Double the good news from (Double) Oak Mountain SP

[Joshua Szulecki]

Two bits of good news from Oak Mountain State Park...

I owed Scipio some outdoor time since he spent yesterday morning's back home on a sidelines, and after a long deliberation I settled once again on Oak Mountain SP, because my butt still hurt from yesterday's 4-hour schlep to and from Guntersville Dam. I decided at the last minute to walk down and check on the water levels at Peavine Falls, and along the way discovered the news...

1) Water levels are much improved. Peavine was roaring*, and the feeder stream/trail was flowing as well. The road/spillway between the fishing lakes was at least an inch deep, and much spray was made by my car as I fearlessly spashed into it, shocking the driver behind me who was clearly unaccustomed to Alabama's penchant for drivable spillways. I love doing that.

2) They have finally improved some of the trail markers to the falls. There are now usefull arrows everywhere, AND they have marked the trail down to the bottom of the falls, rather than just to the top. They also felt the need to staple "caution" tape as a warning, but still run a trail to the TOP of Peavine Falls, breaking the NUMBER ONE RULE of safe waterfall visitation. No effort has been made to improve the trail to the bottom of the falls yet, and it is still steep and slippery.

For me at least, #1 means that WATERFALL SEASON IS OPEN!

*Well, as much as Peavine can ever be described as roaring sans muddy water, it was roaring.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Double the confirmation!

As I am an idiot, and left home without my tripod mounting plate, I ended up taking a scouting mission instead of a photo mission to Sipsey. In my defense, I was planning to go to Ruffner, and turned at the last minute in the direction of Sipsey.

I got a chance to check the water levels, and the Sipsey, Borden Creek, and Brushy Creek all look great! I hiked to the "tunnel" on Trail 200 (Borden Creek Trail), and even the tiny seasonal waterfalls had at least some drips coming off of them, which is a major improvement.

Waterfall season is most certainly a go for this year!