2022 Jan 15, First Day Hike on Multi-Purpose Trail Wheeler Dam

Today, a group of hikers meets at JWSP Cabin Office (24921 Alabama Hwy 101) for a little over the 2-mile hike. We followed in our cars to the hiking spot "The Multi-purpose Hiking Trail" with park rangers Sam and David. The trail is between Wheeler Dam and Fishmans Resort camping and lodge. It is a scenic loop that runs along the Tennessee River and Big Nance Creek.

Bathhouse 

We saw several historic ruins of the 1930s, a bathhouse/restrooms. We saw a couple of overgrown Chimneys and Picnic Tables, once used by the people living here during the building of TVA's Wheeler Dam. We also saw a collapsed viewing area that overlooks the Tennessee River. The rangers said they hoped to get a grant to restore the viewing area. We stopped about midway for a group picture. (The ranger David took our picture with his cell phone and said he would email everyone a copy; I have not received mine yet)

This spot overlooking Big Nance Creek is where the group stopped for a picture. We saw several different kinds of hardwood trees, oak, and hickory. We saw a variety of wild mushrooms & berries that feed the animals that are in the park. We saw signs of deer in the soft mud and could hear the many different sounds of Alabama's songbirds.

Open Pit

We also saw a large open grill/pit used to cook outdoor meals for a large group, overgrown with a tree growing in the middle. It was a very overcast day with a chance of rain and snow. The hike began at noon and ended around 2:30 PM. It began to sprinkle as we were leaving. TVA is planning to build a powerhouse to feed the growing community. Hopefully, they will not destroy too much of the walking forest area.

Mushrooms on log 

Everyone received an "I hiked Alabama State Parks New Year's Day." The first-day hike scheduled for Jan 1, 2022, was canceled because of inclement weather. (High winds and threatening tornadoes) and rescheduled for Jan 15, 2022.

Group of hikers

A copy of the group was sent to everyone from Sam and David. We had three dogs, 10 people, plus two park rangers. (One not showing took the picture)

Growing up

Growing up 

We grew up in the country and two of my siblings and I went to a country school.

When we moved to the city, my siblings attended Brandon Elementary School and some attended the free Maud Lindsey Kindergarten.

My first and second-grade teacher was Mrs. Jones

She would start every morning by having the class recite the pledge of allegiance to the flag and then we would say a prayer.

Mrs. Jones had a word wheel that was full of beginner words that we practiced every day.

Our first readers were the Dick, Jane, and Sally Series.

Look, Dick, look, look, see Spot run.

Help, help, said Sally.

The best time of the school day was when our teacher released us to go outside, that is when all that built-up energy exploded into fun.

We would jump, run, hop, skip, and swing, no matter what the weather, hot, cold, snowing, raining, or even when the sun was shining brightly.

When the teacher called us to return inside, our energy was still boiling.

We would come running, all the while the teacher would be saying, DON’T RUN!

I can still remember that tragic day when my best friend and I came running into the building after being told to not run.

We were the last ones in line at the water fountain, and I can still remember how great, that cold water tasted.

The water only slowed us down for a few seconds, as down the hall we ran.

I was suddenly stopped, not by a teacher, but by a door, for I had run straight into the latch of the lunchroom door.

The next thing I knew I was on the floor blood running down my face.

I was taken to the first aid room, where a bandage was applied to a gash, which was above my left eyebrow.

You would have thought that an accident would have slowed me down, but think again.

  

As children growing up in the country, we had to make our own fun, and we had a very vivid imagination, our horses were made of sticks, and our boyfriends, were characters from the television shows that we watched.

A big screen tubed television set in a wooden cabinet, playing the black and white shows was our first.

We watched many westerns Gun Smoke, Bonanza, Have Gun Will Travel, and Maverick. My favorite show, which was not a western, was Adventures in Paradise.

Everyone detested the nights we had to watch the president make his speech because he was on every channel.

To get better reception, my dad had brought home a power line pole that he put our antenna on.

The Power pole had spikes staggering up it, which allowed him to walk up to the top.

My dad had to use a ladder to get to the first set of spikes, not sure if this was to keep us from climbing to the top or not.

When we were not watching television, we were outside, which was most of the time.

There were just a few neighborhood kids that lived nearby, that were close to our ages.

My friend, who was an only child, lived down the road from us with her parents, her grandparents lived next door, and her grandmother was Cherokee Indian.

My friend's parents had several detached buildings scattered around their home.

One of those buildings contained a variety of discarded bags of clothes, hats, purses, and shoes. 

We would go inside this building and dig through each bag, trying on different dresses, shoes, and hats, to find just the right one, that we would wear that day.

Our imaginations would take us to faraway places.

As, I would find myself, aboard a large schooner with Gardner McKay, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

A storm would be brewing, and our boat would be rocking back and forth, as the waves tossed us to and fore, which did not matter because I was standing to next a dark-skinned, browned-eyed, the man with his brown hair blowing in the wind.

We could always smell food cooking, coming from my friend's grandmother’s kitchen, and when she opened that screen door holding a plate of sugar cookies, we knew it was time for a break.

