Walls of Jericho

“alabama is awesome! i need to visit this place- and little river, and sipsey, and... i'm sure there's other places.”

“Not sure what trip you are talking about, but if you set camp at the mouth of the walls, you should explore the walls as soon as possible. The camping area is really close. I would take and climbing gear that you need and climb also. There is a really neat area back up in Grays Cove that is really impressive. It is called the sinks. There is also a nice cave to explore nearby the sinks as this is where you can access the underground river. Bring your fishing gear, black perch. What ever you do get out if it starts raining hard if you are in the walls. If you go in during hunting season, becareful this area is a great hunting area also.”

“Thanks for the info.

The trip I'm talking about is the one that is being setup on this thread.

jmitch - come on down, there's a good bit to see down here.”

“Surely not talking about me...”

“Guess I will have to stick to the walls of Babylon for the time being.”

“Too funny steppenwolf. This place looks to be pretty close to your new place.”

“I *might* get to scout this area on Friday. I have meetings in Oneonta, Huntsville, and Tullahoma TN. The loop that this forms with Chattanooga and back home will go very close to the Walls. If I hit the road by 6am on Friday I should be homward bound and at the exit for this around 2pm. I could probably hike the 3.5 miles in and back out at 2mph + 30 minutes to check it out. That would put me back at my car by 6. Home by 8. That'd be a long day and we're supposed to go to a hs football game friday night in B'ham, so who knows. If I go to the hs game then it's a no-go, if not then maybe.”

“Did a little more checking and I'm having to go to Lynchburg instead and it will cost about an hour to get to the trailhead. That'd put me home at 9. Getting up at 5 and getting home at 9 doesn't sound too appealing. 16 hours days with 7 miles of hiking would be a bit much. I have my sons soccer game to see on Sat and a day full of grilling before the Bama game Sat night. I need to have my game on for Sat.

I may try to schedule a recon day trip this fall. It wouldn't be rushed and would be alot more fun that just blowing and going like I'd have to do Friday.”

“You wuss.”

“I know, I know.

If I leave home at 6, I should be in Lychburg by 9, in Huntsville at 11 and leave Huntsville by 1 at the latest. That'll put me home by 5 after hitting Oneonta. I'd love to check it out Fri, but having 4 hrs of daylight and 7 hrs to hike in and out with some sightseeing doesn't sound too good. I'd be hurrying so much on the way in and while I was there that I wouldn't be able to enjoy it. The 3.5 out with elev gain and the fact that I haven't done any cardio in a while would be looming over me.”

“How do expect to drag my carcass out of there in December if you don't get in shape now? lol.....”

“I'm not worried about Dec. I'm just concerned about 7 miles in 3 hrs with the sun setting and still having a 3 hr drive home.”

“Yah, especially on those windy roads up there on a Friday night. Those boys up there get drunk and see how fast they can drive the road.”

“What is this? A dang Dem grouping? Whine, whine, whine. ;-)”

“Are you offering me some cheese with my whine?”

“Just bringing this back up.”

“I'm still planning on going on this one.”

“Dates again???
Yea, I'm gonna try.”

“12/3-12/5. I'm planning on getting there by 8 or 9 on Friday and having camp setup before lunch. Folks that come on Friday will get about a half day of exploring in. Sat we'll explore more, check out the Walls area and then Sunday we'll probably split up. Folks with a good drive might elect to leave early while others might try to explore some more.”

“Just bringing this back up in case there is any interest. 12/3-5. Bushwhacking trip.”

“walls of Jericho..wasn't that a movie?”

“I'm planning on it. I have that weekend blocked out on my calendar.”

“Where's the trip page homo? Errrr... homie? I think I can make this one.”

“It's not on the trip page.
Dayhiker didn't want it to grow into a LARGE group.”

“Hey, I was just there for a dayhike yesterday! I'm about to post a small TR and pics....”

“Cool!”

“Ok, I might forget about the TR. It was a very cool place, though. I definately want to go back in the summer when I can take advantage of those nice swimming holes. Here are my pics.

http://community.webshots.com/album/205262224rtsYtj”

“embear - that's one reason I brought this back up. I saw where you were going there and hoped you'd chime in with your thoughts on the area.”

“Dang it woman!
Get us all excited and then change your mind!

