Note To Matt Johnson

“Please come home from vacation. I emailed you, and have not heard anything.

:)”

“Yeah, and the pages are looking a bit odd.”

“TownDawg, I've been back awhile, but I haven't gotten any email from you. Did you use the right address, matt@thebackpacker.com?

And what is all this talk about pages not looking right. I have heard a few people mention it, but everytime I take a look at the page, the page seems fine. What is not showing up?”

“Just the usual whiners, Matt. Probably car campers.”

“BTW, when will you be banning Violin? I want to be here when it happens.”

“Which Violin is getting banned? If all of them were banned it would wipe out like half the board. Dunadan, are you Violin?”

“we'll know in October dayhiker”

“You didn't see my name on his list, did you?
It would be funny if about five guys walked up to the trailhead at once, though. "Hi my name is Violin", we could say in unison.”

“your name wasn't on the list because you haven't submitted a picture. You haven't submitted a picture because you're really Violin. I solved the mystery. Elementary my dear Watson!”

“HEY!!! Go on a hike with your wife and quit playing detective! I don't appreciate being so easily uncovered. Dam Bama fans, anyway, I tell ya.......”

“Maybe we should have a TT "To Tell The Truth"”

“Actually, I finally talked my wife into going on a hike with me. It's only a short dayhike. We're hiking into the Sipsey Wilderness in NW Alabama. It's about 1 hour from where we grew up. We're going back to visit family and the morning of the 5th we're hiking into a place that has the biggest tree in the state. 80 bluffs on 3 sides with a 7' dia tree in the middle and two waterfalls. Pretty impressive.”

“That's the same hike that made Mother Goose cuss, so be careful. Which route are you taking?”

“I'm taking a back way in that's not on any maps. 4 miles total”

“Going up White Oak Hollow, then bushwhacking across to East Bee Branch?”

“Yup”

“I thought that way was secret, G14 classified. I guess not.”

“The last time I was there, there was a group that had mistakenly gone that way. Plus I've heard some other people mention it. I guess I'll have to try that way sometime, just to see what it's like. I've heard that although it's short, it's not very easy.”

“I've hiked it twice. It's not too bad. When you come off the bluff line at West Bee branch it's a little tricky.”

“Well, I wish you the best of luck, Dayhiker. When I go hiking with my wife, I try to point out the beauty all around, so that she doesn't end up talking the whole way and miss it. She does like to get on the trail, and appreciates the beauty, but she will not bushwhack.
The hike you have picked out sounds quite wonderful.
I would be interested to know how she enjoyed it.”

“I'll let you know how it goes. The first time I did this one I had to bushwhack half way. I went back in February and ran into some people who told me about a trail all the way in. There is a little "kink" in the trail in. Sipsey is spectacular. I beleive it's the only virgin forest left in Alabama. It's a canyon carved out by a river. Lots of yellow poplar, hemlock and hardwoods. 40'to 150' bluffs on both sides of the river. Every creek that empties in has a waterall. There are supposed to be around 1000 waterfalls in the area.

We're also going to check out some caves that have Indian paintings. Can't wait.

Normally, a hike into this area is around 12 miles roundtrip. She won't go for that, so this will have to do. It's a shame because all three of the 12 milers are real beauties.”

“Have a good time dayhiker. In just one visit, Sipsey moved way up my list of places I want to see more of.”

“We'll have to meet up then chili. I have taken 5 trips there so far and there is lots left to see. My first trip I came home dumbfounded. I felt like I had taken a trip to either prehistoric time or what I perceive parts of the NW to look like.”

“Kinda knocks the stuffing out of the old stereotype of nothing but endless cotton fields and flies, huh? Of course, all of the stereotypes of Kansas are true.”

“You pretty much have to get south of Montgomery for that to be true. It's very flat there with lots of farming. NE Alabama has the very end of the Appalachians. NW Alabama has some foothills and lots of limestone. Lots of caves and then there's Sipsey. February is the best time to go. Highs in the 50's, no leaves or bugs. When the leaves are gone you can really see the bluffs and rock formations.

The highest point in KS is actually higher than the highest point in AL. Of course, it is on the CO state line.”

“Third weekend in September, there is a group hike planned for Sipsey.”

“That one will be too close to the sports trip. I took a trip in Jan, Feb, and March. Our youngest was 2 months old on the first trip. Kinda wore the wife out with back to back to back trips. I'm still paying penance.”

“There's some virgin forest in the Sipsey, but family of a wife of one of my friends used to own some of the land there, and they made their money logging it. So I'd guess most of the flat land is second or third growth.”

“Yeah, I should have clarified that it's river bottom only.

PS. Another reason Feb is good is because of all the rain you get Dec.- May. The waterfalls are really flowing. At the end of the summer there isn't quite as much flow.”

“Yeah, I have a brother-in-law from up in the piney woods, near Huntsville. He keeps telling me that I need to go there with him. I'll have to put that on my list of priorities.”

“You won't be dissapointed Dunadan”

“To quote Father Guido Sarducci, "Issa vary vary nice".”

“I recently read "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horowitz. (BTW, I recommend it). The description of Shiloh battlefield has me intrigued. I have to admit that the South is one area in this grand country that I haven't checked out, yet. Looking forward to it.”

“I hiked Shiloh as a Boy Scout. I mainly just remember the mass graves and the fruit orchards. Weird how I remember such opposites.

Grab your brother-in-law and come to Sipsey. You'll thing "This is Alabama?"”

“If there is a bad thing about Sipsey it's the legions of screaming boy scout groups that come rampaging through in groups of 30. So much for 10 to a group.”

“We saw one of those when we were there for the Sipsey cleanup trip, but they weren't screaming. There were a lot of them though.”

“Looking fine now.”

“Dayhiker there is another way into the big tree that is pretty much flat walking. The last 1/4 mile is a little tough. Altough it is a 9 mile round trip. I once got a man in and out in one day that was 350+ pounds and really out of shape. You can park at the gum pond cemetery gate and follow the old road beds.

BAMA”