a chance. I'll be driving a blue Astrovan with a Were Wolf vanity plate on front.

[Joshua Szulecki]

I'll probably be in Sipsey either this weekend or next. Probably next, as I need to get brakes and a battery this weekend, and don't expect any serious wildflower viewing for a little bit longer.

[weathermansam]

Just a reminder -

If anyone is up at Bankhead between March 12 and March 21, I'll be up at Brushy Lake and around the National Forset and wilderness with a diverse group. Stop by and say "Hi" if you get a chance. I'll be driving a blue Astrovan with a Were Wolf vanity plate on front.

I'll be leading a group of about 6 or 7 to see turkeyfoot creek, the big tree, eye of the needle and some other neat stuff the 12-15, maybe we'll run into you at some point. 

[WolfVanZandt]

That'll be cool. Looks like the weather will be pretty close to perfect (if the forecast holds out).

I'll have to hang around the camp Friday and Saturday until the first food run Saturday afternoon. I have people coming in from all over the US and I need to be there to get them settled in, at least for the first couple of days. If they come in later, they may have to just settle themselves - I'm going to be in the woods...



 There's actually a rule that campers at Brushy Lake must stay around the campsite for the first 24 hours, anyway.

[toph]

"There's actually a rule that campers at Brushy Lake must stay around the campsite for the first 24 hours, anyway"

Having camped there dozens of times, I'm skeptical that this is true.  Is this a personal rule for your yearly campout?

[WolfVanZandt]

No, it's a "fine print" rule that the rangers told me the first time I set up this group camp. I don't think I've ever seen it posted on the bulliten board at the intrance. THere's a bunch of them - although you can have multiple tents per site, you can't have tents off the tent pads (I sorta let them flop off sometime.) There's a minimum number of vehicles allowed per site (I think, 2). There's a minimum and maximum nu,ber of days for occupancy (2 to 8 - it might be). And I can't remember all the rest. I'll be stopping by the ranger station on the way up and will get a refresher then.

[dayhiker]

A minimum number of vehicles?  That means if I took my kids up there, my single vehicle would be in violation.  I'm skeptical of that one.

Weekend before last toph and I had 4 vehicles at a site and a ranger came up to check our permit.  He didn't say boo to the 4 vehicles so if it's a max of 4 he didn't seem to have a problem with it.  We did have a clean site though.  The knuckleheads next to us actually pulled the metal fire ring out of the ground then replaced it before they left.  Weird.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Actually, I've seen the 24 hour rule at a number of federally-owned locations. Or at least, I've seen it listed in the fine print.