Sipsey - Turkey Foot Falls - TR

“My daughter Emma has been camping, but never backpacking. We took our first father daughter trip this past weekend. I'd been meaning to explore the Turkey Foot area of Sipsey for years and finally got my chance.

We left home around noon and got to the trailhead around 2:30. We geared up and then hit the woods. After about 10 minutes of hiking we came to a small falls in the main stream bed. It looked to be a good stopping place to get water and take our first break. I slid on my butt down to the water. Emma really enjoyed seeing daddy fall. There is a nice Indian millstone at this same stopping point. I explained to Emma that this is where little Indian girls would grind corn or acorns the make bread. A bit further up the trail is an old Ford that flew off the bluff line. For the entire length of this trip you can hear cars because you are so close to the road. Another quarter mile and we came to a small falls that we were able to get behind. Emma didn't like that a bit. We finally got to the first big falls and decided to make camp here.

Emma was adamant that she wanted to swim. We didn't bring a suit so she got to go skinny dipping for the first time. After about 10 minutes I couldn't feel my feet and made her get out. We had a nice fire, hot dogs and gorditas. Gorditas are teddy grahams, mini marshmallows, and chocolate wrapped up in a tortilla. The small pieces melt pretty good and the tortilla keeps it from being a mess.

We hit the sack around dark at 8. It got down into the 40's which is pretty cold for this area at this time of year. Sat morning I was supposed to cook pancakes. I'd left my stove fuel at home on accident so we got up early to see the 2nd falls and then headed out. At the 2nd falls Emma found a snail that she made friends with and wanted to take home. We hiked out and hit McDonald's for pancakes. It's a short 1 hour drive to the town where my folks and in-law live where we spent the rest of Mother's Day weekend.

Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/550396895ixRODA”

“Great pics dh...lot more water than the last time I was there.”

“Yep, all that rain last week got it going.”

“Super!
Glad y'all had a good trip!
I bet Emma was so proud to go backpacking with daddy.”

“great report...man, this is the second trip w/ kids report in one day...you guys are really makeing the next 5 weeks really hard on me”

“She was proud. She was funny all weekend telling everyone how she went skinny dipping.

She also had a time with the snails. We found one in camp but it was in the shell. I fell like a live one was in there because of it's weight. She wouldn't leave it alone long enough to make it come out. I put the snail on my groundsheet before we went to bed. The next morning there was a big pile of snail poop in it's place. She loved telling everyone about the snail poop.”

“how'd she do at night?...was she cold/scared?”

“great pics and report”

“She did fine at night. I had her on a thermarest in fleece pajamas and a typical kids sleeping bag. She sleeps hot though. It wound up being colder than the forecast but she was fine. She's probably camped a dozen nights out before, just never backpacking. I started both of them out early camping. I was a little worried she'd have an issue with using the potty in a hole but that was no biggie either.”

“Dayhiker.....thanks for sharing the trip report and pics....your kids are sooo blessed!!!!!...and by the way...is Emma's favorite color still purple?????........”

“div - it's pink and purple (said while moving hips to side and cocking head to opposite side)”

“Totally cool!!!!

I have a feeling my daughter is going to enjoy climbing. She scales everything at home. I know most kids do this as well, however everyone that has kids that we know has said that Gracie is much more brave and skilled at climbing then their kids are or were.

I am working on a few CD's for you and should have something to mail out towards the end of the week.”

“I tried to get her to climb some but she wouldn't do it.

Thanks for the CD's”

“oh and that's SMOREDITA”

“div - it's pink and purple (said while moving hips to side and cocking head to opposite side)”
dayhiker
4:37:53 PM
5/15/06

...my fav color used to be green....BUT as I am getting older..I love purple and pink more and more...lol...( moving back into childhood???)

....seriously....you are such an awesome dad...a rare thing now a days....your kids are blessed..........”

“thanks for the kind words.

OPIE - you're correct, how did I type gordita when I was thinking smordita (patent pending)”

“Glad to see Ya'll having a good time. That is one of my favorite places for kids. Be forewarned It seems like only yesterday since Ala and I were there with him about the same age as Emma. They grow up so fast. We spent the weekend canoeing down Sipsey. I didn't see your truck at the parking lot we couldn't have missed each other by much. BTW one of the crews that was with us dumped twice. They spent the night in simi wet sleeping bags and tent. I had a rare chance off work and took to the sipsey.”

“Which section did you canoe and over what period of time...2 nights? Thinking about doing something similar this weekend...”

“We put in at Sipsey park. Water level was at 2 1/2 feet. )on the concrete bridge pier next to the metal pipe). We floated down to about Hurricane creek just after the rapids. If you do this check out the waterfalls I gave you cord. to. We camped here for the night before going on to the take out just past the bridge on 33. Total float time for us was 4 hours, but the water was flowing pretty good. From that take out to Smith lake is a lot of paddleing but can be done in about 10 hours.”

“Oh those waterfalls are definitely on the list :)

Have you personally done the section from 33 to Smith? Are there many campsites on that stretch?

Thanks for the info...”

“BAMA - I was hoping to run into you. There was a single truck parked on the far side of the wooden bridge at the end of that lower parking lot. It didn't look like the truck I remember you driving though. I figured that was your group. When I got there though a group of Boy Scouts showed up. I asked one of the adults if (your real name) was in the group and he said no, but he knew (your real name) and that "you" worked at McWane Center. When I said no, must be a different guy he looked real suprised. How funny to each know someone by that name and it be different folks. The one he knew used to work full time with the scouts in B'ham.”

“That other guy is a scout leader in b'ham. I'm always getting his mail and I expect he gets scout stuff I'm supposed to get. The names are exactly the same. It drives the scout shops nuts trying to keep us apart. Glad Ya'll had a great time.”

“Sorry troph I didn't answer your question. No, I havn't done the section to Smith lake. I'm going on what other folks are telling me. I have walked it. Trust me it would be much better in a canoe. The way I understand it is the water is much calmer and a lot of paddling involved.”