The alarm was ringing, but it really wasn't light out yet. It was my day off and it was 6 am, wha? At times like this, there were only two possibilities: I'd either found my way into the Twilight Zone, or I was going hiking. Thankfully thus far, I have only experienced the latter.
A trip to the Walls of Jericho was on the agenda. A state park in both northern Alabama and Southern Tennessee, the websites call it "The Grand Canyon of the South." I'd been hiking in the actual Grand Canyon, so I was curious to see how the Walls would match up.
After zombie stepping to the kitchen, I began to make lunch for the four going on the hike (Brannon, Brannon's son, Corey, and myself) as the house exploded (I do mean that, and if you spend an evening in Brannon's house you will too) with before school activity. Things got off to a slow start, we didn't hit the road until 8:30, and then we had to stop for breakfast because while playing Mr. Mom for the hikers - I hadn't found time to cook breakfast for everyone in the five free minutes I had between stuffing lunch meat into sandwiches and grapes into plastic bags. Moms, you have superhuman multitasking powers, and we love you!
Luckily the park was "close" to Huntsville, close being a relative term in the Alabama back-country. We reached the trailhead at 10:30. Surrounded by wilderness, on a beautifully clear spring morning, with a trail before us, we knew in our hearts it was great to be alive!
The details: according to my calibrated foot (and a few websites), the hike from the Alabama trailhead to the Walls is ~3 miles. That is split into two sections, a downhill stretch of ~2.5 miles, and after a short meander along the valley floor, a ~0.5 mile climb back up the valley's side to the Walls themselves.
A lot of good trail building went into the descent - it is well marked, spacious, and well maintained. While it had a decent grade for most of its length, there was nothing extreme. We passed a number of interesting looking rock outcroppings, as well as a couple of sinkholes, and much to Brannon's delight we found two caves. If we'd done our homework, we wouldn't have been surprised:
"Jackson County also has the highest concentration of caves of any county in the United States and is a well-known destination for spelunkers from across the United States." (AL Walls of Jericho website)
So, why did the Wandering Man enter the cave?
Because it was there.
Unfortunately, we were under prepared for spelunking, and we were on a relatively tight schedule - the rest of Brannon's soccer team needed to be picked up from school. We had to cut our exploration short and we hoofed it to the "bottom" of the trail. We had a great lunch along the river, but once we started out again, we quickly realized that there was still a hike to get to the Wall. You can only convince a 4-year old hike so far, and time was growing short. Unhappily, Brannon turned around with his son and began the trek back to the car, leaving the two strapping young men to reach the Wall and catch him on the ascent. Walls of Jericho - 2 / Brannon - 0.
The last half-mile to the Wall was uphill and rocky, but again the trail was well marked. It climbed the side of a steep gorge and overlooked a dry riverbed - the canyon walls to either side were remarkable. The sound of cascading water encouraged us and Corey and I quickened our pace, almost jogging as we bounded over the the trail (not recommended on rocky trails).
Finally, the Walls of Jericho rose up around us, we had made it to our destination and it was amazing! Surrounded by the steep valley walls, the site was like two vast, natural amphitheaters joined by a small waterfall. The lower area had a shallow pond where the water from the falls collected before flowing downstream. While the upper portion had a cascade of rocks that looked like tiered seating. Words cannot do the Walls justice, and even the pictures cannot provide the full effect of being there.
Yet even in that amazing place we still felt time pressing upon us. We only spent twenty minutes enjoying the view, then like rangers chasing Uruk-hai, we started our forced march back towards the car. We quickly realized the grade of the trail was steeper than we thought - gravity can be funny that way. We pushed ourselves, and we even tried the stamina of our faithful border collie companion. What took us hours to descend, we climbed in just over half an hour. Whew!
Overall, the hike was a great experience! The Walls of Jericho offer a lot to anyone who enjoys nature and hiking. While I'm sorry I didn't get more time to enjoy the Walls themselves, they are only a short trip away. Since our expedition, I've read that there is actually a ~10 mile trail from TN to AL that features the falls - my legs are already itching to tackle it. Also, the area would be a great place for a full day hike, or even a two day hike, there were a few prime camping sites along the the river.
Walls of Jericho, you have not seen the last of the Wandering Men!
Check it out in this groovy slide show!
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