OCTOBER 5,
SATURDAY, Meet 6:45 p.m.
Evening Walk
Where: Hillsboro Trail, Helena, Shelby County, Alabama
Details: Join friendly folks on an easy four-mile evening walk
on the Hillsboro Trail in Helena, Alabama.
This smooth trail is wide, paved and with only a few short hills. On this particular walk you will be walking
on a scenic trail which goes through mostly wooded terrain.
No motorized vehicles are allowed
on your trail! All road crossings are
through three tunnels under the
roads. Note this is a relatively easy
outing, one which should be lots of fun for everyone. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age seven and up able
to walk four miles without complaining are welcome on this walk.
After the walk we’ll enjoy going
together for frozen yogurt at Yogurt Mountain in Hoover.
Meet at 6:45 p.m. in the front
parking lot at the Helena Middle School and depart from that location at 7:00
p.m. to begin the walk.
OCTOBER 6,
SUNDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Moderate Dayhike Along Buck Creek in Helena, AL
Details: Please note-This hike will be postponed
to another date if the predicted high temperature for October 6 will be high
enough to make hiking in the outdoors unpleasant. Please check the SEO website seoutings.org a day or two prior to
October 6 to obtain the final status of this hike.
Come explore the wilder side of
Helena. Hike with SEO on a lovely
creekside trail in Helena in Shelby County.
Total hiking distance is less than four miles. Hike rated moderately easy.
We will be walking briefly off trail and walking up some hills when the
trail routes us away from the creek.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age eight and up
welcome.
Meet at 1:45 p.m. in the parking
lot for the Helena City Park on AL Highway 261 in Helena. We plan to depart from there at 2:00 p.m.
Directions to Meeting Place: Take I-65 to Exit #247, the Shelby
County Route 17, Valleydale Road exit.
Go to end of ramp and turn right regardless of whether you come from the
south or the north. Take Co. 17, which
changes from Co. Route 17 to AL 261, all the way into Helena. You will cross one railroad and then drive
over a bridge with a dam and waterfall on the left. Immediately past the bridge, turn sharply back to the right just before you cross a second railroad and then drive into the parking
lot for a city park right on the shore of Buck Creek. Distances on Valleydale Road, (Shelby County Route 17) and then
Alabama Route 261 from I-65 exit number 247 to driveway into Helena Park
parking lot are 5.5 miles from bottom end of southbound ramp and 5.9 miles from
bottom end of northbound ramp.
Info: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or 205/631-4680
OCTOBER 12, SATURDAY, 8:45 a.m.
Dayhike,
Flagg Mountain in Coosa County
Details: This will
be a moderately strenuous loop hike of about 4-6 miles that follows in
part Forest Service roads. Flagg
Mountain is the southernmost mountain over 1000 ft. high in the Appalachian
Range. Atop the mountain we will see
(but not climb up) one of only two stone towers built in Alabama in the 1930’s
by the CCC. We will also be able to explore some of the new 4-mile Flagg
Mountain Trail being built by the Alabama Hiking Trail Society (AHTS) as one
leg of the Eastern Continental/Great Eastern trails running from the Everglades
to Canada. We may have spectacular views all the way to Cheaha Mountain if the
day is clear. We’ll also see nearby log
and stone cabins, also built by the CCC, which are in various stages of
restoration. Although intended to become a state park (as Cheaha did), the
proposed Flagg Mountain Park was never completed. Flagg Mountain became part of
the Weogufka State Forest, and the area is now managed by the AHTS.
We are very pleased and fortunate
that Sunny, the AHTS caretaker of Flagg Mountain, will be leading this hike for
us. This is only the second time we
have visited this site since March, 2010.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised
children age 8 and over able to hike about five miles without complaining are
welcome.
Optional dinner after hike.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Publix in The Village at Lee
Branch in Greystone. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m. Please do not plan to drive any low
clearance vehicles (such as a Chevrolet Corvette) to the start point of the
hike on Flagg Mountain.
OCTOBER 13, SUNDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Second Sunday Dayhike in Oak Mountain State Park
Details: Enjoy a moderate 4-mile walk in the woodlands near
Birmingham on a Sunday afternoon. This
is an excellent outing for introducing your friends to Southeastern Outings and
for making new friends who enjoy the outdoors.
Parts of this hike may be off the color-coded trails. There will be some ups and downs.
Well-behaved, properly supervised
children age eight and up able to walk the distance of about 4 miles and
complete the hike are welcome. Share an
adventure! Bring a friend.
Please meet at 1:45
p.m. in the Oak Mountain Park office parking lot. We plan to depart from there at 2:00 p.m.
Please bring $5/person ($2.00
seniors) park admission fee plus your drink.
Info: Doris Hatch, 205/901-8367
OCTOBER 17, THURSDAY, 8:45 a.m.
Weekday Bicycle Ride
Note meeting time has been changed from 9:00 a.m. in top line of original announcement of this outing to 8:45 a.m. new, corrected time.
Note meeting time has been changed from 9:00 a.m. in top line of original announcement of this outing to 8:45 a.m. new, corrected time.
Where: Horse Creek Trail, Dora and Sumiton, AL
Details: Join friendly folks on an easy 6.4-mile bicycle ride
on the Horse Creek Trail in Dora and Sumiton, in Walker County, sort of near
Jasper, Alabama. The trail itself is
3.2 miles long. We will be bicycling
one round trip on this outing.
