| 11.1 ~ Wormy's Pulpit Lights of Talladega |
Section 4 Topo Map Click for Full Size |
Pinhoti Blaze Click for Full Size |
Jason Stinchfield Click for Full Size |
Ridge Walk Section Click for Full Size |
Foothills and Watershed Section Click for Full Size |
PTA Site Map
Pinhoti Trail Alliance
Connecting Alabama and Georgia to the Appalachian Trail
About Section 4
Pinhoti Trail Alliance
Connecting Alabama and Georgia to the Appalachian Trail
About Section 4
| Millennium Legacy Trail |
Mile 45.4 - Wormy's Pulpit
Lights of Talladega
September, 2005
Section 4 is the new 18 mile southern extension of the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama. It lies
between AL 148 on the southern end, 10.5 miles east of Sylacauga, and AL 77 on the
northern end, 8.9 miles east of Talladega.
While trail construction only began this past February, there has been an amazing amount
of progress from a constant stream of folks working on it since then and it's about 90%
complete.
Handbuilt Sections
The local Trail Clubs have been assigned a total of 3.44 miles of the trail to be built by
hand in 7 different locations and all but 0.4 miles of this work has been completed. As of
November, 2005 all of the trail has been blazed with the Pinhoti's blue rectangle.
Dozer Sections
Trails Unlimited, a USFS trail construction crew, was responsible for building 14.56
miles of the trail with a small bulldozer (Bobcat on steroids). This rough cut was
completed within the first 40 days and it may take the Local Clubs another 6 months or
so to clear off all the exposed roots and loose rocks.
Be aware that the trail is still considered a diamond in the rough. You will probably have
some navigation problems at times and until the USFS officially opens the trail, they
don't claim otherwise.
There is still a lot of flagging tape hanging from tree limbs and big patches of blue spray
paint on tree trunks that are left over from when the trail corridor was first laid out
that you can follow. The trail bed itself is pretty well defined and fairly easy to follow in
most areas. The most important thing is for you to pay attention to your surroundings so
that if you do go off trail, you can back up to a known point and try again.
Ridge Walk Section
This section begins at the southern terminus of Section 4, at the 34.3 ~ Bull Gap
Trailhead and ends at the 46.3 ~ USFS 600 Crossing. This part of the trail will probably
be rated as difficult because of a combination of things.
The first is that the trail doesn't cross any reliable water sources and only crosses one
seasonal water source, which really just amounts to a wet weather run off. Section 4
does have two reliable water sources, which are located at miles 48.7 and 48.8.
The second reason for a difficult rating is the amount of exposed rocks here on the west
side of the ridge, which is about 9 1/2 miles all together. The rocks don't make it
especially difficult to hike but they will slow you down and of course stopping to gawk at
the views from the cliffs and bluffs will slow you down quite a bit too. : )
The third thing, which will probably be the clincher for a difficult rating, is the elevation
gains and losses. Once you gain the ridge line above Bull Gap, Trails Unlimited and the
local Trail Club crews made a valiant effort to keep the trail as high up on the ridge as
possible by building a total of 11 sets of switchbacks.
If there is anything that could possibly bring the rating down to moderate / difficult, it
would be that the inclines and declines are always kept at an 8% grade or less, which is
very moderate.
Foothills and Watershed Section
From the 46.3 ~ USFS 600 Crossing, where you begin the 2.4 mile descent off the ridge
with a series of 24 switchbacks, to the 52.3 ~ Porter's Gap Trailhead is the foothills
and watershed section.
While the 12 mile ridge walk section on the southern end may swing a little wide of what
you would normally expect from the Pinhoti, you will feel very familiar in this 6 mile
section with its mostly side hill trail weaving in and out of steep forested coves as it
crosses a large number springs and the 2 big creek crossings near Scott Lake.
Trails Unlimited did a fine job of bringing the trail to the 5 acre Scott Lake at a point
about 50' above the water and then almost completely circling it before heading up to
Porter's Gap.
So all in all, Section 4 is a very good reflection of the Pinhoti that so many hikers have
come to know and love because of its constant variety, solitude and its unique ability to
inspire a humbling awe at the natural beauty of the planet that we live on.
