Toting on the Pinhoti

I met Bradley Jones and Ben Deason at the Pine Glen Campground early on Saturday morning to begin a two day backpack of Section 10 of the Pinhoti trail. This section begins at the campground and travels northeasterly to Burns Trail head near Pinky Burns' cabin. The total distance is approximately 16.5 miles and is considered moderately difficult.

Curbie had not been out lately so she was ready to go and have a good time. The weather was cool and a little overcast when we began. Once we found the trailhead we were off to see the wizard.

The first day we hiked around 10 miles and camped on a creek in Chipmunk Canyon. Along the way we went through some hardwood bottoms, along Lake Sweetwater and Coleman Lake, some pine ridges and then into the canyon. What we did not realize at the time was Saturday was opening day of deer season. We realized that when we walked under a tree stand with a deer hunter sitting in it. I wore a yellow hiking shirt but we did not have hunter orange on which we should have. I will try not to make that mistake again.

We ran into a very large Boy Scout troop camped at Lake Sweetwater. They were just getting things ready to backpack in the same area that we were going so we moved on out to get ahead of them. We spent some time exploring Shoal Creek Primitive Church and went past the Laurel Shelter.

The camping spot in Chipmunk Canyon was very nice with a great running stream next to the spot. Filtering water was very easy and Curbie could have all she wanted. I slept under the stars in my hammock that evening. The only wildlife that I heard was a pack of coyotes racing through the woods but I did not spot them. The moon was so bright that it was casting shadows on the trees up the hill from my hammock.

The next morning was a 6 mile hike to the end of the trail. It was a very interesting hike from a topography standpoint. We started in the bottom of the canyon and then gained a lot of elevation as we came out of the canyon. There were several blowdowns along the trail that I had a little trouble with. I find myself forgetting I have trekking poles and they get stuck in the limbs.

When we got to Choccollocco Lake we took a nice long break on a pine ridge overlooking the lake. This was a very pretty place and the ground was covered with pine needles making for a nice resting area. The Boy Scouts caught up to us at this point allowing Curbie to have some fun with the kids.

As I got started back on the trail I heard loud wing beats and looked up in time to see a turkey flying into the woods above my head. What a pretty sight.

The Pinhoti Trail is a true gem for the state of Alabama. It travels from Sylacauga to the Piedmont area and then continues into Georgia. The Georgia section connects to the Benton/McCaye trail which then connects to the AT at Springer Mountain. I am going to continue working on the different sections of the Pinhoti until I complete the trail.

It was a nice weekend and a good warmup for the main prize-Big Bend National Park.