Her grandmother would call us and say, I have hot cookies and some fresh milk, and we would come running.

The older we got the more adventurous we became.

We played all the time in the forest but were told not to go near HORSESHOE BLUFF.

For some reason, we did not listen, and off we would go, walking along the cliffs and climbing down very tall trees to get to the base of the bluff.

We loved to watch the cascading waterfall, as we walked into the inclining bluff.

Such an enticing, dangerous place, where creatures could hide.

We could pretend to be cowgirls or Indian girls, that we're free to play wherever their hearts desired.

My imagination never stopped!

I would be swinging my legs back and forth pumping that swing higher and higher, stretching my legs upward towards the sky, and hoping just by chance maybe to touch the clouds. 

I would belt out a song that I had learned in church, while I was swinging. 

I felt like a bird as the words flew out of my mouth.

The big oak tree, held tight to the long cabled rope, as I twisted the rope tight as a tick and when the tension was released around I would go, getting drunk as a skunk.

What fun and I would do it repeatedly.

My dad was very inventive for he made us a go-cart. 

He used a wagon frame, a lawnmower motor, and a rope to make it work.

You would crank the Go-cart by pulling the string that was attached to the motor, but to turn it off, the spark plugs had to pull out.

There were more than enough hickory nuts to feed the forest animals and us.

We would grab several large paper sacks that were used to bring our groceries home, and take the grocery sacks into the woods, where we would fill them full, with hickory nuts of every size, kind, and variety that we could find.

We would return home with our nuts and find a good spot to crack them open, but first, we had to find two rocks, one to place the nut on, and another rock to hit the nut with.

We would retrieve one of the mother's large mixing bowls and fill the bowl full of cracked open nuts,

Then we would take the bowl full of nuts inside and pick the goodies out with the edge of a bobby pin.

In the early spring, when we knew we were going into town, we would get several paper sacks and fill them full with Polk salad and sell them in town.

Our house was built along the side of a hill; from our kitchen and bedroom windows, we could see for miles the forest.

In the distance, we could see a very large power line that looked like the kind that is used by Radio Station to pick up radio wave frequencies.

Our house was built by the sweat and brow of my parents, which took many years and was never completely finished, during the ten years that I lived there.

I can still see and feel the inside of our quaint spot on earth; which we called home, where we felt safe from the environment that surrounded us.

Our home began with just three rooms, but grew as we grew, from one bedroom into three.

Some of our walls were covered with sheetrock, while we walked on plank floors.

Our kitchen was filled with a long kitchen table, with just enough chairs for each of us to set in.

There was a stove, a refrigerator, a very large sink with cold water piped inside to our kitchen, and a very large bar for storage below and above.

The only plumbing inside our home was in the kitchen sink and that is where we would get our bathwater.

The water had to be boiled and poured into a very large tub, along with cold water which every child shared for a bath.

I remember once, sharing the tub with my bride doll, and after putting her head underwater, all her hair fell out. She no longer looked like a bride.

I guess raising eight children was not easy, especially when you put them to bed, only to be awakened by laughter and talking.

Very few cars drove by our house, so at night the only things that we could hear were the sounds outside.

We could hear the crickets rubbing their legs together, crooking of frogs, Junebugs, July-flies, owls hooting, wolfs howling, and sometimes we would hear the sound of a woman screaming, this was our mountain lion.

No curtains hang on our windows that face the forest; there was no need, what forest animal was going to peek inside?

Every now and then, the moon would peek inside; sometimes she would blink her eyes when the clouds covered them.

The fireflies could be seen throughout the forest as the night filled the sky.

A TRAIL OF NO RETURN

We stopped at the Muscle Shoals Library to view the second of a series of sculptures that are to be placed throughout the Shoals Area over the next few years.

This sculpture depicts a studio session bass player.

Singing River Sculpture

First, we stopped at several different auto parts stores looking for a part for my husband Fireo.

We ate lunch at Peppers in Muscle Shoals before beginning our adventure.

We shared a Lifeline Turkey and Avocado Sandwich and Chips and rotel with Salsa.

Roasted turkey, arcade sun-dried tomatoes, spring greens, cucumbers, and fat-free sun-dried tomato basil vinaigrette on a toasted whole-wheat bun.

Both ordered a large tea.

We stopped at a junkyard in Russellville.

Town of Littleville

On our travels, we passed many cows grazing in the fields.

Maybe some black Angus cows

We rode to Bankhead National Forrest.

We rode through the town of Moulton on Highway 33, around many curves, up the mountain, down the mountain,  down a very long gravel road.

Grove of trees on Bankhead Highway/33 Highway

We turned off Highway 33 onto Hickory Grove Road (graveled road) which went on for several miles.

We passed an abandoned chicken barn, cows, barns, ponds, and a couple riding horses and they were holding hands.

Caspey Creek

Two lovebirds

We crossed Caspey Creek Bridge, and we stopped to take some pictures.

We came out on Highway 41 South Danville Road, we traveled to 157 University of North Alabama Highway to Highway 101, and we crossed Wheeler Dam on Highway 72.

We ordered a pineapple and ham pizza from Pizza Hut, and we took it home to eat for supper.

YUM.