PTA Site Map
Lights of Talladega
September, 2005
Section 4 is the new 18 mile southern extension of the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama. It lies
between AL 148 on the southern end, 10.5 miles east of Sylacauga, and AL 77 on the
northern end, 8.9 miles east of Talladega.
While trail construction only began this past February, there has been an amazing amount
of progress from a constant stream of folks working on it since then and it's about 90%
complete.
Handbuilt Sections
The local Trail Clubs have been assigned a total of 3.44 miles of the trail to be built by
hand in 7 different locations and all but 0.4 miles of this work has been completed. As of
November, 2005 all of the trail has been blazed with the Pinhoti's blue rectangle.
- 0.0 ~ 0.1 / ATA ~ HMTC ~ finished
1.9 ~ 2.2 / ATA ~ HMTC ~ finished
3.2 ~ 3.3 / ATA ~ HMTC ~ finished
3.7 ~ 4.2 / ATA ~ HMTC ~ finished
5.2 ~ 5.9 / ATA ~ HMTC ~ finished
6.4 ~ 8.1 / ATCA ~ HMTC ~ 0.3 miles finished
11.1 ~ 11.3 / ATCA ~ HMTC ~ finished
Dozer Sections
Trails Unlimited, a USFS trail construction crew, was responsible for building 14.56
miles of the trail with a small bulldozer (Bobcat on steroids). This rough cut was
completed within the first 40 days and it may take the Local Clubs another 6 months or
so to clear off all the exposed roots and loose rocks.
Be aware that the trail is still considered a diamond in the rough. You will probably have
some navigation problems at times and until the USFS officially opens the trail, they
don't claim otherwise.
There is still a lot of flagging tape hanging from tree limbs and big patches of blue spray
paint on tree trunks that are left over from when the trail corridor was first laid out
that you can follow. The trail bed itself is pretty well defined and fairly easy to follow in
most areas. The most important thing is for you to pay attention to your surroundings so
that if you do go off trail, you can back up to a known point and try again.
Ridge Walk Section
This section begins at the southern terminus of Section 4, at the 34.3 ~ Bull Gap
Trailhead and ends at the 46.3 ~ USFS 600 Crossing. This part of the trail will probably
be rated as difficult because of a combination of things.
The first is that the trail doesn't cross any reliable water sources and only crosses one
seasonal water source, which really just amounts to a wet weather run off. Section 4
does have two reliable water sources, which are located at miles 48.7 and 48.8.
The second reason for a difficult rating is the amount of exposed rocks here on the west
side of the ridge, which is about 9 1/2 miles all together. The rocks don't make it
especially difficult to hike but they will slow you down and of course stopping to gawk at
the views from the cliffs and bluffs will slow you down quite a bit too. : )
The third thing, which will probably be the clincher for a difficult rating, is the elevation
gains and losses. Once you gain the ridge line above Bull Gap, Trails Unlimited and the
local Trail Club crews made a valiant effort to keep the trail as high up on the ridge as
possible by building a total of 11 sets of switchbacks.
If there is anything that could possibly bring the rating down to moderate / difficult, it
would be that the inclines and declines are always kept at an 8% grade or less, which is
very moderate.
Foothills and Watershed Section
From the 46.3 ~ USFS 600 Crossing, where you begin the 2.4 mile descent off the ridge
with a series of 24 switchbacks, to the 52.3 ~ Porter's Gap Trailhead is the foothills
and watershed section.
While the 12 mile ridge walk section on the southern end may swing a little wide of what
you would normally expect from the Pinhoti, you will feel very familiar in this 6 mile
section with its mostly side hill trail weaving in and out of steep forested coves as it
crosses a large number springs and the 2 big creek crossings near Scott Lake.
Trails Unlimited did a fine job of bringing the trail to the 5 acre Scott Lake at a point
about 50' above the water and then almost completely circling it before heading up to
Porter's Gap.
So all in all, Section 4 is a very good reflection of the Pinhoti that so many hikers have
come to know and love because of its constant variety, solitude and its unique ability to
inspire a humbling awe at the natural beauty of the planet that we live on.
PTA Site Map