Changing Weather in the Sipsey Wilderness

 I hiked into the Sipsey Wilderness on a Tuesday in shorts and a T-shirt in January. It was unseasonably warm, but my joints told me that the weather would be changing soon. I hiked in to a bluff where I sometimes camp when the stormy rains are expected. The bluff offers me a place to cook in the rain and a safe place from falling limbs and trees when the winds begin to blow. This bluff is particularly nice in that the fire ring is also under the bluff so I can build a fire during the rain. The problem with bluffs in the SW when it is unseasonably warm is that they tend to drip from condensation--usually right on my bald head. So, when I got to this bluff I hung my footprint over my cooking spot to keep the dripping off of my head.

The Sipsey Wilderness has a lot of bluffs, some large enough to pitch a tent under and some just large enough to bivouac under in an emergency. I've found about five or six that are really comfortable for a multi-day trip. I'm at the age now that I enjoy hiking in a few miles (usually less than five), setting up a comfortable camp, and day-hiking around the wilderness to explore.

On this Tuesday, I drove into the Thompson Creek TH about 10-ish and headed toward the bluff, arriving about an hour and 20 minutes later. After I had cooled off some and hung the footprint over the rock I planned to sit on, I went to the nearby creek for water. Most of the time during the winter, I don't carry a filtering system because I have to boil the water anyway and it will quickly cool in the winter weather. While my water was boiling, I set up my Rainbow TarpTent. After I boiled some water, I made some black bean soup that I had ordered through Mast General Store. Pretty tasty, but needed a jalapeño to add a little heat. 

 After lunch I had two choices: take a nap or hike. I decided to do the latter, since rain was predicted for the next day, I might not get to hike much. I hiked down the White Oak Creek valley and climbed upon a couple of rocks that offered me a higher view of the creek valley. The Sipsey Wilderness is a beautiful area and I always enjoy hiking and looking at the terrain during different seasons. Actually, I've gotten where I enjoy hiking in the winter more than any other season in the deep South. It's less buggie and, because the leaves are off the hardwood trees, one can have an mildly obstructed view of the terrain.

 

After a brief foray down the trail and back, I decided to take that late afternoon nap after all. I dozed for an hour or so, not wanting to spoil my sleep for the night, then got up to think about a fire and some supper. I had camped under this bluff about a month earlier and cut enough wood to give me a good burn for the night. Some of the wood was still in long logs that I had dragged up, so I had to saw some fire-length sticks and quickly got them piled up by the fire ring. I read a quote the other day that said something like, "Early Americans cut wood to keep their fires going and stay warm. Contemporary Americans stay warm by cutting wood for their fires." It's true! Anytime I'm out on the trail and I get a little chilled, I get up and saw some woods. It's always good for getting the body's BTUs up. Because not a lot of campers come up in the area where I was camping, there is generally an abundance of downed wood to cut for fires.

And speaking of fires, I normally start my camp fires with lint balls with some paraffin dripped them. My flint/steel generally can get the lint burning after only two or three sparks. After the paraffin starts burning, I pile on some ends of dead fir branches--something I call spider webs because of their size. However, in this camp site, there is only one medium size fir tree anywhere around, so I generally have to forage for dead wait-a-minute vines which work almost as well, although sometimes tough on the hands when gathering them. Over on the east end of the Wilderness, near FT 200, there is an abundance of fir trees, so I never have to stress over fire starter. There aren't many on the upper reaches of White Oak Creek.

I started my fire, got my water boiling for my supper, and sat there loving solitude the woods and the wilderness. Almost exactly when I was thinking about solitude, from less than 50 yards away an alpha male coyote howled. It sounded just like the traditional howl of a wolf that you've heard on the National Geographic channel. I don't think there are any wolves in north Alabama, so I'm pretty sure it was a coyote. I have heard coyotes in the SW before, but usually up on the ridges at night. Anyway, this alpha male let out a long, low, and very loud howl. As soon as he had finished his howl, about six or so others began to howl and yip. They sounded like females and young pups--not like the alpha male. I wasn't especially frightened because I was pretty sure they were coyotes and not wolves ... but just to make sure, I put another couple of sticks on the fire to build it up a little. I also thought about what I would do if I looked out over the fire and saw a dozen or more eyes glowing in the night ... 

I'm pretty sure the alpha coyote smelled my fire and decided to gather his pack before heading up the trail. I never heard anymore the rest of the night. Maybe he was gathering his pack to get somewhere protected before the night time storm rolled in. I see signs of pigs all over the SW, but haven't paid much attention to the signs of coyotes. So many people bring their dogs on the trails in the SW that when I see dog-type prints and scat, I assume it's domestic dogs ... but maybe not. Coyotes are usually skittish and don't come around where humans are, but get braver and less reserved the more humans they are around.

Sometime during the night the wind started blowing horrendously. As I said, I wasn't worried because I was under a protective bluff. Then about 6:30 AM, the rains and colder winds came in. Comfortable in my tent, I was in no rush to get up. After about three hours, I got out of my tent to see if the rains had diminished or stopped. When one camps in the forest it's sometimes difficult to tell whether the rains have stopped because of all of the dripping off of the trees and rocks. The rain had stopped ... the dripping continued for an hour or so.

One thing I always look forward to when it rains and storms in the Sipsey Wilderness are the changes in the creeks and rivers. White Oak Creek is fed by enough smaller streams in the valley that it usually gets up in a hurry. While eating some oatmeal, I sat and listened to the ever increasing roar of the waters. I have seen the Thompson Creek, Borden Creek, and the Sipsey River get out of their banks, so I'm always conscious of where I camp when the forecast is for rain. 

I love to go out when the creeks are up and take photos of the changes. 

After hiking around for a couple of hours admiring the beauty of the fast-flowing streams, I made my way back down to my campsite to cut some more wood for the evening. I could tell by the clouds and wind that the weather wasn't through putting on a show, so I figured that I would need some more firewood for the night.

After a filling supper of beef stroganoff and some hot tea, I through some more logs on the fire to see if I could coax the coyote pack to come up and join me around my warm fire. They didn't seem to be interested in joining me, so I turned on a few tunes on my phone and stared at the fire for a while.

About 9:00 or so, I noticed that it was raining ... only the rain didn't sound like rain. I pulled up my hood and walked out from under the bluff to see beads of ice bouncing off of my sleeves. It wasn't raining, it was sleeting. After letting my fire burn down, I decided to brush my teeth and turn in. 

The next morning was sunny and warmer, so after some granola and a couple of cups of Via, I packed up and started my hike out. Hiking out is always a time when I reflect on my trip and decide what I want to do the next time I come out in the wilderness -- because there will always be a next time.