Trail 200 Dayhike

Last Sunday I had to make a trip to Lynn, AL to visit some distant family. I figured while I was going, might as well go 20 extra miles north and do some dayhiking in the Sipsey.

FT200 is hands down my favorite dayhike in the park. It has everything I love about the Sipsey in a 3 mile stretch (6 mile in&out), waterfalls, the river, tons of water features, canyons, and few caves. Most people just hike it to connect to 209, but if youve never hiked it in its entirety you should.

Anyway, got on the trail around 1 or 2PM. Parked at the Borden Creek Trailhead which is on a dirt road that runs off Cranal Rd/CR60.
There were probably 8 cars there.

I grabbed my daypack and nalgene and took off.

I immediately noticed how high Borden Creek was. Usually you can see the bottom, but with the rains we had Saturday, it was waaay up. A nice change of pace.
All of the waterfall on the trail (5 or 6) were flowing nicely. The only issue was the high stream crossing about a mile and a half in. It first opens into a big 'field' with only a few trees (also alot of wild hog rooting activity in this area) and the stream is flowing past it. There is a log you can walk across on, but its tough to get onto due to it being 2-3 feet down and you also have to climb over the roots. On the way in I took my boots off and jack up my pant legs. On the way back I said screw it and just sloshed through. My waterproof gaiter worked great keeping themselves dry by funneling the water directly into my boot.

Trail 200 also contains the 'Fat Man Squeeze' cave thats a 1/2 mile in or so. On the way in I went over it, as I was trying to stay dry (the inside walls of the cave are usually wet) as it was somewhat cold and windy. The way back I went through it, which is always fun w/o a headlamp. I did clean up a few 20oz bottles out of it though.

I got back at the trailhead around 4 or so. Had a great time, it was nice getting away from the craziness that is Birmingham for a day.

Heres some pics. Camera is a Kodak Z760 P&S with custom lens smudging due to my fat fingers. (which I didnt realize until I got home)

Some deadfalls near the North trailhead: