Best Pinhoti Section

[Yellowhammer]

Hey All,

So my hiking partner backed out on me for this extended weekend's hike.

What is the best ~30 mile section of the Pinhoti where I can park at the end and bike back the start? I think I would rather do more hiking uphill than biking uphill. Right now I am thinking about biking from adams gap to 431 and then hiking back to Adams Gap, but I am looking for other suggestions.

Does anyone know of someone running a shuttle in the area? This would be much easier, but I was under the impression that there wasn't really anyone in the area shuttling.

Thanks!

[Mountain Dog]

If you insist on biking, a good trip would be to park on the north side of Horn and bike to the south side of Rebecca. It would not give you a full 30 miles but you can do the biking without being required to ride the rough roads. Here is another thought that does not require biking. Park at the Cheaha store, go south on the Pinhoti to the Chinnabee/Odum crossing, go west on the Chinnabee to Skyway, take the Skyway to Adams Gap, Take the Pinhoti north to the Chinnabee/Odum crossing, go East on the Odum to Cave Creek, and the Cave North to hwy 281 which is just south of the Cheaha lodge/store. I can't remember the mileage but it'll be close to 30 miles. You'll have a little of all types of terraine.

[Drybones]

It's 27 trail miles from the ranger station on hwy 78 (and at the end of 281) to Cheaha Park. The bike ride back would be 20 miles on 281. I did this hike in the winter assuming I could catch a ride back, didn't, had to hike the 20 miles back on the last day. If you're a regular biker you may like the ride on 281, a lot of ups and downs.

[trw0007]

I recently did a ~28 mile loop starting from the Cheaha trail head (I think that was the name of it), taking Cave Creek -> Pinhoti -> Skyway -> Chinnabee -> Pinhoti and back up to the trail head. Only a small portion of the Pinhoti is hiked twice. There are very few spots to camp on Cave Creek, and I don't think any with water. We ended up on a bluff about 4 miles in (late start and limited daylight). There was another, similar, although larger spot a mile or two down the trail, and IIRC a wide open area at the intersection of Cave Creek and Pinhoti. We spent the second night downhill of the Cheaha falls shelter.

http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/loopscw.html has a good description of most of the loop.

[BuddyL]

When are you planning to hit the trail? I might could help you get staged to prevent the backtrack.

[Yellowhammer]

Buddy,

Just saw this. I send you a message.

[BuddyL]

Message replied and shuttle has been arranged. See you tomorrow!