mcdspot

Well, this past weekend was a blast. John Tracy and I headed up to the Cheaha area for a few days of wilderness and walking. The weather was great, but the sun was out and the sweat bees were numerous. We hiked in Friday afternoon about five miles on the Cave Creek trail and stayed at Mill Shoal Creek campsite, right near Caney Head creek. A fantastic campsite, located below the shoulder of the Pinhoti Trail ridgeline:

On Saturday we humped it up the Odum Scout Trail to the Pinhoti, a nice walk.

At the top we met a couple of hikers, nice guys who were heading to High Falls. After that, we ridgewalked all the way over to McDill Point. The rocks were conspiring against us at this point and our dogs were barking. But the scenery made up for it.

Just after you take the sidetrail over to McDill Point from the Pinhoti, you come across a disturbing sight:

I can’t find any information on this plane wreck, but it happened many years ago and must have been terrible. It’s always sobering to walk up on this after being in the forest for a few hours. Anyway, McDill was wonderful, with a cool breeze blowing and hawks and/or turkey buzzards swooping all around.

Lunch was good, too.

That afternoon we headed down to the Cheaha trailhead to pick up some wine I had left in the car. When I walked into the parking area, I was surprised to see my friends Jimmy and Sierra Stiles sitting there! They are doing master’s work at Auburn and were in the area surveying reptile and amphibian populations. John and I chatted with them and the rest of their crew for a while, and we were almost tempted to camp with them that night as they had COLD BEER. After hiking in the blazing heat all day, it was a bewitching prospect. But better thoughts prevailed, and we pressed on.

However, by about 3:00 p.m. we were two miles from Blue Mountain shelter and were parched. Hot, sweaty, and parched. Lo and behold we came across the most delicious little spring, and all was well in the world. Here’s John fortifying.

Once we arrived at Blue Mountain Shelter were were exhausted, having hiked about 12 miles or so. Unfortunately the shelter was filled, and all the best campsites were taken, so we had to stealth camp a few hundred yards from the shelter. Our site was on a slope, but we didn’t care. We could hear the creek bubbling a few feet away, very nice. We built a fire, had a little burgundy and watched the night cover the world in stars. I slept like the very dead.

On Sunday we hiked out in a beautiful clear morning. I was ready to get away from the sweat bees and hit the Cracker Barrel, so we hightailed it back to the car. During the hike I began formulating a plan to hike the entire Pinhoti Trail, of which I’ll write more later. For the time being, I was sure of only one thing: Uncle Hershcel’s Breakfast Sampler was calling my name. And it was good. We will definitely be back.

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