Sipsey Wilderness Work detail

“Everyone showed up..with minor/no mishaps...everyone got out i suppose...trip report to follow soon, pics in a day or so”

“We managed to do some good yesterday, cleaned out several fire pits under the bluffs and took out some blow downs. Hog on Ice deserves the community service award of the year, he put in three good days with the cross cut saw.

Left the needle at 10AM, home at 3 PM. I am anxious to get back to the Sipsey for some serious hiking. Bama is a first rate guide.”

“Fantastic!.. man would have loved to been there.

If you don't know, my life got turned upside down a bit, so coming to AL was out of the question.

Looking forward to seeing pictures.”

“Took Rabbitman back to his truck in Kimberly and then headed home. Got home around 4:30. That shower sure felt good.”

“Leatherneck took a turn on the saw. Like everyone except HOI, I don't think he is anxious to do it again.”

“HogOnIce is one cool dude. Not only is he an animal with the cross cut saw, He is a walking encyclopedia on trees and plants. Hiking in to the needle Friday and back out this morning was very educational for me.
Thank you, to everybody that came and helped with the cleanup.”

“I enjoyed it Rabbitman, I think Tango313 is set to come back in September for some exploration hikes. Bama sure knows that area well. I am ready for a return trip now!”

“I had a blast!
HOI is da Man! Look foward to hitting the trail with ya again bro!
Opie, Thanks for putting this trip together.
Miss Opie, Keep ya boy in line.
Bit Pusher, Your a lumberjack now man!
Rabbitman, Nice to get to hang out with you again.
Leatherneck, Better sharpen Excalibur up for the next Trail work day.
Chili36, Watch out for them low tree branches!
Tango 313, TRY to be good. hehehe. Seriously though, THanks for providing the gloves.
BAMA, Thanks for keeping us from getting lost again.
Trail Hound, Thanks for showing up for the day.
Pack Rat, You a GPS packin MoFo.


12 people in attendance. We cleaned several miles of trail. We're all very happy with the results! Nothing like laughing with friends around the fire after a tough day on the trail. Awesome weather too. Wild flowers beginning to pop up. Bugs were not bad at all. TT trips ROCK!!”

“Tango and I went to Kinlock Fall's after several of Ya'll left. I'm sure pictures will follow. After I got home my daughter said the computer had crashed, bummer. Anyway I'm back on line and just wanted to say what a great time I had this weekend. A big thanks to all for doing this work to improve my neck of the woods. Also thanks to Tango for the gloves. I must say that this weekend was kinda weird-like. This was the first time I had meet any of these Trail-Talkers, but it was not like a meeting of strangers it was more like a meeting of old friends. I guess we all owe Matt a big thanks for that. THANKS MATT!!. I think that we did a lot of work in the couple of days we were there. In the long run I think we will see a bigger impact of our efforts through our influnce of other hikers in the area. I have saw in the past if someone notices an improvement they are more willing to do the same. BAMA Jr. was sure interested in our trip. I told him he could make the next one. I look forward to seeing the pic's Ya'll took of the area.

BAMA”

“I know what ya mean BAMA. It's so cool to be able to put a face & voice with a name on a computer screan.”

“screan = screen”

“I would say without hesitation that I would hike with any of the people I met anyplace at anytime. And yeah, Bama, it was sort of like meeting old friends.

However, a few words for the wise. Never give Tango313 any grief for putting sugar in her grits. She has a sharp wit and is not afraid to use it. LOL.”

“Could not have asked for a better Saturday. The weather was great, and you guys are the bestest bunch of backpackers ever. Looking forward to hitting the trail soon. Yeah the only thing that sucks is I gotta find a way to get one of those cool etreks and a Hennessey hammock.”

“Trailhound, seeing you walking up in a UT cap moved you right up toward the top of my good list. LOL.

Well, the mail ran this morning,,,,,albeit a day late,,,,,I now have my Carto Craft trail map.”

“Sounds like everyone had a great time. I'm so envious of yall. Wish I could have been there. Was HOI able to completly get the big blowdown on the Bee Branch trail?
For those of you who were first time Sipsey'ers...how did you like the scenery? You'd never guess you were in Alabama, would ya? I hope the waterfalls were flowing pretty good after the rain early in the week.”

