The Skyway Loop Trail on the Pinhoti Trail

Mark Dutton, a new friend from Jasper, and I left Friday afternoon for a three day backpack trip off the Pinhoti Trail to an area known as the Skyway Loop.  The loop starts for us at the Turnipseed Camp parking lot on Highway 281 just below the Cheaha State Park.  From there it is a 4 mile hike to Lake Chinnabee joining the Skyway Trail for another 6 miles.  This trail then intersects with the Pinhoti Trail at Adams Gap.  The toughest section of the trail is the 5 miles up the Pinhoti Trail utilizing the Stairway to Heaven and joining the Chinnabee Silent Trail back down to the parking lot.  The total distance hiked for me wound up being about 19 miles but Mark took about a 3.5 mile side hike to make his distance about 22.5 miles.

We met Dick Echols in Leeds who wanted to join us for the first night camp.   Dick would be joining the Sierra Club hike from the Cheaha Shelter on the Chinnabee Silent Trail to Adams Gap.  Mark and I would hike with the group until we found a good place to spend the second night out.

After a great lunch in Oxford at Billys Bar-B-Que the three of us made our way to the trail head to begin our trip.  The first day was really just a short jaunt to the Cheaha Shelter to spend the night.  There were no cars in the parking lot so I felt we would have the shelter to ourselves.  Not long into the hike we hit Cheaha Falls a wonderful area below the Cheaha Shelter.   A short walk up the hill would bring us to the shelter but I was wrong about being there by ourselves.  There were approximately 20 college students and 2 teachers at the shelter.  The students were from Faulkner College in Montgomery and were finishing up on the backpacking class.  They were very pleasant and seemed to enjoy the company of Curbie the Wonderdog.

I am posting a picture below taken by Mark Dutton of Dick Echols, Curbie and myself at the Cheaha Shelter.  Mark is a wonderful photographer and was using a Canon G-12 digital camera which I am in love with.  I am sure Mark does not mind me posting this image as I am giving him proper credit.

After a restless night sleeping in the shelter with the students talking around the campfire we were joined by the Sierra Club hiking group to continue our trip.  Jay Hudson, the very capable leader of the group, was not feeling well and would not get better during the day.  We hiked over to Lake Chinnabee through Devils Den Falls, a popular local attraction and swimming hole.  Some kayakers were taking advantage of the high water to run down the creek.

After lunch at the Lake Chinnabee campgrounds we headed up the Skyway Trail to Adams Gap.  The weather was great with blue skies and a little breeze.  The trail was mostly uphill and through some rolling hills. We met a couple of hikers and their Brittany Spaniel who did not want to play with Curbie.  Late in the afternoon we arrived at a beautiful campsite on Hubbard Creek about 2 miles from Adams Gap.  Mark and I made camp by the creek while the group headed on to Adams Gap and a finish of the day hike.

This spot wound up being a great place to spend the night.  The creek ran over some shoals near the site and gurgled all night.  I set up my hammock and slept very well until about 4:30 when Curbie growled at some sort of creature lurking by our campsite.  After a breakfast of Pop-Tart we were off and hiking down the trail.

Soon we were at the Adams Gap junction with the Pinhoti Trail.  The weather was beginning to warm up but there was a nice breeze.  Up the Pinhoti we went.  This section of the trail is best known for an area known as the Stairway to Heaven.  This takes you up to a wonderful overlook of the valley below but is one rocky and difficult portion.  I am not where I need to be fitness wise and it took a toll on me.  I was too tired to take a decent picture from up top so I am going to use the one that Mark took.

From there we headed over to the junction of the Chinnabee Silent Trail, the Odum Scout Trail and the Pinhoti Trail.  The trail down to the car on the Chinnabee Silent Trail is one rocky road.  It was really hard on the feet and knees and I was already pretty spent.  After somewhat of a struggle we reached the car and it was a welcome sight.  The only bad part of the hike is that it was on Sunday and a  beer could not be bought.  So after a stop at the Park Headquarters and a Diet Coke we headed to Wendys in Oxford for a great chicken sandwich.