Oak Mountain State Park, Pelham (outside Birmingham), AL

HIKING ALABAMA,  Oak Mountain State Park

Day 6  Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Yesterday was moving day so not much to report.  Did the wash and waited out the rain.  Got on the road about 10 and got into Oak Mountain around 12.  It’s actually nearest the town of Pelham which is right outside of Birmingham.  We are in site 20.  It’s a pretty good site, long enough for the trailer and not right on the road.  The best sites are the ones back in the Cul de Sac.  Those are sites 24 through 30.  Almost all them are excellent with little traffic, close to the bath, and all have sewer.  We have sewer too and not that much more traffic since the dead end is the only place to go from here. 

Bathrooms are very clean.  There is only one shower but it is large and clean, with nice benches and a heater overhead.  We do have a shower in the camper, but if we use theirs we save propane and actually have a little more room.

Bailey has been pulling so much that her chain collar is irritating her neck, yet we can’t do without it since it is the only control that we have.   We used a thin dish towel folded over to make a quick pad to go under her collar.  Whip-stitched the edges and a quick trip to Walmart to get Velcro, and it was done.  The last thing to do before our hike was to get my feet ready to hike.’

Decided to take the bike trail today since it would be easier on Bailey’s feet.  There is no way we would do the whole 17 miles but it’s a nice fairly level trail and we can go as far as we want then backtrack. 

About 2 miles into the trail we came across some old chimneys, apparently from an old homesite.

The trail has just enough ups and downs to make it interesting.  The trail comes close to the road at one point and you can see the parks BMX track.  On the weekends there are tons of kids racing BMX bikes.

A little before the 3 mile mark, someone has built a rock garden along the side of the trail.  I’m glad that they labeled it (the sign says “Rock Garden”)  or we’d have been a little creeped out.  Actually we still were a little creeped out,  It’s a mixture of rocks, garden gnomes, wind chimes, and assorted plastic toys (with and without heads).  

Unfortunately, although Bailey may not be injuring her neck anymore, she is still pulling constantly and it got really dangerous to be walking with her.  Several times we tripped over roots or stones as she drug us along the trail.  Picture the movie scene where the handlers are being dragged across the field by the bloodhounds they have on leash.  Then add the rocks, roots, and trees along the trail.  There comes a point where even the most adventurous man (or woman) must admit defeat.  We turned back.  It was a little better on the way back because she had already been over that ground—but not much better.  All hiking from this point will be done dogless.

On the way back, we passed a tree that had a little blue mushroom growing in a split in it.  The little mushroom was only about an inch across but it was the prettiest blue color.

Since it was lunchtime we decided to try out the little Shack Shop at the Golf Lodge.  During check in one of the other campers was raving about the hamburgers there.  And he was right.  It was probably the best hamburger we’ve ever eaten, better than the ones at Five Guys (went there last week after everyone said it was soooo awesome – were somewhat under-impressed).  The fries at the Snack Shop were also wonderful, crisp outside and tender inside.  Might just have to go back before we leave…

Also was able to connect to internet there and upload the latest book of the Outlander series.  Yea!

Day 7  Thursday, October 16, 2014

Since we weren’t taking Bailey on the trails anymore, we decided to take her to a dog park where she could run off some energy.  Found one just a few miles away but it was very small and looked like it might actually be some type of doggie day care facility.  Found several more on the internet but couldn’t get valid addresses for most of them.  Finally found Hoover Park about 13 miles away.  It was a nice park, not as large as Lafreniere in Metairie but large enough and with some trees so the dogs had shade.  Bailey played with several other dogs for a good hour or hour and a half then was ready for a nap.

By then it was lunchtime so we ate then headed off to the trails.  We started out on the (white) Shackleford trail.  We ran across a fellow who was marking the trails for a trail run to be held by a local running club in Birmingham.  He told us that if we wanted to we could pay the $24 yearly membership fee and join the run.  There is no other entry fee as it’s a local run for members only.  We were thinking of doing the 4 mile run but after seeing some of the marked trails during our hike today, we are having some second thoughts.  Some of those trails are quite rocky and wouldn’t be much fun to run on—after all, that’s why Bailey isn’t hiking with us anymore.  We were tired or running on dangerous ground.

The trail started out fairly level, but soon became quite steep and rocky.  We hiked uphill for at least 20 miles (actually about 2 miles, but can you tell that I don’t like hiking uphill?)  At the top, labeled Shackleford Ridge, the sign said 1268 ft elevation.  On one of the rocks, there was a survey marker.

