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Events
Hike for kids and families in Bankhead NF, May 1 PDF E-mail
Saturday, May 1, 2010 9:30 a.m.
Holmes Chapel Falls and Brushy Creek

Holmes Chapel Falls
Rating: Moderately easy All ages welcome

This will be a 2-part adventure on the eastern side of the Bankhead National Forest. Holmes Chapel Falls is a beautiful waterfall on a tributary of Rush Creek. The 1/2 mile or less hike to the falls follows a small stream through a forest of mature Eastern hemlock and hardwoods. There is no trail, but the terrain is fairly uncomplicated. As in any rocky canyon area, uneven ground, blown-down trees, a few briars and some brief stretches of steep uphill climbing can be expected. we will also explore the top of the waterfall, which is a wide expanse of sandstone in a glade-like area.
Next, we will drive about 3 miles to Brushy Lake, have a picnic lunch, then hike the trail on the west side of the lake that will take us along the base of some very dramatic sandstone bluffs. From the old CCC dam, we will follow Brushy Creek downstream, enjoying the scenery, flowers and the aqua-critters that live in the shallow creek water. This hike will be about 1 1/4 miles roundtrip, with the option to stop and hang out for those who want to sit and bask (we'll catch you on the way back). Th...
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Photography workshop and hike with Charles Seifried PDF E-mail

Saturday, May 8, 2010

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

$20 per person

Ages 12 and over

Warrior Mountains Trading Company, Wren, Alabama

This special event is a fundraiser for Wild South. All proceeds will go directly to support Wild South's Helping Hands projects in the Bankhead National Forest.

Eagle Creek Falls, Bankhead National Forest (Sipsey Wilderness), by Charles Seifried

Seifried Photography

Charles Seifried is author and co-author of several books, inluding Alabama's Canyons and Alabama Outdoors. He provided the cover photography for Bankhead Monitor, Wild Alabama and Wild South magazines.

The workshop will begin in the Warrior Mountains Trading Company (11312 AL Hwy. 33, Moulton, AL) at 10:00 a.m. Charles will discuss and show basic photographic equipment and give technical instruction. Participants will learn to "build the eye" using the camera lens and be trained to see the photograph.

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Next Meeting of the Bankhead Liaison Panel PDF E-mail
photo 2-26-10 monitoring tour 014

The next meeting of the Bankhead Liaison Panel will be held Thursday, April 29, at 6:00 PM, in the upstairs meeting room of the Traders and Farmers Bank in the Bernice Hilton Walker Building in downtown Double Springs, AL. Please consider joining us and taking the opportunity to meet our new District Ranger, Elrand Denson. Alabama Program Manager Mark Kolinski will be giving a short report on the February restoration monitoring tour, and the proposed Lookout Trail will be on the agenda. This trail is the originally planned 6.5 mile extension of Sipsey Wilderness Trail 203, making it an 11-mile overnight trail. Wild South has been actively engaged in promoting completion of the Lookout Trail to take pressure off the Wilderness trails, which are continuing to experience heavier use all the time. Wild South would like to contribute substantial volunteer labor to this project and is going to need YOUR support. Attending this meeting and voicing your support for the Lookout Trail could make the difference between seeing it happen or not. Please consider taking this important opportunity to participate in the management of your National Forests. If we can convince the Forest Service to move forward with the Lookout Trail, we are going to need a commitment from our Helping Hands volunteers to help bring this project to fruition.

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The Wild Places at Your Backdoor PDF E-mail

A Wild South Special Event:

Learn outdoor skills, hike in a wild place and support Wild South

Saturday and Sunday, January 23-24, 2010

The Wild South office in Wren, Alabama and the Bankhead National Forest

There is nothing quite like the beauty, peace and wonder of wild, natural places. A special place in the Warrior Mountains of North Alabama, which answers perfectly these qualities, is the William B. Bankhead National Forest. Bankhead's 180,000 acres contain within its boundaries the incomparable Sipsey Wilderness Area through which the Wild and Scenic Sipsey River flows.

Even outside the Sipsey Wilderness, this forest is rich in biodiversity, breathtaking scenery, history, canyons, waterfalls and more. There are arborglyphs, petroglyphs, many miles of canoe and hiking trails, rockhouses (bluff shelters used by Native Americans), and more places to see and explore than can be accomplished in a lifetime!

Sign up now and come join us for two fun days of learning as Bob Crow teaches how to explore this magical and mythical place! Class size is limited to 10, so sign up now. The fee for this educational event, which includes lunch on Saturday, is only $75 per person. Participants must be at least 18 years old. Your entire donation will stay right here in Alabama and be used to continue the forest protection work being done by the local Wild South staff.

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