4/1/01 –
Newsletter deadline
4/7/01 – Sipsey
work trip
4/8/01 – Board
meeting
4/21/01 –
Pinhoti work trip
5/5/01 – Sipsey
work trip
5/19/01 –
Pinhoti work trip
6/2/01 –
National Trails Day hike
6/16/01 –
Pinhoti work trip
7/1/01 –
Newsletter deadline
7/15/01 – Board
meeting
July &
August – depends on the weather
9/1/01 – Sipsey
work trip
9/15/01 – Pinhoti
work trip
9/29/02 – Annual
membership meeting / picnic
10/1/01 –
Newsletter deadline
10/6/01 – Sipsey
work trip
10/20/01 –
Pinhoti work trip
11/03/01 –
Sipsey work trip
11/17/01 –
Pinhoti work trip
12/1/01 – Sipsey
work trip
12/15/01 – Pinhoti
work trip
The ATA has a
new address. Please change your bookmarks to reflect it.
Tell everyone
you know and go there often.
By Robby Bendall
I first met
Pinky Burns on March 20, 1997. I had been walking here in my neighborhood in
Mobile for about six months and had worked up to six miles a day when I decided
to start backpacking some. If I was gonna walk, I might as well see something
new. Brenda and I started reading and gathering up my new gear…lots and lots of
gear. My new pack grew nearly every day until it weighed in at 68 pounds. I
talked to the Forest Service in Heflin and they told me about the Pinhoti and
sent me maps and information. They also advised me to stay away from the
section of trail north of Rabbittown Road and for now, just hike the southern
sections due to blowdowns from a recent tornado.
So one cold
rainy March morning a friend and I found ourselves looking up and down
Rabbittown Road in search of the Pinhoti Trail. All we could find was an
unmarked blue-blazed sidetrail. We saw a light on in this log cabin just up the
road and since desperation was setting in I decided to stop and ask.
When I knocked
on the door I thought that it was some king of Alabama Elf that answered the
door. He was old and short and had overalls on with only one gallus hooked and
a red baseball hat that obviously hadn’t left his head in a while. As soon as
he opened his mouth though I knew that I liked this man.
“Would you
happen to know where the Pinhoti Trail has gone?” I asked.
“Still down the
road ‘bout a quarter mile, or least it was yesterday,” he said. “Down at that
blue blaze on the tree just across the ditch.”
“What did you
say your name was?” I asked. Pinky Burns was the reply. So off I went to start
my adventure. I hiked 32 miles on that trip before a tooth drove me off the
trail.
On my next trip,
I stopped and sat on Pinky’s porch with him for a while and heard all kinds of
stories about the Pinhoti and that part of Alabama. He told me not to hike the
northern sections without a big gun. Afraid the wild hogs would get me. He
surely did remind me of my own Grandfather over in Franklin County. On my next
trip his red jeep was there but he wasn’t home. He had truly moved on and up.
We now have
something to remind us of him. His land belongs to the Forest Service and that
porch where countless hikers probably asked the same question may be part of the
Pinky Burns Pinhoti Trailhead. A true reward for an unselfish man.
With the rising
cost of postage and the loss of trees, the ATA would like to begin sending out
its newsletter by email. If you have an email address and would be willing (or
prefer) to received your quarterly newsletter electronically, please send you
email address to wild-flower@mindspring.com.
The trees and the ATA budget will thank you.
January 6, 2001
– Sipsey Wilderness
CREW: Carroll
Wilson (Jasper), Susan Hammack (Birmingham), Dave Nicol, Brian Taylor
(Priceville)
We enjoyed one of the best days of
weather in recent weeks as we cleared small size windfall and did some
re-flagging at junctures along FS 210. This is a trail that kind of grows on
you. The small hollows and springs are especially picturesque in winter.
