Alabama ECT Sipsey trip -Jan.

“There is a problem with the website when you have exactly 100 posts. It will create a ghost page that's confusing. This post is the create #101 and make the page work.”

“I'll be there at 8am if that's when you want to meet. Please let me know which parking area/road that we will meet at. I have a map of the SW, but I'm not sure where to meet youse guys. Can't wait!”

“Meet at the main trailhead which is for trail #209. Coming down hwy 33 from Moulton you'll take a right onto Lawrence Cty Rd 6. After a few of miles you'll come to a bridge. The parking lot is on your left just before the bridge. I'll be in a green Ford Ranger extended cab. It has a camper shell that's the same color as the truck.”

“I was going to be in a silver sport trac off the Thompson Creek trailhead..but since that one is crushed, i'll either be in a red explorer or red berretta. Me and Michelle will be on the trail around 7:30 and find you guys (hope you respond well to flares and Hog calling) soon after!!

Hey, what do ya'll fix as your food staples?..lotsa simple filling stuff..or do ya'll go nuts and extravegant...i don't wanna look like a poor lil ol alabama boy with my poket rocket trying to burn water to go with my stale bread...LMAO”

“Can't make it this time.”

“Thanks for the info. dayhiker.

Hey OPIE, I'll be boiling water with my Esbit and throwing into the pot whatever I can find at home! I'm going to bring along some homemade jerkey also. I'll try to make enough to share - that is if my kids don't get to it first.”

“Sorry to hear that steve hiker.

I'm getting a little fancy with the food. Thru-hiker.com has a recipe for a pizza in a pocket. It sounds like a calzone and is around 1500 calories. That will be my lunch for Friday and Saturday. I'll get some couscous for supper both nights.”

“Probably will make it on Friday morning, 8AM. It's a short drive for me, I live in Huntsville.

dayhiker - I'm the guy you emailed from the Hiking Alabama website. bitpusher is my trail name.

as far as food, well, I was preparing for a multi-day AT hike so I bought freeze-dried stuff...so guess what I'll be bringing...”

“I may do my lipton rices and noodle mixes with chicken and stuff...michelle is itchin to spend 10 bucks for some freeze dried packs at high country...i told her one of those 2 serving packs is only good for one person..LMAO. I should have tons of dehydrated apples and bananas..that is if i don't eat them on the drive up. Bitpusher I'm coming in from decatur”

“Yes, OPIE, I wish the freeze-dried people would get realistic and admit that a "two-serving" meal is only one serving if you've been hiking all day. Can't imagine sharing one of those things at the end of the day.”

“I plan to drive up Thursday evening. Guess I'll stay at the trailhead that night. I'll be in a 97 ford truck. Don't know what vittles I'll bring to eat. Maybe mooch off you guys! Somebody bringing a camera? Hope it's not too cold as my 20 degree bag barely keeps me warm at 32 degrees. I've got a silk liner to try out. See yall.”

“With a 500$ insurance deductable coming up..i held off on ordering the WM antelope bag...i hope my it doesn't get below 35”

“Sandy,
there is a spot to camp about a 1/4 mile down the trail on the right. The trailhead starts under the bridge.

At the trailhead you'll go down a hill and will then start back up a small rise. The sides of the uphill are fairly tight on each side. When you get out of this big gully there is a flat spot on the right. It may be more like 100 yards now that I think about it.”

“I'm bringing a camera...hoping the weather is warm too. My 20F REI bag will keep me pretty warm down to about 25F, but if it is gonna be real cold then I have to bring my tent, which means I have to use my heavy pack instead of my ultra light pack. If it's gonna be lows in the 30's and dry, I'll probably just bring my tarp.”

“oy vey..ultralighters...lmao..I'm bringing michelle so i can bring more junk!! ya'll don't get mad at me when you see she has a pack twice as heavy as me!!..she eats all the food anyway!..lmao..j/k *grin*”

“If you're making your girlfriend/wife carry all your gear then you've got plennty of room to carry the hooch!

I plan on taking my wife on her first trip this fall. I'll wind up carrying everything, but her clothes and sleeping bag. But it will be worth it if she becomes interested in b'packing.”

