Alabama Pinhoti Trail hike & journal [Archive]

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MOWGLI

01-01-2005, 23:19

I just completed a 109 mile hike of the Alabama Pinhoti Trail on December 30. The hike was done in two 4-day segments, with 3 days off for Christmas. WB's very own Youngblood joined me on the hike - he has hiked the trail 3 times now.

Here is a link to my journal which contains 52 photos of this awesome trail.

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=85768

I hope y'all enjoy it. I highly recommend this trail to any and all backpackers!!! Check it out!

There are a number of links in the journal. All of them will open in a new browser window, so you'll need to turn off your pop-up blocker (if you have one) in order to view the links.

Enjoy!

Jeffrey Hunter aka Little Bear

grrickar

01-01-2005, 23:40

jeepcj258

01-01-2005, 23:53

Very interested in hiking this myself, you said two 4 day sections??? I would like to know abou the resuply as well.

How many hours a day and MPH average for you ????????

Thanks
God Bless
Seth

hungryhowie

01-01-2005, 23:55

He little Bear!

You should have called me. I would have loved to hike the Pinhoti again. Of course, I had to work full time during Christmas, but maybe I could have joined you on a day hike...

Grrickar,

I've thruhiked the Pinhoti (well, all except the last 20 or so miles due to injury) in one stretch and you can do it easily in a week's time. If you need to resupply, there are several towns really close to the trail like Heflin or Piedmont that are an easy walk, both with post offices. Hitching's not all that great in that area because locals really aren't used to the concept of hikers. I had to hitch out several years ago and it required a couple of hours to get a ride into town.

One nice thing about the Pinhoti, however, is the solitude. The last time I did it, there were several days in a row that I never saw another human...nice.

-howie

grrickar

01-02-2005, 00:02

Thanks Howie. I think the spring would be a good time to hike it. Today sort of reminded me of spring. I'm TDY in DC and it was 65 degrees here today. Go figure!

hungryhowie

01-02-2005, 00:08

Oh, a recommendation for future Pinhoti hikers: I strongly recommend a side trail that will make you miss a few miles of the actual pinhoti trail, but will provide far better scenery. At Adams Gap in the southern part of Talladega NF, take the Skyway Loop trail toward Lake Chinnabee. You'll cross several streams and wander through pleasant forest on this trail. Right before you reach Lake Chinnabee, turn right (east) onto the Chinnabee Silent Trail and follow it past turnipseed camp to the Pinhoti trail up on the ridge. On this trail, you'll pass devil's den, a spectacular series of seven cascades, and home of some really good swimmin. Here are some photographs from the devils den area:

http://www.newsushi.net/images/devilsden2352_RT8c.jpg

http://www.newsushi.net/images/devilsden342_RT8c.jpg

http://www.newsushi.net/images/devilsden802_RT8a.jpg

I love that area.

-howie

Tim Rich

01-02-2005, 00:51

Excellent journal!

I love the Pinhoti and the Chinnabee Silent Trail. I take my boys over there, the last time was the day after Thanksgiving for an overnight on the Pinhoti. The Chinnabee is a great side trail. Last year we stayed at the shelter on the knoll just after you cross the creek at the head of the first falls. That shelter used to be on the Pinhoti but was relocated from the Cheaha Wilderness area. I've hiked a good bit of the Pinhoti and helped put in the some trail on the northern portion of the Alabama section (north of Heflin) some years ago with the ATA.

The area is heavily hunted during deer season. There is no hunting allowed in Cheaha State Park and in the Cheaha Wilderness area of the NF, but that's just a small portion of the trail, and I wouldn't presume that the wilderness boundaries are free of hunting.

The watershed lakes in and around the Talladega National Forest are really neat. They're a series of large earthen dams that are designed to retain eroding soil for about 100 years. Many of them are over 50 acres in size (not big for you folks up in Maine, I know, but it's a good size for down here), and several are on private property just outside the NF boundaries. I recently looked at 20 acres for sale on one of these lakes.

The temps are crazy down here. It was about 68 today, with forecasts of 70 to 72 over the next four days with no more than 20% chance of rain.

Take Care,

Tim

MOWGLI

01-02-2005, 01:03

Very interested in hiking this myself, you said two 4 day sections??? I would like to know abou the resuply as well.

How many hours a day and MPH average for you ????????

Thanks
God Bless
Seth

Well, a couple of things. The trail isn't exactly flat, but compared to the AT it is relatively flat. We averaged 2 MPH through the whole trip without really pushing.

Resupply? Well, you could resupply at Cheaha State Park 27 miles from the southern terminus. Beyond that, I would refer you to Solo's guide which is accessible from my journal - on the Horn Mountain Hiking Club page. Since we went home after 54 miles, resupply wasn't an issue.

Good luck!

MOWGLI

01-02-2005, 01:05

jeepcj258

01-02-2005, 01:59

Any body interested in hiking any or all of this over MLK weekend. I have Friday through Monday and could probably take Thursday off if there were willing bodies interested in hiking it??

Email me: [email protected]

God Bless
Seth

Youngblood

01-02-2005, 11:13

Awesome. I live in North Alabama and I have planned to hike this for some time myself. Has Youngblood 'thru hiked' the Pinhoti? The reason I ask is because it looks like it will take about 9-10 days, and I wondered how he resupplied. How were the views? I'm thinking this might be a good hike to get in shape this spring.

My thru-hikes have not required resupplies on the trail, I've always had shuttles along the way. However, Solo's guide list all the close by possibilities. The 108 miles between Porter's Gap (AL77) and Highpoint (US278) is what I have hiked. US78 goes right through the middle of it at the 54 mile point and it is about 3+ miles to convience stores, fast food and a grocery in Heflin, AL and that is where I would probably look to resupply on the trail... you might even cache your food there ahead of time. I've hiked it in winter and spring with an occasional dayhike in the summer. I think in summer you will get some serious brushed over trail, briars, bugs, heat, limited views and some great swimming. The trail has a lot of diversity ranging from rocks and cliffs in the south with some spectacular views to three watersheds with earthen dams in the north that are very special and scenic. In between you have typical southern Appalachian hiking with a springling of steep sidehill traverses among canyons and gorges... you have to be careful on these because the trail is slowing eroding and the footpath sometimes gets distressingly narrow and downsloped in places.

Youngblood

Uncle Wayne

01-03-2005, 06:52

Congrats to you both Youngblood and Little Bear. My wife and I have hiked about half the trail and want to do a thru hike when she can get off work 9 or 10 days. I have to agree it is a good trail and while we've never had the solitude Hungryhowie found on the trail, it is far less crowded than the AT. The side trip Hungryhowie recommended is definitely worth doing.
BTW, nice photos Hungryhowie.

MOWGLI

02-22-2005, 09:59

I did the final 10 miles of the Alabama Pinhoti this past weekend. That involved and in & out to the AL/GA state line. You can see another 5-6 photos and two new journal entries at the following link;

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=88510

On another note, construction of a new 18-mile segment of the Alabama Pinhoti from Porter's Gap south is currently underway. For more info about that effort, and to help volunteer, please visit the following link;

http://www.hmtc.org/home.html

MisterSweetie

02-22-2005, 13:01

Those are awesome pictures! Are they yours, and if so, do you have a larger version? I need a new background on my home computer...
Thanks!

http://www.newsushi.net/images/devilsden2352_RT8c.jpg

http://www.newsushi.net/images/devilsden342_RT8c.jpg

http://www.newsushi.net/images/devilsden802_RT8a.jpg
-howie