Spring campout

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....