Sipsey Wilderness Hang and Hike (04 - 06 April 2014) PIC HEAVY!

**Bad Biscuit** · 04-08-2014, 10:52

I attended my first group hang in one of my favorite areas – The Sipsey Wilderness in the Bankhead Forest. We actually camped at the Wolfpen Hunters Camp since it is located in the Bankhead forest. Across the street in the Sipsey Wilderness, groups are limited to 10 people so this was ideal. We could hang and hike!

With much anticipation, I left work on Friday afternoon and drove straight to Wolfpen. Squidbilly (who introduced me to hammock camping) and others were already there, but I found a spot and set up. Throughout the weekend, others joined and I think we ended up with approximately 20 hangers. I saw several different set ups and there were a couple of Cuben Fiber tarps I drooled over.

We gathered water, cooked dinner, sat around the fire and had a great time Friday (and Saturday) night(s).

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Saturday morning after breakfast we split into two groups. One group was going to White Creek between trails 201 and 202. Since I had been there several times, I was excited to do the Wolfpen/Little Ugly/Eagle Creek loop. I knew it was all off trail, but I had heard nothing but great things. So off we went.

Shortly after leaving the trail, we came upon a nice campsite beside a creek. The highlight was the “Christmas Tree.” Someone had decorated a hemlock with Christmas ornaments. There was a nice small “bluff” adjacent to the water also.

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Further down we came to Wolfpen Falls.

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As we ventured down, I saw another unnamed waterfall, so I stopped to take a picture.

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We continued our adventure and stopped for lunch at Fernglade Falls. The Lord of the Chicken Wings was so inspired I caught him doing the Chicken War Dance.

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Wes was smart and brought a good lunch but wouldn’t share

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We slightly backtracked and headed over to Little Ugly/Deer Skull Falls. This is my new favorite area in the Sipsey. It is AWESOME.

Little Ugly Falls

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Deer Skull Falls

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Probably against my better judgment, I climbed up a small ledge to take a picture of the water above Deer Skull Falls.

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I managed to get a decent panoramic picture of the area.

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After spending quite some time in this area, we had to backtrack to get out of this small box canyon and headed over to Eagle Creek Falls. There seemed to be a nice view everywhere you looked.

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As we headed to Eagle Creek Falls, I heard a waterfall and went over to take a quick picture.

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to be continued....

**Bad Biscuit** · 04-08-2014, 10:59

We made it to Eagle Creek Falls and rested before the climb out.

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We had covered only 5 miles, but all of it was off trail and sometimes "no trail." We made it back to camp and everyone was tired – even our unofficial mascot.

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We had another great evening of telling stories, sharing information, and relaxing after a great day in the woods. There was a threat of rain and storms, but it just missed us (YAY)! We decided to take a shorter hike on Sunday. Although it was only about a mile, there was plenty to see!

We drove a mile or so up the road, parked and headed into the toward Turkey Foot Creek. Just a few steps later we were upon the remains of Mize Grist Mill. The foundation was elevated up above the creek and some of the stone foundation can still be seen.

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Down by the water you can see where they have carved “steps” into the solid rock on both sides of the creek. From what I understand, these where probably used to help anchor lumber to support a dam structure for the mill.

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Went down a steep embankment and walked up to another waterfall.

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Things here were almost magical.

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Just around the corner held ANOTHER waterfall

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On our way out, we came across a 1936 Ford that crashed over the bluff from the “old road.”

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Shortly after the car, we found a break in the bluff and climbed out to the road and returned to the car. The total trip on Sunday was just around a mile.

I think we should plan something for the fall. There's plenty to see in the area and maybe we could test our cool weather gear...

**aboyd** · 04-08-2014, 11:21

Thanks for sharing the pics, I truly had a great time.

**squidbilly** · 04-08-2014, 13:19

Awesome Jim! Excellent chronicle of our off-trail adventure. Thanks to you and Ashley we now have all hikes covered. Also, thank you for including BeBop: it looks like he is dreaming of chicken wings.