Now this is what the doctor ordered. After the extreme flatness of Florida it was wonderful to be in the hills again. Not as high or as hard as the Appalachians mind you but good solid ridges and great preparation for the southern AT. The Alabama Pinhoti is all off-road from Bull Gap to the Georgia line and has fine outlooks, beautiful ponds and streams to camp next to and shelters all along the northern half.
The first section between Bull Gap and Porter Gap had some wonderful outlooks at the area north of Sylacauga. This part of Alabama is mostly long ridges and valleys in between them. I camped at Scott's Lake the first night, despite a late morning start. It's a wonderful sport with a falls that drains the lake into a small stream. The remains of some small buildings on the north side make for nice camping with a few birds on the lake in the evening and the morning for company.
Another couple of days brought me to Mt Talladega and Mt Cheaha. Talladega has a certain mystique to it. I don't know if it was because so many things are named after it or the morning fog but I certainly felt it. It's a lovely wooded ridge with several campsites.
Mt Cheaha (rhymes with YEE-HAW) has a road, several trails near the summit and a cluster of buildings on the summit. The Pinhoti avoids all this but my host in Alabama had suggested that I follow the road the summit and I'm glad I did. After a short upslope to the summit road there's a hotel and even a store with groceries. I talked with another hiker later who had used it as a rest and resupply stop and recommended it. The summit was another mile further up along the summit road. And while there's an enormous TV tower there, there's also a lovely almost church-like stone observation tower that one can climb for a very nice view.
The real surprise was Bald Rock. It took me a while to wangle me way over to it. (Improvising on the summit trails was not the way to go since there's a bunch of them). When I found the trail I also found that it was handicapped accessible. There's an elevated boardwalk that takes you on a lovely woods trek to an observation platform and a stunning view of the surrounding area. The trail from Bald Rock back to the Pinhoti trail was not plazed or signed so I was more than a bit relieved to get back on the Pinhoti again.
Hillabee Creek had a beautiful big campsite complete with a fire ring and stone seats. I hung up my clothes and ate naked (no pictures-sorry). Solitude is a beautiful thing and the Pinhoti has plenty of it.