Here is a close up of the marker.  We found two more on rocks close by.

The trail itself was over 6 miles down to Peavine Falls, and we had walked about a mile down to the trailhead.  Since we got a late start it was about 3:30 when we got to the falls.  Here is a picture from the top of the falls.  Yeah, we hiked 7.5 miles and 2 and a half hours for this.

It does have quite a bit more water during the spring when there is more rain here and upstate.  At least there are pictures of a waterfall that is labeled Peavine Falls.  It was a pretty place regardless.  We took a steep rocky trail down to the little pool below the falls.

Then it was time to book it on back because it was after 4:00 and we had to cover the 7 miles back.

We  decided to walk back on the (blue) South Rim Trail since it runs mostly parallel to the Shackleford trail.  It was free of the steep climbs or drops that we’d navigated earlier and was mostly a nice walk.  There were several nice overlooks along the trail, since it ran next to a ridge.  The picture below shows one of them.  It looks like a level field, but just beyond the line of trees it drops off.

We walked absolutely as fast as possible, taking the Orange Connector trail to the Red Road since it was the most direct path back to the trailhead.  The road itself was more like a rough jeep trail.  It was strewn with fist sized rocks that turned under your feet.  Still, we had to cover ground since there was a real risk of not getting back before dark.

The road led across a bridge labeled “Billy Goat Gruff Bridge”.  We hurried on across since we didn’t have time to deal with trolls.  A little farther along we saw a huge boulder parked up next to a tree on the left of the road.  The sign below it noted that the boulder weighed approximately 346 tons and that it was slid 205 feet down the hillside in April of this year.  Bet that would have been something to see!

It was 6:30 when we walked out onto the road.  Another 10 minutes and it would have been dark on the trails.  It was still about a mile to camp and it was dark by the time we actually got there but by then there were street lights in the campground area.  Bailey was very glad to see us.  After she ate, we had salad and jambalaya that we had brought with us from the Jambalaya Shop at home.  It was delicious – and would have still be delicious if we hadn’t been ravenous.   All in all we hiked a little over 14 miles today and were on the trail about 6 ½ hours.

Day 8  Friday, October 17, 2014

We headed out today about 1 pm, after taking Bailey to the park again and eating the lunch we had packed for the trail.  Today’s walk was to cover part of the (yellow) Foothills Trail, and return by the first few miles of the mountain bike trail that we took Bailey on earlier in the week.

There were a few adjustments to be made regarding shoelaces and toe bandages, but eventually we made it to the trail.  There is a shortcut across a ridge from the campground to the trailhead and we took that today instead of walking all the way around on the road.  It may not shorten the distance that much since it winds around the hillside, but it’s more picturesque.

The Foothills trail is much easier than either Shackleford or the Ridge Trail, since (as its name implies) it winds around the foothills and not straight up the ridge.  It met the Shackleford Trail at Maggie’s Glen, where we rested a bit and took this picture of the stream bed.  This is the stream that eventually feeds Peavine Falls.  As you can see there is not much water in the stream, which is why there wasn’t much water at the Falls.  But it was still a nice place to rest and/or picnic.

A bit farther along, the trail met Old Lake and we walked along the lakeshore for quite a while. 

The weather today was perfect, clear skies, cool but not enough to need a jacket.  There wasn’t much breeze but with the cool weather you didn’t really need one.  The colors here aren’t as pronounced as at Monte Sano, but we are at a lower elevation and latitude.  There is still a bit of red sprinkled across the landscape as you can see in the second lake picture.

At the intersection of Foothills and the bike trail we met up with Blue Flag Guy, the fellow who was marking the trail for the run tomorrow.  He’s really put in some walking time setting up this Trail Run.  But having seen even more of the route, we are having no second thoughts about our decision to sit it out.  Just too much chance of a slip on loose rocks or sprain on roots or larger rocks.

There is a dam along one side of the lake.  The small amount of water spilling over the dam was actually larger than the falls.

There was an interesting sight in the stream bed just around this area.  A rather large flat bottom boat was wedged against a log in the stream.  It was somewhat of a mystery as to how it came to be there, since we could not imagine that, even in rainy weather, there could be enough water in this stream to use a boat of this size

Once we hooked up with the bike trail, we were covering familiar territory.  We passed back by the creepy Rock Garden, the Chimneys, and finally exited the trail about 6 pm.  Made it back to camp by 6:30.  Lyle had gumbo for supper and I ate the rest of the jambalaya.  We had fruit salad with Reese’s Puff cake for dessert.

