Sipsey 06 - Parker Canyon

“Where are you taking Dad for overnight?”

“Where are you taking Dad for overnight?”

“Haven't settled on a specific camp yet but I plan to take him on the White Oak route to the Big Tree and out either the same way or back around to 209/206 on Saturday. Hopefully after the rain yesterday, the waterfalls will be flowing better.


How long did it take you to get into the Caney campsite from the north side?”

“Seems like it was a couple of hours. There's no trail at all, and the laurel is thick. A friend of mine walked in and out on the next creek east and said it was a breeze.”

“I still need to get that book. I bought it as a gift for someone, but haven't gotten one for myself yet.”

“A friend of mine walked in and out on the next creek east and said it was a breeze.

Looking at your map linked above, do you mean the next creek south from where you went into the canyon?”

“If you look at the map detail, there's a dotted line running from the parking area. It's a logging road. If you walk in a little way and drop off to the right, that's the way I went in. If you drop off to the left, that's the way my friend went in and out.

BTW, if you drop off to the right, the way down around the waterfall is off to your left. Not easy, but doable. Beautiful waterfall when it's running.

Does this make sense?”

“Yup, thanks for the clarification. Judging by the map, it looks like it would be tougher and definitely longer to the falls going to the left...”

“I'm in for march. Had a great time last year and look forward to seeing more of the Sipsey and seeing everyone again.”

“FWIW: I just uploaded a few of my Sipsey photos to an album.”

“Good pics Sipsee...where is Capsey Creek?”

“East side of the forest. It's not in the wilderness. But a very pretty place, with a great campground within 100 yards of the car, and a nice walk upstream.

Take Co. Rd. 41 north out of Addison about 5 miles. Look for the historic marker for Looney's Tavern. Turn west into the forest, follow the road about 2 miles to the bridge over Capsey. Park on the near side, hike upstream.”

“Very nice pics.”

“Is that the shortcut road from 78 to 33 that lets you avoid Double Springs?”

“Welcome aboard IJ. We'll have better scenery this time.”

“FYI: DH,the short cut from 278 to 33 is county road 63 out of Houston.County road 41 is out of "down town" Addison.”

“County road 41 is out of "down town" Addison.

Watch out for rush hour 8-)”

“Hey Indiana John,

What part of Indiana? Inquiring Hoosiers want to know (I'm from Franklin, IN).”

“Sipsee I think the falls your talking about are called School House falls.


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/northernbama/detail?.dir=4af5&.dnm=8558.jpg&.src=ph”

“Hmmm.... I dunno Bama. On this map, I thought King Cove was that one right next to the "W" in "William". I could be wrong.”

“BAMA - anything around School House Falls I'd be interested in?”

“Sipsee, i'm in southern Indiana (Tell City) right between Evansville, IN and Louisville, KY on I-64. but i grew up around Bloomington. I was just in Franklin the other day for a conference. Nice campus there!”

“DH, the short answer is yes. But be forewarned it is thick and nasty south west of there. There are some nice rock formations smaller falls and other things of interest. But you have to spend a lot of cross country in some really rough stuff”

“I'm not going alone. I remembered the school ref and thought I'd throw a bait type question out there and see what I catch. I'm not going there without you.”

“Your fishing on the wrong side of the lake.”

“LOL”

“Hey folks, see you again in March!

My pal Bubba and I went to Parker Falls in April of this year. I put a few pictures up here. Looking forward to the trip!”

“Great pics...March needs to hurry up :)”

“Nice pics, Stack. What route did you take to Parker?

We had a trip planned this weekend. We were going to go down Riddle Creek, then up Parker. However, it's Sat. morning, it's 40 degrees and raining, and we cancelled. I'm nice and warm here at the house, and glad I'm not huddled in a tent out in the woods 8-)”

“I am planning a trip out to Cullman but I am scared I will not be able to find the trailheads there.”

“Open all year, 'eh? Nice spear point.

Where is that campsite. It doesn't look big enough for this group, but it looks ideal for 4-6 folks.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Also, where was the forest road sign pic taken? On the way to Thomson TH?

Did you go in like we're going on this trip or from the 201/202 TH?

I guess I'm finished with 20 questions.”

“So, I bailed out of a Quillen trip this weekend. So did another guy. JG, our most hardcore member said "I might go anyway."

Here in Huntsville, it's been a wet, cold, nasty weekend. I called JG this afternoon, assuming he's bailed. He said "I just got home; it was beautiful!" It rained a little, but most of the rain missed him, so he spent the weekend in the mist in upper Quillen.

There's a lesson here somewhere.
last edited: 12/04/05 3:33:19 PM”

“As usual, I regret calling off a trip due to a less than accurate weather forecast :(”

“we'd like to go..but we have a wedding that weekend”

“Hey opie, I know you had so much fun on your honeymoon that your wanting her to marry you again. It don't work that way. Ya'll are already married, honeymoons over. Now I guess your gonna try and recover an say you wasn't talking about Ya'lls wedding.”

“no it's one of my best bud's weddings down in jacksonville.”

“Sure it is. Wink, wink.”

“couldn't talk him out of it huh?”

“yea she was the first one that didn't laugh when she saw him nakid...so i guess that's pretty close to love”

“I wish this trip was another weekend :( I really wanted to go to it!”

“Just came back from a day hike down Riddle Creek to Quillen Creek. Riddle is where ya'll park for your March trip, yes?

The additional blow-down from Katrina is significant. It's now very tough to get down Riddle Creek. The ridgetops are basically impassible, and the creek bed is tough going.

A couple of weeks ago, another member of our group hiked down the Arnold Motorway and said that it was bad over there as well.

Plan on extra time and energy to move around over there.”

“I can echo sipsee's experience...took the same route back in November and yes, it is quite a mess. Very tough traveling with a full pack.

dayhiker - on this past weekend's trip, walkabout1 suggested dropping into Parker off of 201. Have you considered that as a more direct route in?”

“After our day hike to Quillen, we had some daylight left. We drove out FS 208, then south on the Kinlock Road down to Cranal Road. Our unscientific opinion was that the blowdown didn't look so bad along the west side.

I've also noticed, on my new Carto-Craft map, that there's a County Road 3441 off of Kinlock Road that dead ends at a tributary of Parker. Never been down it, but looks like a possibility.”

“toph - I've thought about it. BAMA says that's the best route anyway. I have 2 concerns about it. The first is that I don't know where to camp over there in a scenic area. The 2nd is that I don't personally know where to leave the trail or where to drop down into the canyon. That doesn't mean we can't do any of that but that I just don't have that experience. Any thoughts?”

“PS. I'm considering showing up a day early and exploring the Little Ugly/Eagle Ck area. Entering on the Cranal side would make this tie in easier. At this point the extra day is more of a "what-if."”

“Now that this trip is getting a bit closer I'll start to spend some time getting into the details of the trip. So far it's just been, "I'm going to Sipsey, yall come along."”

“Will it be the weekend it's listed on the TRIPS page?”

“Yep.”

“"I'm going to Sipsey, yall come along."- dayhiker

Were we not just having this same exact conversation this weekend? LOL”

“That's what prompted the post. I stole your quote.”