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.

[WolfVanZandt]

Thank goodness they don't enforce half the rules they post but there is a list at the entrance.

[WolfVanZandt]

Grph! After 9 days, it's not easy to remember sequences but I'll try.

I made it to Brushy Lake in time to set up camp in the daylight without rain (O.o). That afternoon Mac came in and we explored the area of the waterfall we found up the hill from the Rec area last year. Mac found 4 more in the same area.

If you walk up the road toward Owl Creek until you see a blue stack labeled "Water Valve", you can enter the woods and you will see a nice waterfall with a good undercut. If you climb the bluff there and follow the creek, you will find a larger waterfall. The road goes right over that waterfall, so, if you climb to the road and cross, there's another large (and very pretty) waterfall in the woods, with another hidden on the same bluff a little further on. If you follow the creek down, there's a small fall and the creek disappears into a cave. Where it comes out below, you can go a little ways back into the cave. Down the creek, the creek bed turns into slate, which is interesting. Following this creek, it finally enters Brushy Creek just below the bridge at Brushy Lake Rec. Area.

Wontolla arrived Saturday night and Sunday, we explored the Thompson Creek trail. I almost killed myself on teh big waterfall just before the trail meets the Sipsey River. I had to get right up to the fall so Wontolla could get my picture there and, climbing off the boulder, I hyperflexed my knee and almost passed out. While trying to recover, the cold mist blowing off the falls was leaching all my strength and I finally decided that, pass out or not, I had to get out of there, so I made a scramble over the boulders  and made it - I had to lay around in the leaf mould for a while to get myself back into working order - it was a blast!

Monday, Mac got sick and had to go home. Tuesday Wontolla and I went into Hayleyville (stopped by Kinlock  and I saw the Chute for the first time - next year, I'll have to ford the creek and take a closer look.) and found one of the best Chinese Restaurants I've ever eaten at - the Golden Dragon (I think). Their fried wontons should be banned as an illicit substance. We also explored the hill up toward Grayson on teh other side from the Rec area and found another bluff with a big waterfall with a very deep undercut in back of it. It was getting dark so we didn't get to explore the undercut - which might actually be a cave. We couldn't see the back from where we were.

The next day, we picked up a couple who flew in from Maryland to Birmingham and explored Flying J's truckstop (a certifiably cool establishment) and the airport. The last participant drove in from Missouri that night.

Wontolla had to leave on Friday and wanted a long hike, so, Thursday, we hiked from the Borden Creek trailhead to the picnic area (last year, there was a log across the small creek between - this year, we had to ford), and then continued up 204(?), I think, well past the end and ended up in parts unknown. We ended up climbing out of  a box canyon and finding an old fire road and ended up on the motorway where a kind Samaritan picked us up and drove us back to our car. Good thing too, because we were at least 20 miles away at 5:00. Great hike!

So, Friday, Wontolla left and the rest of us explored the area up the hill toward Owl Creek again - that's when Kyro found the other waterfall to the left side of the road.

For the last hike on Saturday, we followed the bluff at Brushy Lake further than I had before and found a big waterfall and a place where we could get to the top, then we took a Wildlife Management road back to the main road and back to the Rec. area.

Kyro took Waldorf and Serpentine back to the airport Sunday morning and broke down the rest of the camp (in the rain) and left a little after noon. I busted the seat out of my pants taking down my tent so I didn't leave my car except to fill up the tank (thank goodness for credit cards) until I got home. Now I have a bunch of wet stuff in my van that I will be taking out to dry over the next month or so...

It was a great Howl and I wish so of you had stopped by so we could have met you. Maybe next time, though....