Another Hiking Adventure

This weekend we trekked back to Cheaha State Park for an eight-mile loop hike. We started at the Cheaha Trailhead and took the Cave Creek Trail south to the Pinhoti Trail connector, then came back to the trailhead via the Pinhoti. It was a glorious day, a bit windy, but beautiful nonetheless. What's really cool is that we've hiked from a southern trailhead north to the same connector, so bit by bit we're visiting entire trails!

We had lunch at McDill Point, an absolutely stunning overlook about a quarter mile off the main trail. And even more interesting, there are the remains of a plane crash there. Being the librarian, of course I wanted to know the details. Surprisingly enough, there have been at least a dozen crashes that have happened near Cheaha since the 1940s. There was one in 1991, one in 1986, one in 1967... and the list keeps going. After researching on the NTSB site with the small bits of info I had, I believe this (2003) is the crash. It's in the right place (near Hernandez Peak) and it's a two-seater. So, my prayers go out to the families of the two men who lost their lives. I took a photo of the debris, but I don't think I'll post it... and actually, I'm surprised that the park left the debris on the mountainside. There's a forest road not too far away, and what's left is mostly aluminum.

Anyway, back to our hike. Here are some photos from McDill Point...



There was a pair of hawks riding the thermals just below us, and that was amazing to watch. We hiked the Pinhoti part of the trail back last November, and the difference in the landscape is something to behold. Six months ago it was barren rock and leafless trees, and this weekend it was lush with spring flowers and all kinds of green undergrowth. My favorite is by far the many, many sassafras saplings. You can't transplant them worth a darn (and I speak from personal experience), but they smell So Good!

I'm hoping for at least one more spring-like weekend, because once summer rolls around in Alabama, it's just too hot and humid to hike!