“Thanks dayhiker,I'll be waiting on you guys there. I'm looking forward to this. I only spent two nights out on the trail last year. I don't count the National Guard nights in the woods. Oh,my truck is white with a firefighter tag. I'm gonna inventory and pack my gear tomorrow cept for the vittles. Be nice if Gojo came with Sarabelle.”

“dayhiker..on the white oak bushwack/shortcut...you give me your skinny on it..so i see if it matches up where i think i'm going. all else fails we can use the image map on bill sol's webpage to trace the trail in ms paint and e-mail it to each other
opie1979@yahoo.com

Oh i was looking last night...I have 5 maps of the sipsey area...i guess i gotta pick ONE soon...which do ya'll like the best again??”

“FYI, the weather channel is currently calling for rain this weekend. The high's will be low 50's with low's in the upper 30's. Perfect temps, not so perfect precip.

For more accurate info go to abc3340.com. They don't have a forecast for Sunday up yet. They are giving about the same temps, but only 3 hours of rain on Friday and Saturday. I can handle cold or wet, but not both. I'm glad we're only getting one.”

“Where do you guys plan on camping Friday night? I plan on arriving sometime Friday afternoon so I'll have to meet y'all on the trail. Maybe Rabbitman and Mrs. Rabbitman will be with me.”

“Sorry guys...the ladies of TT will be gathering at Linville...an' this unattached Batch is headin to NC this weekend...”

“i just bought a red ledge top and bottom for 35 bucks (caught a great sale)only thing is the top is red and the bottoms blue..but who cares!..so i'm straight for the rain!!...bring it ON!!!!”

“OPIE - did you get my email?

Leatherneck - glad you're coming with us. We're camping above the falls at East Bee Branch. There are two relatively short ways in. There is a 2 mile route that involves about a mile of bushwhacking. I would only attempt it in daylight due to a bluff line. You have to scramble a little to find a way down. There is an easy way down that I can direct you to. Another way is about 5 miles. This is the way that Rabbitman is coming in. It involves parking at Borden creek and taking 224(I think that's the number) in. Send me an email if you want to bushwhack in. I have personally hiked this route. If you want to take the other route you can probably hook up with Rabbitman and hike in. Let me know if you need more info.”

“rain on both saturday and sunday...highs around the 50's and lows around 37...I'm ready to GO!!!”

“dayhiker..yes i did get it..thanks a million...i know the route!...if leatherman takes it friday I'll bring up the rear and police up the stragglers and ditched gear...lol..remind me to show you the route i hiked my first time in the sipsey”

“Leatherman - I left out that I can photocopy my map on 11x17 and highlight in the bushwhack route. I can also print out a map off topozone and draw in the route on that as well. Rabbitman has a copy and can tell you if the quality is good enough to feel comfortable with.”

“1. Truck is in the shop
2. I'm about to go in the shop
3. three words, rain, rain, rain

Not going to make it Friday, barring some miracle.

Maybe Saturday if the planets align correctly.”

“bitpusher - Sorry to hear that. It sounds like we'll only have intermittant(sp?) rain from ch.33/40 in Bham. At least it won't be cold.”

“Yeah, I don't mind a few showers, but rain for several hours would be a bummer. I'm still going if the weather holds out and the forecast doesn't get worse.
Anyone else planning on using a tarp? I'm not in the mood to carry my tent on this hike. My pack weight should be around 28lbs including food & water.”

“bitpusher...meet up with me and 'chelle saturday morning at the Thompson Creek Trailhead. Like i said we are leaving decatur around 6:30 or so, plan on hiking in around 7:30. And the rain is to be off an on friday with highs in the mid 50's..and light showers saturday with the highs in the mid 50's. And Sunday is only forecast to be cloudy. Lets go hike peeps!!”

“I'm taking a tarp tent. It is silnylon with mesh sides to keep the bugs out in summer. This will be my first outing with it. It weighs in at 25 oz. including poles and stakes. My pack should be around 28 as well if I quite adding more food!”