“Yeah Chili, I don't want any part of that thing again! I'm still amazed that HOI was able to cut so much with that torture device called a cross cut saw. It is a killer. There is definitely an art to using one.

Dayhiker, the Sipsey truly is a wonderful place. Can't wait to go back.”

“dayhiker, I grew up in Lower Alabama and had no idea how beautiful the Sipsey area is. I will be back there as soon as possible.”

“I wish I could have made it; sounds like a great time.

I had to cook 18 gallons of gumbo for a gumbo cook-off. It was fun, but I'd rather be in the woods!”

“I had perused my map and found all the points, campsites, etc, that everyone had been discussing. I was anticipating being the first one to pitch a tent, but something came up - Belle will let y'all know about that later...


In fact, my tools laid idle for my entire Spring break - I wasn't even able to work on my trail.

Glad y'all had fun - catch youn's on the next one.”

“Michelle and I arrived at the Thompson Creek TH around 12:50 and headed in. We made the Eye of the Needle campsite around 2:00 and found it empty. I figured that HOI, rabbitman, and leatherneck were delayed and set up camp. 2 hours later the FSR beeps and it's rabbitman...they have been set up since 1...on the other side of the EYE. Me and 'chelle walk over and greet the small group and they follow us back to help us break and head through the EYE to their site.
Bitpusher and Chili showed up a few hours later, and Tango rolled in a little before dark.
We waited around the fire for walkindude, and packrat..but nothing....lol
The next morning had Bama leading walkindude and packrat into camp. Trailhound strolled in a short while later and we all got ready for the work detail. HOI set off early towards the Bee Branch blowdown. Chili and Tango set off West, and Bama across Thompson Creek.
Walkindude, rabbitman, leatherneck, packrat, bitpusher, Trailhound, michelle, and myself started east on the River trail attacking small blowdowns, limbs, trash, and 10-12 firerings. Estimated trash packed out...40-50+lbs total(my guess)
All this was done between Shiprock, and the junction with Bee Branch. We then turned into bee branch and found HOI eating up a huge blowdown. He had taken out 2 or 3 1' beech sections, 2 2' beech sections, and then packrat, leatherneck, bitpusher, and walkindude tore into the 2 large dense pine logs. Once this was completed everyone headed back into camp. Ran into Chili and Tango who had worked west from shiprock, and Bama who worked across Thompson creek to the West.
I felt we did alot of good. By dismantling small, ill-placed, and seldom used firerings, it is my hope that hikers will keep to permanent sites or if they do camp off-trail that no new firerings are built.

I would also like to thank all that contributed to me and michelle eating...i can't belive i left my fuel bottle at home.
And once again a TT trip full of great pple that i would most definately hike with again in the near future with no hesitation!!”

“OPIE, good report. You're just glad I didn't show up and bring rain with me.”

“Oh TT'ers that went on the trip..when i went to sleep last night around 10:30 the temp was 70.....this morning on the way to work...62...Don't ya'll hate that!!”

“I said to my wife this morning, after looking at our thermometer and seeing 60F, that I had wished it had been this warm this weekend.

Other than being a little cool in the morning, it was great.

Oh, and for those TT'ers who were with me when I busted my @ss at the creek, there is some other damage: the last joint on my right index finger is swollen up right now. It doesn't hurt, so I think I must have hyperextended it when I broke my fall. Other than that, no damage from what must have been a spectacular fall. Too bad none of you caught it on film.”

“well shoot, Tango and I missed the acrobatics. Can you do it again on the next trip so we can see the show? j/k Hope there is no serious damage.”

“OPIE sure knows how to backpack with a partner!

OPIE's Pack weight - 10 lbs (pack water filter & sleeping bag less the fuel bottle)

Michelle's Pack weight - 60+ lbs (everything else)

Way to go OPIE!!”

“ya'll are just jealous you didn't think of it first!!

Leatherneck..hehe the fact i use iodine instead of a filter makes mine even lighter!..hehe
My pack weighs 7lbs empty..and hers 3lbs mty.”

“the way Opie packs, Michelle's is never empty.....”

“Chili if you want to represent Michelle, I will personally testify to the fact that OPie's pack weighed about 30 lbs more than hers did.”

“more or less? *starts uping the bribe payout*”

“Opie's weighed 30 pound MORE????

