Cheaha Wilderness (Alabama) Backpacking - March 2021

The second hike of the 2021 season took me south, to the Cheaha Wilderness of Alabama, for a hike with Carl, Travis and the dogs. It's hard to believe but it had been nearly 10 months since I last met up with Carl and Travis for the 2020 Cranberry Wilderness hike (thanks to Covid crushing our 2020 western trip plans).

I'd been wanting to get down to the Cheaha Wilderness for a number of years, and actually had a trip planned there in 2019 to do the popular Pin-Chin-Sky Loop hike (an 18-mile loop consisting of the Pinhoti Trail, Chinabee Silent Trail, and Skyway Trail) but with bad weather in the forecast then I decided to hike the Red River Gorge in Kentucky to shorten the drive.

When planning this trip we looked at three different options: (1) the Pin-Chin-Sky Loop, (2) a north-to-south, point-to-point hike from the Cheaha Trailhead to the Adams Gap Trailhead entirely on the Pinhoti Trail, and (3) the hike we eventually decided upon - a 3-day 15-mile loop hike starting south on the Pinhoti Trail from the Cheaha Trailhead, to the Odom Scout Trail, connecting with the Nubbin Creek Trail, and then Cave Creek Trail back to the cars. After hiking in the Cheaha Wilderness I'm certain any of these options would have made for a great hike, and we all plan to get back to explore the other hike options in the future.

Aside from a gnarly, seemingly endless stretch of rock-walking on day #1 (ok, probably a mile or so - seemed much longer!), the trails were very pleasant to walk on - fairly smooth and gently graded, and the views were outstanding (aided by the early-season lack of vegetation). Campsites were fairly plentiful, but water was not. But, thanks to the awesome Guthook app 'Pinhoti Trail' download, we knew that there likely would be no water until we reached camp on day #1 at the 7-mile mark, and had planned accordingly.

On day #2 we had no Guthook app 'coverage', and no advance knowledge of the trails or water conditions, and that added a bit to our stress level, but in one of those amazing 'the trail provides' moments we came upon a group of two hikers heading in the opposite direction that gave us great 'intel' on water and a campsite for night #2 (for those thinking of doing this hike, there were only two water sources on day #2, and one source on day #1, so three viable water sources on the entire hike - all shown in the video).

For those who have watched my other videos this one is done in the same style - a little less than an hour in length, intended to bring the audience along for the 'ride', and with a still picture slide show with music at the end. If you just have a few minutes skip to the end and enjoy the pictures.

Equipment / Gear List:

Still and Video Camera: Nikon Z6 https://amzn.to/3dHJvni
Lens: Nikkor 24mm f1.8 Z-mount lens https://amzn.to/2QZqNOo
Tripod: Sirui T-025X carbon fiber tripod https://amzn.to/3bH3Rvg
Camera shoulder clip: Peak Designs Capture clip system https://amzn.to/2wRdusp
Video Editing Software: Vegas Pro 16 https://amzn.to/2X5dKyu
Pack: Zpacks Arc Blast 55L
Tent: Zpacks Triplex
Sleeping Bag: Zpacks 20degF Sleeping Bag
Sleeping Pad: Therm-A-Rest NeoAir X-Therm https://amzn.to/2yjrUlj
Sleeping Pad: Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite https://amzn.to/39zju6v
Pillow: Exped Air Pillow UL https://amzn.to/2WYE5hZ
Stove: JetBoil Flash https://amzn.to/3azKRi7
Stove: MSR PocketRocket 2 https://amzn.to/3dPtOL5
Pot: MSR Titan titanium 0.9L kettle https://amzn.to/3bF1RDB
Headlamp: Black Diamond Spot https://amzn.to/2R0JvoW
Buff: Merino wool Buff https://amzn.to/3dCYHSC
Recharging Battery: Anker 3500mAH ‘lipstick’ charger https://amzn.to/2URI7G3
Camp Chair: Helonix Chair Zero https://amzn.to/2xzbwgh
Camp Shoes: Xero Shoes Z-Trek https://amzn.to/3bA3X7I
Wet Wipes: Survivorware Wet Wipes https://amzn.to/2JwbQ2e

Видео Cheaha Wilderness (Alabama) Backpacking - March 2021 канала David Gray