“I'll be in a kelty zen..but i'm going to walmart to grab a very very small tarp to maybe cook under if need be. I have a question...in rain do ya'll cover your packs while hiking? or cover with trashbags, or packcovers..or hope it has some waterrepellancy?”

“I use a Pack Cover and water proof stuff sacks for everything inside my pack. Good idea on the tarp OPIE.”

“I'm planning on taking a garbage back and slitting it to put the pack straps thru. The extra tarp is a good idea.”

“I have a tent and a silnylon tarp. It depends on 1) if I actually go, and 2) what the forecast is. As far as pack covers go, I have a pack cover that I used on an AT trip that didn't keep the pack dry enough. I have also used a large garbage bag with slits for the straps, which actually worked much better. But in neither case did the stuff inside my pack get wet. The main problem with the cover was it allowed the pad to soak up water, adding weight to my pack. This didn't occur with the garbage bag.

OPIE, I might meet you there Saturday morning. It depends on how I feel and if my truck gets fixed in time. And if I can stand the stares from my wife when I tell her that I'm going hiking even when the forecast calls for rain. hahahahahaha”

“*grumbles about trucks being fixed*...claims adjuster says it may be 3-4 weeks for mine to be repaired..but the good news is it's not totalled. I'll be in a Red Explorer with a MOM tag on front *grumbles again* Back when i was a scout we didn't hike if it wasn't raining..the farmers hired us to plan an outting if they were having a dry spell”

“I've been rained on every time I go backpacking. I'm just trying to break the streak.”

“OK guys, Sunday afternoon we have to cross Borden Creek about 1/2 mile from the trailhead. I called the Ranger station and they said that, as of current conditions, we should be fine. When we add 3 days of rain it will probably be different. Just keep in mind that you may want some dry clothes in your vehicle to change in to, if the water winds up being thigh deep.

Again this will be when we are only 10 minutes from the vehicles.”

“mmmm all the waters around these parts gets NICE AND COLD..the sipsey i know from experience will give ya frosticles!!! Who has leather seats?..i wanna ride around with them after the creek crossing!!”

“I thought that you could ride in the back of my truck and your girlfriend could ride in the cab with me.”

“she's a redhead...you both might like that too much!!”

“Dayhiker,
I'm going to try to hook up with Rabbitman and we will hike in together. I have a map that he sent me in case we don't come in together.”

“I am completely packed now. My pack weight, including food and water, is 26.5#'s. Best so far, except the time I took a pepsi stove and tube tent. That was 24# in the smokies in summer. I'm pretty pleased at this # for a winter trip.”

“For those of you coming in Friday or Saturday....
If the Friday morning group gets to the site and it's already taken we'll try to find another one a little up the trail further away from the waterfall. For Rabbitt and Leather, that will be before you get to the planned site. For OPIE that will be a little further up the trail.

As a last resort, we'll go down into the canyon. I hate to do this, because it's over used. Rabbitt and Leather, if you don't come upon a group of about 5 or 6 then keep going. OPIE if you come upon same group in canyon, you might want to ask them if it's us.

A distinguishing mark will be my tent. It's a tarp tent that's teal in color. The high side is about thigh high, the low end is about calf height. It's a weird looking setup. If you walk past a group with a weird tent, it could be us.”

“Truck is taking longer than expected and I am on antibiotics, so no chance for this weekend. Sorry guys. OPIE, don't wait for me Saturday, I won't be there.”

“Hope everything goes well with the vehicle and medicine. We'll catch ya next time.”

“Hey Dayhiker,
You have and e-mail coming.”

“I'm packed and ready to go. Let the rain begin. I'll be waiting for you slowpokes to show up Friday mourn.”

“Right back at ya Sandy!
My wife is already giving me that "you're crazy" look 'cause she knows it's gonna rain this weekend. I'll be there Friday morning - trying for 8am.”

“Hey dayhiker, good job on getting the pack weight down to the mid-twenties. Mine was 35lbs on a 4 day AT hike last December. I swore I would work on getting my weight lower and ended up making a few equipment changes. I'm gonna use a hammock this coming Spring/Summer/Fall and should get things even lower! I'm not crazy about replacing my Coleman Peak tent with a silnylon tarp but I'm gonna try hard to get use to it.”