Work time – 18
hours
Travel time – 10
hours
January 20, 2001
– Pinhoti extension – Flagpole Mountain
CREW: Carroll
Wilson (Jasper), Joe Copeland (Cullman), Marty Dominy (Toomsboro, GA), Philip
Alexander, Hank McCann, Mary Noble Hollingsworth (Birmingham)
Winter beauty is not an oxymoron. We
were peppered with snow and/or sleet much of the day but this precipitation
made the valley views more lovely and ethereal. We constructed a new section of
trail on Flagpole Mountain in a very rocky area. We are nearing a point where
we will connect the separate sections of trail on Flagpole Mountain, leaving
the terminus a half-mile or less from the Georgia line.
Work time – 24
hours
Travel time – 30
hours
February 3, 2001
– Sipsey Wilderness
CREW: Carroll
Wilson (Jasper), Ron Eddy (Birmingham), Joe Copeland (Cullman), Dave Nicol
(Priceville)
We worked the upper section of FS
trail 210 from Hagood Creek on FS road 208 to FS road 224 near Gum Pond
Cemetery. We actually only worked about the first two miles and then reached a
point where we had to walk out in the interest of time. The trail follows a
ridge where pine beetles have killed almost every tree, and many of them are
down across the trail. This particular section of trail is difficult to follow
in places where windfall forces you to circle left or right and then pick up
the trail again. After a consultation with the District Recreational Ranger, it
was agreed that a new group will be plugged in to maintain this section of
trail as their sole task.
Work time – 24
hours
Travel time – 10
hours
February 17,
2001 – Pinhoti extension - Flagpole
Mountain
CREW: Susan
Hammack, Hank McCann, Slater Solomon, Ron Eddy, Marty Shulman (Birmingham), Lee
McPheeters, Rick Riquelmy, Tom McGeehee, Sam Denham (Huntsville), Marty Dominy
(Toomsboro, GA), Carroll Wilson (Jasper), Joe Copeland (Cullman), Ed Rutledge
(Montgomery)
As we walked across Temple-Inland land
onto the Forever Wild property towards the terminus of the Pinhoti Trail, Dr,
Tom McGeehee, a 72 year old pediatrician from Huntsville collapsed and died of
an apparent heart attack. We administered CPR for 35-40 minutes until emergency
personnel arrived and the emergency physician on call ordered us to
discontinue. This was Dr. McGeehee’s first ATA trip. He was an active member of
the North Alabama Group, Sierra Club and a member of that group’s executive
committee. He had taught wilderness
first aid for Sierra Club members across Alabama. He was a man who gave a lot
of himself. He was survived by wife, two daughters and a son. The North Alabama
Group and the ATA will probably collaborate on a memorial marker on the trail
near the spot where he died.
Work time – 26
hours
Travel time – 40
hours
March 3, 2001 –
Sipsey Wilderness
CREW: Dave
Nicol, Brian Taylor (Priceville), Ron Eddy (Birmingham), Carroll Wilson
(Jasper)
We cleared a few downed trees on FS
trail 200 between the Sipsey Picnic Grounds and the curved bridge on Borden
Creek. We also did a little work at a side stream crossing that always seems to
need some attention. The spring wild flowers are much later this year than
last, but we did see a few Rue Anemone, Hepatica, Spring Beauty, and Violets.
Work time – 16
hours
Travel time – 10
hours
March 17, 2001 –
Flagpole Mountain
CREW: Lee
McPheeters, Sam Denham, Rita Smith-Holland (Huntsville), Ron Eddy, Jim Austin
(Birmingham), Alana Castillo (Bessemer), Bob Williams (Gadsden), Carroll Wilson
(Jasper), Joe Copeland (Cullman)
Our group hiked into the work site
and arrived before lunch. The terrain was rocky and full of roots. In one
section a tangle of vines kept the crew busy for half an hour. Ron dug stumps
from the entry of the trail forward to the work site. By afternoon, the group
had reached the benchmark on Flagpole Mountain with Carroll in the lead. With
the new acquisition of the old Garner property by the Forever Wild Board, we
have a clear path to Georgia. Carroll and Joe are already making plans for the
state line completion of the Pinhoti Trail ceremony in either late 2001or early
2002. Bob is already planning the news coverage for the event. Thanks to Sam,
we are continuing to get support from our Huntsville friends. Hope to see newcomers
Rita and Alana back again.
Work time – 45
hours
Travel time – 36
hours