MARCH 5, SATURDAY Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike
Where: Horse Creek Trail, Dora and Sumiton, AL
Details: Join friendly folks on an easy 3.2-mile walk on the Horse Creek Trail in Dora and Sumiton in Walker County, sort of near Jasper, Alabama. Walk 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 hike you will be walking 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 might meet are both friendly and helpful.
No motorized vehicles are allowed on your trail! Note this is a relatively easy outing, one which should be lots of fun for everyone. Please bring your drink with you.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. just outside the left front door (as you face the front of the store) of the Wal-Mart SuperCenter in Sumiton, Alabama. We plan to depart by car from there at 10:00 a.m. and drive to the nearby start point of our hike on the trail.
Info and Trip Leader: Bart Ehmann, 205-823-7879
MARCH 5, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Bicycle Ride
Where: Horse Creek Trail, Dora and Sumiton, AL
Details: Join friendly folks on an easy, approximately 7-mile bicycle ride on the Horse Creek Trail in Dora and Sumiton, in Walker County, sort of near Jasper, Alabama. The trail itself is about 3.5 miles long one way. Everyone 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 even 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 opportunity to bike a second 7-mile round trip on the trail for those who would like to bicycle some more.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. just outside the left front door of the Wal-Mart in Sumiton, Alabama. We plan to depart by car from there at 10:00 a.m. and drive to the nearby start point of our ride on the trail.
Info and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or 205/631-4680.
MARCH 12, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike, Alabama Nature Center, Millbrook. Alabama
Details: The former Lanark Estate in Millbrook, Alabama, was conveyed to provide for long-term stewardship of the property and development of an outdoor education facility that is now known as the Alabama Nature Center. The Center is a planned use facility offering hands on, outdoor-based educational programs and activities for students, educators, church and civic groups, and the general public.
The Center contains 350 acres of striking forests, fields, streams, wetlands and parks that are traversed by five miles of boardwalks and trails in three regions. We plan to hike about 3.5 miles. Please bring $5.00 per person Nature Center admission fee with you. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and over able to walk about four miles without complaining are welcome on this outing.
Optional dinner after the hike.
Please meet for this outing at 9:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m. Information and Trip Leader: Dexter Duren, 205/765-2293
MARCH 13, SUNDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Second Sunday Dayhike in Oak Mountain State Park
Note: Please remember to turn all your clocks ahead one hour before retiring on Saturday night, March 12.
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 without complaining 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. and Trip Leader: Randall Adkins, 205/317-6969
MARCH 16, WEDNESDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Weekday Hike
Where: Veterans Park, 4800 Valleydale Road, Hoover, AL 35242
Details: Come with us an weekday hike. Enjoy an easy 3 mile hike on trails in North Shelby County just off Valleydale Road. Veterans Park is an 82-acre park with numerous walking trails, a four-acre lake and a one-acre pond.
If you are retired or not working or have off on this particular Wednesday, you are urged to participate in the Southeastern Outings group hike on the trails and get a feel for the location and scale of the land.
This walk will be Southeastern Outings’ seventh hike in Veterans Park. Come with us for a guided tour of easily walkable trails. Please bring water and wear good walking shoes or boots. Dress appropriately for the weather.
Please meet at 9:45 a.m. in the Veterans Park parking lot right beside the building with restrooms in it at the park. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Optional lunch nearby after the hike at Metro Diner Restaurant.
Admission to Park: Free
Information and hike leader: Randall Adkins, 205/317-6969 cell
MARCH 19, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike Where: Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
Details: On March 27, 1814, Major General Andrew Jackson‘s army of 3,300 men attacked Chief Menawa’s 1,000 Red Stick Creek warriors fortified in a horseshoe- shaped bend of the Tallapoosa River. Over 800 Red Sticks died that day. The battle ended the Creek War, resulted in a land cession of 23,000,000 acres to the United States and created a national hero of Andrew Jackson.
In March 1814, General Jackson's army left Fort Williams on the Coosa River, cut a 52-mile trail through the forest in three days, and on the 26th made camp six miles north of Horseshoe Bend. The next morning, Jackson sent General John Coffee and 700 mounted infantry and 600 Cherokee and Creek allies three miles down-stream to cross the Tallapoosa and surround the bend. He took the rest of the army - about 2000 men, consisting of East and West Tennessee militia and the Thirty-ninth U.S. Infantry - into the peninsula and at 10:30 a.m. began an ineffectual two-hour artillery bombardment of the Red Sticks' log barricade. At noon, Coffee's Cherokee allies crossed the river and assaulted the Red Sticks from the rear. Jackson quickly ordered a frontal bayonet charge, which poured over the barricade. Fighting ranged over the south end of the peninsula throughout the afternoon. By dark at least 800 of Chief Menawa's 1,000 Red Sticks were dead (557 slain on the field and 200-300 in the river). Menawa himself, although severely wounded, managed to escape. Jackson's losses in the battle were 49 killed and 154 wounded, many mortally.
Though the Red Sticks had been crushed at Tohopeka, remnants of the war party held out for several months. In August 1814, a treaty between the United States and the Creek Nation was signed at Fort Jackson near the present day city of Wetumpka, Alabama. The Treaty of Fort Jackson ended the conflict and required the Creeks to cede 23 million acres of land to the United States. The state of Alabama was carved out of this domain and admitted to the Union in 1819.
In 1828, partly as a result of his fame from the battles of Horseshoe Bend and New Orleans, Andrew Jackson was elected the seventh President of the United States.
We may have the opportunity to watch a short film and view the exhibits before we begin our hike which is rated easy. Viewing the film is contingent upon the visitor center being open on March 19. As of the time this announcement was written, the visitor center, restrooms and picnic area were closed.
Hike distance is 5.8 miles.
Admission to the park is free. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age eight and over welcome.
Optional restaurant dinner after the hike. Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the Publix in The Village at Lee Branch in Greystone. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m. Info: Randall Adkins, 205/317-6969
MARCH 26, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings River Ramble
Barton’s Beach and Perry Lakes Park near Marion in Perry County, Alabama
Details: Barton’s Beach. The area is an extensive sand and gravel beach on the Lower Cahaba River in Perry County near Marion, Alabama. The river floodplain broadens and creates areas of bottomland hardwood forests, oxbow lakes and extensive sand and gravel bars there.
The Perry Lakes Park and Wildlife Sanctuary contains about 600 acres available to the public for outdoor recreation, education, scientific research, and other activities. Interpretive nature trails (fire lanes and primitive paths) make walking through the woods fairly easy and fun.
Several trees in the park have been designated as Alabama State Champion Trees. The park lakes support a large heron rookery along with an abundance of songbirds. A 100-foot tall canopy observation tower allows for an exciting view of the forest and oxbow swamps.
Hikes at Barton’s Beach and Perry Lakes Park are easy since the terrain is level and the walks are all on trails. The two properties adjoin each other so we can walk readily back and forth between them.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 7 and older welcome.
Since the trails in the park may be muddy, we recommend that you bring a change of clothes with you in the car, especially a change of footwear and pants.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Info. on the hike and hike leader: Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or seoutings@bellsouth.net
