Down in the Hollows

The summer heat is upon us and I have found it harder to get myself outside. I sometimes feel like I am wasting away, stuck indoors while the heat index soars to 102. In Alaska, summer was the time to be as active as humanly possible, so it is a strange change for me to have a laid back, low activity summer.

Jen and I got into a swimming and paddling frenzy for a little while, but lately the water levels have been low for kayaking and I am just feeling “swum out.”

However, I have found the time (or rather, weather opportunities) to have a few adventures. In the last three weekends I’ve made it out to go bouldering at HorsePens 40, caving, and mountain biking.

HorsePens 40 Bouldering

I headed out to HorsePens on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. The forecast was showing scattered showers that never really materialized and it became overcast with a slight breeze. It was 85 degrees. I expected it to be too hot to climb but I was going stir crazy so I loaded up two bouldering pads and headed that way.

I was pleasantly surprised when I got there. I was definitely hot, but the foliage provided a lot a cover, and I just moved around to bouldering problems in the shade. Usually I go to HorsePens in the fall and winter, so it was cool see how green it was and actually search out the shady problems. I was very excited to find out that I could climb in the summer in Alabama, and the heat definitely didn’t hinder my abilities (though I did take a lot more breaks, which probably helped). I even finished up two projects that I have been trying for months.

I got there about 2pm and decided that I would take it easy and climb until dark. There were only two other people in the park and I was the only one climbing. It was a great experience.

Summer’s Double Pot

Last weekend I decided to get underground, and headed out with the guys (Jeff, Dave, Alan, and Daniel) to Summer’s Double Pot. I had never heard of this cave but wanted to get outside and do something.

Trip highlights:

1. Breakfast buffet at Western Sizzlin’ aka “The Sizzler” in Scottsboro. If you don’t get coffee it comes out to $5 even, after tax. The drive took me about 2.5 hours, so I had already had two cups and worked up an appetite. Perfect pre-cave fuel.

2. Scottsboro Wal-Mart parking lot. I already like backwoods southern towns and bumper stickers, so this was perfect. There is only one thing better than expressing the many facets of your personality to complete strangers via bumper stickers: Making your own vehicular expressions because the ideas you have are (a) fringe views of society (b) contain two many characters for a regular bumper sticker or (c) just need your own grammatical touches.

3. The forest surrounding this cave. I live near the Sipsey, land of sandstone canyons. This area is near the TN border and is predominately limestone. The forest looked like it had brush cleared in the past for hunting. It was open hardwood forest filled with beech trees. There were some really cool ferns and lichens. We found a fern right at the entrance that I had never seen before. Dave commented on it a couple of times before I checked it out. It had a split frond and I am yet to find it in any guidebook. I didn’t get any photos of it, so I’m hoping one of the other guys did.

That’s it for the highlights. The cave contained 9 drops and lots of “athletic crawling”. Many of the drops where short but awkward and require long ropes for a rappel that was only 10 or 20 feet. There were also many single bolt drops that we backed up to questionable natural features.


Dave going in for some athletic crawling.

We placed a bolt on the second to last drop. It was a Petzl self drill, which I had never seen before, but Jeff assures me is common with cavers. We made a three-piece anchor with that bolt, and old rusty bolt with a homemade aluminum hanger, and a chert protrusion. Jeff rapped over the lip to pad the drop while standing on the ledge below it. The ledge below it promptly collapsed sending a large rock fall down below. We pulled the rope back up to see if it had been damaged. It hadn’t but in the process we released more rock falls.

I was no longer “psyched” to rappel this drop. Daniel and Dave did anyway, after redirecting the rope through a single spinning bolt above their heads. After that it was a long crawl out. My pack was on its last leg and ended up totally shredded. It took on water and was about 3 times as heavy when I made it back to the surface.

The only redeeming qualities the cave had where fossilized corals and the utter ridiculousness of one of the crawls. You turned on your side, inched forward, made a right angle turn while in this position, and entered a 5-foot climb down headfirst. It lead me to making an awkward full body rotation into a chimney like passage. It wasn’t fun but it did keep you laughing.

I’m glad I went, but wouldn’t go again.

Yeah! No more crawling!!

