"Sipsey di do dah"

Curbie the wonder dog and I got up early Saturday morning and drove up to the Sipsey Wilderness which is north of Double Springs. We took 195North out of Double Springs until we hit County Road 23 at around mile marker 23. We turned left and went down a couple of gravel Forest Service roads until it deadended at the Thompson Trail Head.

It was very humid and damp on the trail in that it rained the night before. It was not long until I was soaking wet. The trail was beautiful with some great Hemlock trees and moss covered rocks. The trail eventually came to to the Sipsey River and all its cascades and huge rocks in and around the river. Curbie had a lot of fun smimming in the river and then rolling in the sand bars by the shore.

We continued on till we met the Sipsey River Trail as it came across the river. We hike for another 2 miles to a huge campsite on the Sipsey River. Just up from that campsite was the trail head for the Bee Branch Trail.

We began to head back to the truck at this point. We had already hiked about 6 miles and needed to get back before the bad weather started. As we were coming back it began to thunder which makes Curbie crazy. She went from running and sniffing everything on the trail to almost getting between my legs. She was glad to see the truck to seek safe haven from the thunder.

We had a good time, saw some interesting topography and certainly burned a lot of calories. I look forward to going back again but I will wait until it gets a little cooler.