Day 9  Saturday, October 18, 2014

The plan had been to start hiking from the South Trailhead today and tomorrow and cover the lower parts of the Foothills and bike trails, but that may have to be another time  Might not be much hiking today.

By the time we made it back yesterday, I could barely walk on my right foot.  My little toe was so sore that even touching it was painful.  Once I took my boot off it was NOT going back on.  This morning I removed the “blister tape” that I had used on it and got a good look at the problem.  The entire top of the toe was blistered, and the skin had broken and was raw and bloody.  Obviously this had not been the right thing to use to cushion the toe.  Normally we use moleskin but when I went to get more at Walmart a few days ago, they had none and I bought this tape by Nexcare, which is supposed to prevent and cushion blisters.  NOT!  I did manage to get it off without removing the skin along with it and covered the area with one of the few pieces of moleskin we had left.  That won’t come off until it just wears off in a few days, but feels 1000% better.  Now at least I can put on a pair of shoes. 

Well maybe not.  I couldn’t stand to have anything touching the top of my foot.  I ended up wearing Lyle’s crocs all day. 

We took Bailey to the park again and came back in time to eat another perfectly delicious hamburger.  I think they gave us enough fries to feed an entire family, but we did our best to eat them all.  After spending some time catching up on email, etc we came back to camp and took Bailey for a little walk around camp.  It’s amazing how much calmer she is after spending time running and playing with the other dogs.

By this time my foot was somewhat better and we walked about 3 miles through the camp roads and down some of the short, easy trails (without dog).  We ran across another camper that appears to be home made.  This time we took pictures.  

It seems to be made of well painted plywood and had elec, but does not seem to have any water or sewer, and no air conditioning.  We haven’t seen anyone there the entire time we’ve been here but would love to ask them more about it.

I did OK walking this afternoon, so we’ll try another trail tomorrow morning.  Regrettably I will probably be one of those people who hike in crocs and/or flip flops.  Doubt that I’ll wear shoes for another couple of days.  But hiking is hiking and it’s all good.

Day 10  Sunday, October 19, 2014

Today we moved to the South Trailhead.  All of the trails don’t start from one point at this location so we had to walk a little way down the road to pick up the yellow trail.  The original plan was to take it around to the point where we met the red bike trail on Friday, then take the red trail back to the trailhead.  This plan had to be modified because the Saints were playing Detroit at noon and we needed to be back to catch the game.

Headed down the trail and was really surprised at how well the Crocs worked out.  I wouldn’t want to hike in them all the time since they gave no ankle support, but they did grip the trail well and because they also have rubber grips inside, they kept my feet from sliding around.  And despite all the little holes in them, I rarely had to empty out any rocks or trash that got into them.

We stayed on this trail for about an hour and 15 min and then decided it was time to turn back in order to get home in time for the game.  We found the trail to be a little more confusing from this end and got sidetracked onto the Wildlife Trail near the bird rehabilitation center.  Wildlife is sort of a misnomer though, because we have seen very little wildlife during our entire stay here.  There are some squirrels and chipmunks, but few birds, and even though it looks like prime deer country, there is not even a sign. 

Since we hadn’t made it to our planned turning point, we decided to walk back on the horse trail but again ended up in the wrong direction, coming out at the Marina, and taking the road back to the trailhead parking lot.

We were not able to see the game on any of the local TV stations, and Lyle couldn’t get it on his radio, so we took Bailey to the dog park again.  There he was able to listen to the game so we stayed for quite a while.  Unfortunately they had a good lead, but threw it away, losing to Detroit by one point in the last few minutes.

Later we walked for a couple of hours around the park again and down the Lighthouse Trail.  When we got back we finally had a chance to meet the couple from New Orleans (now moved to Lafayette) who were in the Airstream in the next camping spot.  They will be here for a few more days.  They also retired recently and took a long trip up to Glacier around the same time we were making our long journey.  Their camper is really well appointed, although there wouldn’t be a lot of room for The Beast that camps with us.

Leaving early tomorrow morning.  Weather has been great, food has been great, no breakdowns, no hospital visits.  Can’t wait to do it again next time.