Pine Torch Trail Mountain Bike

This Saturday Jen and I went mountain biking. It had been very hot all week, and cooled off to about 87 on Saturday. We went to check out the Pine Torch Trail in the Bankhead National Forest. The trail is a primarily a horse trail and was built as such, but mountain biking is allowed. I found out about the bike use online and wanted to check it out. I really didn’t know what to expect, but people were giving it good reviews. Most of the Bankhead horse trails I have seen are so rutted that they would be impossible to bike.

The trail is just over 35 minutes from our house so we cruised over about midday to check it out. I was dismayed to find the trailhead entirely filled with trucks and horse trailers. I envisioned us yielding every two minutes to people on horseback. The Pine Torch Loop is 11 miles and I had read that it is best done counter clockwise. It connects to two additional loops that are horse trails/ can be biked. We decided to go for it anyway and headed off down the trail.

We went counter clockwise, and that is how I would recommend doing it. There were sandy spots where sand had been brought in to cover eroded and muddy areas, and there was also horse poop. Not a lot of poop based on the amount of cars at the trailhead, but the entire 11 miles smelled like horses.

If going counter clockwise there is an area where you can bail onto Forest Service road 254 about 4.5 miles in. From there it would be a road ride back to the trailhead. I mention this because we considered it. In the summer I regularly ride intermediate trails in close-toed keen sandals. Jen doesn’t, but she decided to today. In true Jen-bike-injury fashion, she punctured the top of her foot with the chain ring (the front gear cog) about three miles in. However, she suffered through it to the end of the ride.

Just before the forest service road the trail descends down to Brushy Creek. This is upstream from the dam/ kayak put in, and Brushy is pretty small at this point. When descending you pass some cool sandstone/conglomerate rock out croppings (conglomerate like the stuff at Sandrock). They aren’t tall but appeared to be super solid. I was just remarking that too bad this is too far out to bring a bouldering pad when, boom, FS 254. I am always looking for things climbable in the Bankhead, but the good stuff is usually very remote. I will definitely be coming back here with pads and the scrub brush, as it may have the potential for 12 to 15 problems.

There looked to be the potential for more similar boulders as the trail continued on the other side of the creek. Just after this crossing, which is on the forest service road bridge, you come to the only really crappy part of the trail. The trail climbs a short ridge immediately after the creek, and the trail is muddy with huge ruts. We had to walk the bikes most of the way. It reminded me of the Sipsey horse trails.

The rest of the trail is pretty good. There are lots of moderate climbs and descents through the whole thing. There is also a shallow creek crossing further on, which you can manage without getting your feet wet on some easy rock hopping. All and all the trail was definitely worth the visit. It gave a little bit of everything the Bankhead has to offer: rock shelters, shallow creek crossing, the upland pine forests, and even an old stone chimney left over from a homestead.

There are a lot of climbs and descents, though most of them are very moderate. None of the longer climbs were super steep. It flows surprisingly well for being primarily a horse trail. A little bit of technical stuff is thrown in the mix for some of the rocky areas (though not as much as Oak Mountain). While still bikeable the sand takes up extra energy, so save something for the end, because there is still a lot of uphill. It comes in small stretches, but the sand is plentiful.

This trail can be ridden in summer, as it is open airy forest and very shaded. I felt comfortable the whole time and I am not heat tolerant (it was about 87 out). Bring a map, which will be helpful in case of injury or malfunction, because there are a couple of spots to escape to forest service roads. I brought a full 100oz Camelback and wished I had one additional water bottle. I also wish I had more breathable bike shorts because it was sweaty out there.

Two snakes, two ticks, one black berry vine to the shins, some single track with poison ivy on both sides, and less horse poop than expected. Oh, and we never saw a horse on the trail, despite the crowded parking area. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars only due to sand traps and horse turds and the smell of horse turds. Maybe 3.7 stars.

Immediately afterwards we drive 10 minutes North to Wren on Hwy 33, to the Warrior Mountain Trading Post for Buffalo burgers. It was a great idea. $5 Buffalo burgers, and this place has a wealth of knowledge on the Bankhead/ Sipsey/ Warrior Mountains. Pretty solid, considering it is gas station. It’s also the Wild South Alabama headquarters.