Ride on one of Alabama’s
rails-to-trails conversion routes on an old railroad right of way. This smooth trail is wide, level and
paved. No hills on this trail. On this particular bike ride you will be
bicycling on a scenic trail which goes through fields, near houses and through
the woods.
The trail is nicely developed,
with frequent covered benches. People you meet are both friendly and
helpful.
No motorized vehicles are allowed
on your trail! Note this is a
relatively easy ride, one which should be lots of fun for everyone who enjoys
bicycling. Please bring your bicycle
water with you.
After the bicycle ride, there will
be an optional lunch at a nearby casual restaurant with lovely views over the
Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River.
Meet 8:45 a.m. at the Floor and
Décor Store on Green Springs Highway.
We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m.
OCTOBER 19, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Picnic Lunch and Easy Dayhike
Where: Paul Grist State Park near Selma, Alabama
Details: Paul Grist State Park is one of the state’s most
uncrowded, yet scenic state parks containing hills, forests, fields and a
large, beautiful, tree-lined lake.
Prior to the dayhike we will get
together at the smaller pavilion right near the Park Office to eat our picnic
lunches. Please bring your picnic lunch
and also $3 per person ($2 for children age 2-6 and seniors age 62 and older)
park admission and a beverage for yourself.
Dayhike Details: Hike rated easy as there are only a few ups and
downs. Total hiking distance is
approximately 5.5 miles. We plan to
walk all the way around the lake and then also walk on some additional trails
in the park to make the drive time down and back worthwhile. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children
age nine and over able to walk 3 miles without complaining are welcome. Please bring your drink and wear sturdy
footwear.
Optional group restaurant dinner
after the hike. Reservations not
required for this outing.
Please meet 9:45
a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Info: Randall Adkins, 205/317-6969
OCTOBER 24, THURSDAY, 9:45 a.m.
Easy Weekday Walk
Where: Vulcan Trail inside the City Limits of Birmingham
Details: Enjoy an easy walk in the woodlands overlooking
Birmingham on a Thursday morning. The
trail is level, as it is on an old mining railroad right of way just below the
crest of Red Mountain. A previous walk
on this trail drew one of the highest numbers of participants, 67, on any
outing SEO has ever sponsored. Don’t
miss it!
Please meet at 9:45 a.m. in the Vulcan Park and Museum Parking
Lot where you would normally park to visit the Vulcan Statue and Vulcan
Park. We plan to depart from there at
10:00 a.m. Please follow the directions to the meeting place. Please note that three people got lost
trying to find the group on our last hike on the Vulcan Trail because they
tried to use their GPS to find the start point. Their devices misled them to The Club and to the TV stations on
top of Red Mountain, not to the Vulcan Park parking lot!
We will walk from the big parking
lot a short distance down some new stairs to the trail head and then on the
trail to Green Springs Highway and back.
The formerly unpaved section of the Vulcan Trail has recently been
widened and resurfaced.
After the walk is completed, there
will be an optional lunch at Jim 'N Nick's 11th Avenue Grill at Five Points
South. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and older
able to walk 4 miles without complaining are welcome.
Share an adventure. Bring a friend or friends.
Info: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or 205/631-4680
To obtain driving directions to Vulcan Park and Museum Parking Lot.--Vulcan Park and Museum Parking Lot—1701 Valley View Drive, Birmingham, AL 35209. Please call 205/631-4680 to obtain a list of complete directions to Vulcan Park from all major highways in Birmingham. You may leave your email address and a phone message if you wish, and the directions will be emailed to you promptly.
CANCELLED - WEATHER
OCTOBER 26, SATURDAY
Dayhike, Sipsey Wilderness, Bankhead National Forest
Details: Moderately strenuous 4-mile hike in a highly
scenic location, Upper Quillan Creek Forest Area. Most of the hike is off trail, there are lots of ups and downs,
and several rock-hopping crossings are required across small creeks.
We’ll walk along two creeks and on
an old road. At a beautiful waterfall
we’ll visit the site of an old mill. On
this hike we’ll see several small waterfalls on side creeks and tributaries to
Quillan Creek. We will visit at least
three very pretty waterfalls on Quillan Creek itself along the way.
Please bring picnic lunch and
water for the day. We expect to finish
about 4:00 p.m. Optional dinner
after. Well-behaved, properly supervised
children age 9 and over able to walk 4 miles off trail without complaining welcome.
Reservations Required: If you wish to participate in this
outing, you are required to call Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email your
reservation to seoutings@bellsouth.net by 5:00
p.m. on Thursday, October 24. When you
contact Dan, please be sure you leave either your phone number or email
address. This outing is limited to 20
people, and we will break up into two separate groups of up to ten people each
with its own separate leader in order to comply with U.S. Forest Service
regulations. We hope the limitation
will not prove to be a problem. At a later date
leader will advise meeting time and place only to those who have signed up for
this trip.
If you make a reservation with Dan to come on this trip and then for any
reason decide later to not come on this outing, please telephone Dan,
205/631-4680 right away. If we have 20
people signed up on the day of the hike and, say, we have two people on the waiting
list and then two people who signed up don’t show up for the hike, those two
no-show people have in effect deprived the two on the waiting list from
participating. Please don’t be a
no-show. If you aren’t coming after
making a reservation, please notify Dan.
