I celebrated MLK's birthday by going with some buddies up to Mount Cheaha, the highest point in Alabama (impressive, i know ). It's not the Rockies by any means, but it is home to some amazing views and a few good climbing routes.
After we arrived, we did a little exploring around the Rock Garden area, (possibly my favorite area in the park) and got in a little bouldering before lunch. We pulled out our hammocks and set up for lunch, sausage and a couple of hard-boiled eggs for me.
view from my hammock, along with the lovely brown tarp windscreen:
Gotta have my Sanucks
After lunch, we broke out the crash pads and did some more bouldering; there are a couple of great ceilings and traverses. We didn't bring our climbing gear but there are a few pretty challenging routes as well as some easy, but still fun ones. After we were all worn out we hiked back around to a precipice overlooking the lake and enjoyed some hot tea. I used a popcan stove based on the Mark Jurrey design, along with a tin foil windscreen and rock pot stands. The outside air temp. was in the low 40's and the water I gathered from the stream was freezing cold, but the stove had it boiling in just under 10 min. which I don't think is to bad.
Mountain Stream (read slightly more than a rivulet):
Popcan Stove and Tea:
Sadly, it was then time to go, but God had an amazing piece of artwork for us to see first:
The picture really doesn't do it justice, the myriad of oranges, reds, and other colors was nothing short of spectacular.
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