Travels with Charlie (Curbie)

If you grew up in the 50's and 60's you know that Captain Kangaroo had a cartoon on in the mornings called "Tom Terrific and Manfred the Wonder Dog". John Steinbeck wrote a novel that I loved called "Travels with Charlie" about his trek across the country in a truck camper with his mutt dog Charlie in the 60's. Curbie has turned into my Charlie and Manfred the Wonder Dog both.

Curbie is a lab mix that Karen picked up as a stray dog in Tarrant. She was one flea bitten mess but she had the sweetest personality. All she ever really wants to do is play unless it thunders. Then all she wants to do is get under the stairs and not come out for a day. When I got back to hiking I knew that I was going to want some company and the beagles cannot go to the woods without a leash. The thought of walking mountain ridge lines holding a leash and wearing a pack did not interest me. So Curbie was my only option. No, Karen was not an option. She is always welcome to come but she does not do hiking.

Curbie and I have done very well hiking together. She stays in front of me for the most part unless she gets real tired then she follows close behind me. I have been able to get her to drink at just about every creek whether she needs to or not. Just in case I bring a plastic bowl and an extra liter of water for her. She will drink out of the bowl but she prefers wading in the creek to cool off and hydrate.

Today Curbie and I hiked the Chinnabee Silent Trail outside of Cheaha State Park. The trailhead was at Turnipseed Parking Area just above Turnipseed Hunting Campground. The trail goes along some nice pine ridge lines, across a waterfall, past a shelter with a great overlook, past Cheaha Falls and into the Chinnabee Recreation Campground. The total distance is about 4 miles one way. This will be a great hike during the fall after the leaves are off the trees. There are a couple of vistas that will be very nice without the leaves. Cheaha Creek runs next to the trail the last third of the trail and the waterfalls while not large are very picturesque.

Curbie and I had brunch at the campground on a picnic table overlooking Lake Chinnabee, a very pretty small lake at the terminus. We brewed some tea, ate some fig newtons and Curbie had a small can of dog food. It does not get any better than that.

After we had our brunch and hydrated we headed back to the Turnipseed Parking Lot the same way we came. The only problem was that it was considerably hotter on the way back. I had to make sure that Curbie drank more than usual as we went over and past the creek. We were both very happy to see the truck.

I went to the Park store and purchased two nice maps of the area. I am interested in doing an overnight trip on the Pinolti Loop Trail. Which is the Chinnabee Silent Trail, Skyway Trail and a section of the Pinholt Trail. The total length of the hike will be 17 miles which is easily done in two days. I want to wait until the fall to do this because I do not like to sleep with the mosquitoes.

I will be posting some pictures of my trip after this post.