Sipsey Wilderness- Alabama

“I'll be going out there November 9 - 11. If anybody wants to hook up and hike your welcome. I'm taking by brother and some other friends.

One question:
What are the River fords like? Trail #209 (at Borden Creek)? I've not been to that spot yet.”

“I bet they got lots of bugs in Alabama”

“Just say boo and you'll scare them away.”

“Won't be any bugs in November.”

“Walkindude,
I had a trip planned there this past weekend but had to cancel because my daughter had a tournement come up at the last minute. I probably could have answered your question if that had not happened. Try this website:
http://www.alabamatrail.org/hikingAL/
It has some good info.”

“I would love to go, but my wife is due for baby #2 about two weeks after that date. I would suspect that the fords will be very low. I'll try to get you a ranger station #. The last time I went I called ahead and they estimated the depth for me. The were dead on with their estimate. There is supposedly a bridge about 1 mile up Borden Creek after the Borden/Sipsey intersection. PS, leaves typically peak here between Halloween and when you're going. There should still be a good bit of color in the trees.”

“Walkingdude: Sandi says hi.”

“I'll keep it in mind. Although I'm going to spend alot of time out of town in October (almost half the month), Nov. 9-11 is a Fri-Sun and Alabama's not that far away. Area looks real good.”

“Come on over then Steve Hiker! Be glad for ya to join us.

Thanks for the reply there Rabbitman & Dayhiker. I used that Bridge crossing when I was there before. I just wanted to save myself some time by just fording the creek instead of walking up to the bridge then bushwacking back down to trail #209.

Hi Sandi.”

“I've been to that intersection twice. The first time was early March about a week after alot of rain. It was impassible. The next time was in May. I didn't even have to take my boots off to cross. I couldn't find the webpage that had the ranger station phone #. Sorry.”

“I may have it on a map or something. Thanks man.”

“How's your trip shaping up? Tell us all about it when you get home.”

“I'll know more next week.”

“So Dude what's going on with the trip? There's a 50/50 chance I can make it, where do yall plan to meet and when?”

“All I can say is we'll be getting there sometime Friday morning. Depends on how early I can get the rest of the crew going. We're going to start at Sipsey River Rec. Area. From there, we'll be heading out trail 209 toward Bee Branch.
I'm hoping to be at the parking area around 9:00 to 9:30. As far as a route, Once we get to Bee Branch, We're just gonna wander till Sunday.
Hope to see ya there! Lemme know.”

“walkindude,

Do you know yet where you might be stopping for the night on Fri.?”

“In Alabama we have a weekly show on public TV called Discovering Alabama. On Sunday afternoon the program was about Sipsey Wilderness. It turns out that before the Sipsey was created, one of the criteria was that to be considered for Wilderness designation the land mass had to be large enough to be able to take a 2 week pack trip. People in Alabama challenged this until the rules were changed. Sipsey was the first Wilderness to be designated under the new rules. This opened the gates for most of the Wilderness areas that we have in the Eastern US. Pretty interesting.

Have fun WD. The colors should be at or just past peak. It's pretty dry here, so the crossings should be easy.”

“Thanks Dayhiker.

Rabbitman
I'd like to stay back around Bee Branch someplace before you get to the Waterfall. Don't know where we'll be Saturday night.”

“Packed & ready to go.
My pack weighs 23 pounds for 3 days. That's with food & water.”

“I'll try to make it. May give you a call tomorrow evening Dude to firm up directions.”

“23lbs?...you bringing cottton balls and marshmallows with ya?”

“My pack, tent and bag eat up more than half that.”

“steve hiker,
I answered your e-mail but my computer locked up when I hit send and I don't know if it went through, just let me know. Also sent you a second e-mail with some directions.”

“Just sent a return email. Hope you can meet up with us.”

“I'm impressed. On my Smokies trip this summer I got down to around 24-25 #'s with water. I'll bet you carry more clothes than what I had in July.”

“Just carrying Poly Pro, Fleese top, wind jacket, & nylon pants.”

“I'm outta here. Sipsey here I come.”

“Well guys, how was it?”