Trip Report!
Trip Report!
Trip Report!”

“Very nice pictures. Thanks for sending them.”

“Nice pics!”

“Ok, since yall are going there soon, I will do a little TR. But you have to wait a little while. I've gotta go.”

“I *heart* embear. ;-)”

“I <3 Stove.

Do I need to design a new stove for this trip?”

“embear - what's your take on the area? 2 thumbs and a paw up?”

“Deoless - SS is correct. I had 2 big public trips last year. They jaded me a bit about organizing the like again. Most of the problems came from folks who didn't even attend the trip. For that reason I bringing this thread up from time to time and emphasizing that this will be an off trail trip. Whoever shows up is who we get.”

“embear, I only saw one dog (layla), did you not get a pic of ashdog”

“LOL
I kept thinking "Why is DDX less than 3?", then I got it.
Dang, you are a perv. ;-)”

““Unless something unexpected comes up I'm a definate yes.”
humanpackmule
10:39:48 PM
9/04/04
ignore this user

Funny thing is a week later I lose my job.

I'll know if I can go for sure in another couple of weeks.”

“Damn, sorry to hear that, hpm.”

“I'd been wondering if you'd make it. I doubted you would, but hoped for the best. Glad work, worked out so quickly for you.”

“I think he meant his old job. You're not out of work again, HPM?”

“Hell no.
I'm doing quite well.
My only issue now is how long it takes to get my first check (I'm at week six now) and the fact that I have no benefits whatsoever. The pay rate kinda makes up for that though.

I just have to re-plan everything now.”

“Yeah, he meant the old job. He said he was coming to this trip and then a week later.... He's saying that it'll be hard to go on a trip just a few months after starting a new job.”

“That's what I thought. Glad things are going well.”

“I woke up to a beautiful morning, blue skies and in the 70's. I had convinced my friend Ashley aka Ashdog (for Ewker) to join me for the day. We packed up and headed down to Alabama. It was a nice day for driving - not too many cars on the road and the further south we drove, the prettier the trees got. We finally reached the trailhead about an hour and 1/2 later. The parking lot was full of cars.

The trail immediately started to descend, so we could see nice views across the plateau. The trees were amazing. There were a couple of water crossings - I'm assuming they would be very difficult to cross in the spring. Layla had a good time swimming upstream, but she didnt get very far because the rapids were pretty swift. We passed quite a few backpackers, mostly young boyscouts. Once we were down in the gorge, we came upon a campsite with plenty of grassy spaces for tents. Right next to the campsite, however, there was a creepy old cemetery, blocked off by barbed wire. I'm sure some good ghost stories have been told around the fire there!

The trail started to become very muddy and slippery once it ran along the stream. I fell a couple of times, and you could see parts of the trail that other hikers had totally slipped off of. We followed the trail another mile or so into the "Walls." The views were breathtaking. Canyon walls surrounded us on both sides and the trees were at their peak. A couple of small waterfalls flowed into some nice swimming holes, so Layla decided to take another swim. Ashdog and I decided to climb up a part of the walls and came upon some cool caves and deep pools of water in the rock. At the "end" of our supposed trail, I found a cave that went deep down in the rock with a beautiful pool of water. We climbed down, wishing it were summer and could take a dip. Great spot for skinny dipping :) Poor Layla just whined and whined because it was pretty steep and she could not come down to where we were.

We stopped and had lunch by one of the waterfalls and I played frisbee with Layla. She swam and swam until finally she was pooped and laid down on a rock.

We started our hike back, and passed a few tired souls wanting to know how much further. The ascent up the plateau was long, but not too steep, so we made it up quite fast. Layla decided that she would roll in horse shiat so we spent the rest of the hike trying to avoid her brushing up against us. Good times.

It was a beautiful day, and besides the crowd of people that were there, a cool hike. I would like to explore the area more and have heard there are miles of trails back there that would be good for backpacking. I wish I could join yall in December, but I've got a bachelorette party to go to. Hmmm. Bachelorette party or backpacking.....? Tough choice.
last edited: 10/25/04 12:29:51 PM”

“Hey embear...thanks for the report!”

“Thanks for the report. I'm jealous of the trip.”

“I shoulda gone on this trip instead of going fishing. Looks like y'all had fun!”

“Thank you for posting the TR!
I can't wait to get there.”