Dayhiker's Sipsey Bushwack 3/4-7/04

“We didn't find a painting, but lots of carvings in a boulder. Turkey feet, a snake, 5+ mortar grinders, a flower, a man putting something in a mortar grinder, and some sort of counting carving. BAMA speculated that it was seasons. More will be posted on the report page.”

“sheesh, will try to get links right here!

Paintings of cave and area”

“Neat-oh!”

“divinity - Glad y'all made it out OK. I was a little concerned about y'all. :-)”

“Thanks SS.......hugs...

and thanks Lizs for the articles.....it was an awesome place.....it amazes me how many locals, who have lived here their whole lives, know nothing about these places....it is an area rich with history........”

“OMG...I forgot..I saw my very first live skunk this weekend!!!...and there were 3 owls on trail 200 last night....the sounds they make are so eerie!!!

:0”

“I want to go next time, when I get my ARK built!”

“I went in Thursday night and followed the markers I would not advise it for a novice. but took my time and went down the rope on the way in. I got in about 8:30 PM. Friday we went up the stream we were on and saw lots of water fall and some neat camping spots. I would start to rain so we would put on our rain gear and in a few minutes it would quit. It was well worth the trip. Saterday we hiked about 10.5 - 11 miles. After hiking in California the last 6 yrs. this was a breath of fresh ail. Day Hiker thanks I loved every minute of it. The Rain hit Friday after we went to bed and did not seem to bother any one in our party. I was so happy to meet all of you and hope to do it again. Divinity I found your blue foam pad in my truck I can drop it off at work for you.”

“O M G ...my BLUE thingy....how could I have forgotten it????

LOL..heheheheehe”

“Photo.....post your report on the trip thread that dayhiker sterted for all to see.....( isn't copy & paste wonderful???)

maybe I can get my blue thingy someday during your lunch......

I'll let ya know ......I am sooo glad you had fun...a GREAT bunch aren't they?????”

“hummm - if ya'll pour warm water on a blue thingy does it turn into a pink thingy? Or is this a case of using the right pH rinse to convert one to the other?”

“LOL...hahahahahaha......
Arky has a blue thingy too!!!
and a lawn chair.......

LOl.hahahaa”

“If you guys go to my website you can see all the pictures I took, read my trip report and....see where we hiked! I made maps for each day of hiking. Pretty sweet. Just go on over to the Dubzone. Enjoy!”

“damn Dub, you went all out.”

“Yup!”

“really good trip report. I feel a need to visit Sipsey sometime now.”

“Thanks, I hope it was better than the pre-edited/detailed version from yesterday.”

“I think it'd be cool to have the owls in camp.”

“It was cool, but it was freaky too. They were sooo loud and they sounded like monkeys. I got chills because I couldn't see them and it sounded like they were five feet away. Awesome experience.”

“woah Dub-Dub, you did good. I really like how you combine your reports, map and pics. It's great for us and a good reference for you. I may do this with gabriele.com :) It's either this or a porn site. LOL (j/k)”

“Nice site DUB!!!

and so glad you didn't get a shot of me falling in the creek!!!”

“It's good that you didn't fall Div, but if you did it would have made a great picture ;-)

Gemini, I didn't check out your pictures until the day...very nice! What kind of camera did you use?”

“Dub, I had forgotten about telling you the local wisdom of tornadoes.”

“Very nice write-up. I'm glad you enjoyed the trip and looks like you're coming back for more in '05.”

“Yeah, I want to go back in 05 for sure. But this time I plan on visiting the Space Museum while I am there, not getting sick, and staying with the group rather than wandering aimlessly around the Alabama mountains by myself ;-)”

“Dub, if you think that the Saturn 1B was big, wait'll you see the Saturn V mockup they have at the Space Center...”

“The Space Center is very impressive. Last time I was there they had an SR-71 in front. Very impressive.”

“It's still there, IIRC, dayhiker.”

“What else should I see on my visit next year?”

“Well, it's not in Alabama, but since you're on your way down, you oughta take a side trip to Lynchburg, TN, and see the Jack Daniel's distillery. That's pretty cool.

There's not a lot of touristy stuff in Huntsville, it's sort of a working town. The Space Center is pretty much it. I mean, we have an Art Museum (snooze), a Botanical Garden (bigger snooze), etc. Oh, Burritt Museum up on Monte Sano is pretty cool, but it's more of a local history museum than anything else. Not everyone's cup of tea.”

“Nice pics Dub.

If I hadn't seen that pic of divinity crossing that log, I wouldn't have believed it!
You go Girl!

..And Dub wouldn't sleep under a rock face???? Hee hee hee.... ;-)”

“ME!!!!!!”

“Oooh, I remember Curahee talking about that distillery--that would be a good place to visit. I did pass the National Corvette Museum on the way down and a few other POIs.

Yes, StoveS, Divinity did walk across the log very bravely! I walked out into the middle of the creek to take a good picture, lol. And yes, I wouldn't sleep under the bluff...that thing could fall at anytime! Murphy's law man, Murphy's law! If I had slept under it it would have let loose its first slab of rock in 10,000 years! I just know it would.”

“Be forewarned that Lynchburg is in a dry county. No samples at the distillery.

Also, be warned that next years trip will have a different look about it. I finally linked pics from Dec over to that trips page. I'm keeping that trips thread in the trips page instead of here in the open to keep from having 400 people sign up and then be disappointed when bushwacking means bushwacking. Granted, my limited experience with the area does seem to indicate an easier trip.”

“I remember going to Lynchburg when I was a kid and nearly gagging from the stink of the mash in the vats. I like whiskey but I'm not surprised that only 301 people live there.”

“The owls sounded so scarey!!!!!....

and that pic was me crossing the log for the second time.......I was more scared than the first...I figured the odds were greater for me to fall in ....Thanks Super Troll for helping me find the courage to even do it.....

Dub...your site is awesome......”

“Logs are tricky. I cross them and don't give it a second thought. Maybe that's why I fell in the water about an hour into the hike on Friday. Dub and I were the only ones is short tops shoes and we both finally got to the point where we just crossed any old place. Once your feet are wet, they're wet.”

“maybe we need those water shoes, that dry fast!!!!!!

BTW..I need new boots....any suggestions?????”

“Nope, I haven't worn boots over 2 yrs. Sorry.

At least with trail running shoes they'll dry a bit. Dub had GoreTex which kept the water in, once he got wet. My feet were hamburger meat after this trip.

My webshots account has gone from about 2000 views and 20 or so downloads to 6000 and 200 after this trip. I have a free account and can't view statistics on individual folders, but this trip must be the one folks are looking at. It was a great trip.”

“Great pics Dub, Sorry we missed ya, Maybe next time. You mentioned the bluff overhangs. If the weather gets really, really bad that is the first place I'll go. You will be surprised how safe and dry you are under them. I have been out there during tornados and trust me the bluffs are the place to be. We the owls barn owls or screech owls. Both can really make some wild sounds in the middle of the night. Some times when your out there well after dark hiking in pitch black with a headlamp for the only light the owls will follow you. They will come in very quitely right in front of you and then flair their wings. It will scare the begibers out of you. I have also walked right up to them and not see them. They will let out a scream that will boil your blood. Great trip report, maybe we can get together sometime.

BAMA”

“Yeah BAMA, I was bummed that there was another TTer on this trip that I didn't get to meet. I almost hiked back to camp on Saturday after hiking Thompson creek. As for the owls, I have no idea what kind they were as I really didn't see them...but if I had to guess I'd say barn owls. They were loud and spooky the first time they hooted. It was really cool. Next time I'm near Alabama I'll look you up.

-Dub”