Let's see, I have leatherneck as a "friendly" witness and rabbitman as a "hostile" witness? Hmm, I like to pick and choose the cases, I only want friendly witnesses.”

“Chili,

30 lbs might be on the light side. I was at the top of the rock wall when he handed me his pack, and I tossed it over my shoulder (one handed I might add) to Leatherneck. When he handed me Michelle’s pack, It almost pulled me down off the rock. Lucky for me, Leatherneck was there to help pull the pack up.”

“Your testimony is that Opie's pack was 30 LESS than Michelle's. Well now with two witnesses, I am ready to go. Opie, you can go ahead and plead guilty and avoid the embarrassment of a public hearing in this matter.”

“Clothes, make-up and shoes...I SWEAR!!!...everyone knows women pack 3 of everything plus 2 lil black dresses!!”

“OPIE,

That was pretty low man....”

“The reason Opie "forgot" his fuel bottle is because it would have pushed him over the 10# mark.”

“Pics will be up in around 45 minutes”

“I weighed my pack when I got home. The entire load (trash & Gear) was 48 pounds. That's the most I've ever carried.
I offered to trade packs with Opie but he turned down the offer.”

“So what if i did turn you down...i offered that michelle would carry it!...*laughing hard*”

“I'm home and clean, clean, clean!! Yippee!!

First let me say it was just the greatest meeting all of you. Even though this trip was billed as work I had a fantastic, albeit cold time. Opie you are one great fire building guy! The other penultimate pyro is Packrat.

I love this area, although I only saw from the trailhead to the camp and back. I am anxious to explore it.

I cannot overstate the fun conversation around the fire in the evenings. Some of which is classified and will never be revealed, under the penalty of death.

This group of TT people are just too cool for words. Thanks for the great company, great fun, great weekend!!”

“Tango, same here, I would hike with you anytime.”

“Glad to see you made it home OK Tango.
Now where is HOI?”

“He was staying Sun. night! I don't know what time he was planning on leaving Mon.

I went to Florida's Cavern's State Park!

Pix to follow.

The Kinlock falls were beautiful!”

“It was really nice meeting everyone! I knew everyone would be great after I heard all the fun that Randy (Opie) had at Savage Gulf.

HOI.. you are one lumberjack! You did a great job clearing the blowdowns!

Oh no! Everyone found out our secret! Randy told me not to tell anyone that I was carrying the larger load! Haha.. j/k! It really wasnt that heavy guys!

Mark.. I decided to go with the name that you gave me! Thanks :) You and Steve were two cool guys!

Kirk.. I'm sorry to hear about your finger! That creek just didnt like you or Randy!

Stephanie.. I'm glad to hear that you made it back safe to Florida! That was great that you drove all the way up here to help! Also thank you for the gloves! They were a life-saver with cleaning up the firerings.

Everyone else.. again I really enjoyed the weekend and had a great time! I hope to get to hike with you all again!”

“Glad you liked the name. You and Opie are a great couple. Me and Pack Rat thought yall was gonna join us at Hardees.

Glad to see you posting. I get to add you to my list of TTers I've met now!! :)
.”

“hardee's is da devil...we stopped in foodworld and picked up the makins for fried chickin and fried green maters”

“Glad everyone made it home okay!
And also glad to see Miss Opie on our board!

Looking forward to our next trip.”

“I made it home safe and sound thanks to the power of Mt. Dew - now if I could just get to sleep (grin).

A lot of good work was done by all and the trail looked a lot better after we were through.

Lots of fun around the campfire as always on an ECT.

Best falls seen - OPIE doing a rollout after tripping all the while holding his baggied, rehydrated breakfast and not spilling a drop.

My highlight of the trip was the botany in the area - the timing was just about perfect for catching the spring flowers. I saw a few that I had never seen before that I will be researching - I especially want to find out what the name is of the bush with the red flowers in spikes - opposite leaves organized as five leaflets in a palmate pattern. One interesting variation seen was a form of hepatica with varigated leaves.”

“Glad to see you made it home HOI. There's another Thread around here that's got a link to Opie's pictures.”

“Glad you made it home, HOI. Thanks for the botany lesson.”

“Glad you made it home safe and sound!! Glad to have met you. You were very funny! And one hard working dude!!”