Backpacking Sipsey Wilderness
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ย. 2024
- • Backpacking Sipsey Wil...
A three night backpacking trip in Sipsey Wilderness, located in northern Alabama.
Hope you enjoy the video and thanks for watching!
Backpacking With Bryan DeLay webpage: bryandelay.com/
• Backpacking Sipsey Wil...
My wife and I will be backpacking this late March of 2022. Even more pumped after watching this video. Well done. We are from northern Michigan.
Thanks Retired 5oh DAD! Hope you have a great hike in Sipsey Wilderness.
Great video Sir! Really enjoy your hikes.
The signage is pathetic there. Have been going there for 40 years and have helped dozens of people that were lost or just headed the wrong way. Helped about 25 lost folks this year along.
Thank you boulder89984! I should have mentioned about the signs...they are terrible.
Bryan, I always tell people if you see something written or scratched on a sign or post believe it. They are trying to clarify the confusion. If you ever come back, please let me know. I can put you on some really cool stuff.
I’ve been hiking there for over 25 years and there has never been reliable signage. It is a wilderness area though and the general idea is to minimize permanent human impact but signs and trail blazes would be nice.
Thank you for putting together such a wonderful video of your Sipsey Wilderness experience. I think it’s one of the best kept backpacking secrets in the south. Lots of of day hiker traffic in the Fall and Spring but nice and quiet mid-week. My favorite time to explore this area is in the Winter.
Thanks for watching Paul! Glad you enjoyed the video.
Nice video Bryan! The water color there is gorgeous. Good on ya for helping out the day hikers. Sounds like just in the nick of time, too. Looked like a beautiful trip with beautiful weather.
Thank you Catherine! Not sure what the day hikers were thinking. They did a 15 mile loop and didn't bring any water, food or a flashlight, only a small map they printed off the internet. I've been wanting to do a trip in Sipsey Wilderness for several years, so this trip was overdue and I was not disappointed.
The Sipsey Wilderness is a hidden gem for backpackers if you hit it during the right seasons like Bryan did, which is usually the spring and fall. Stream flows are greater in the spring and really show off all the waterfalls along the trail. If you can tolerate cool water temps, the streams can be inviting for a quick dip to cool off. March and April is when the woods start greening up and the dogwoods bloom. With good rains in the late summer, the fall colors can be spectacular. May thru September is too hot to hike and you run the risk of stepping on rattlers or cottonmouths since sections of the trail can be a bit overgrown. That's when I head out west to the Rockies.
The topography and plants appear very similar to foothills and Piedmont NC. What a great place for a forest bath! Perfect choice of season too.
I hadn't thought of that, but it does look like the Piedmont in NC. Late March is a great time to go to Sipsey. Don't think I would go in summer though ... to hot.
Thank God you were there to help the tri that was lost. God bless you. I am an old backpacker living in the Smokies and I have turned around two families and one individual this year who were going in disastrously bad directions.
Art, I run into people frequently who need directions. It's bad enough in the Smoky's, but even worse when it's in some of the more remote wilderness areas around the Smoky's.
Nice trip! Excellent example of how so many go il-prepared into what is believed to be a simple day or “well marked” trail/day hike. Thanks to your care, tragedy was averted. Good job!
Thanks Tim! It is hard to imagine going on a 15 mile hike without food and water. Just glad they were able to get out ok.
Welcome back to Alabama and thanks for visiting! The Sipsey is a really special place in the state and the best wilderness area we have but some of the trails can be a bit confusing as you discovered. Glad you had a chance to experience fat man's squeeze. The trail scenery in the Sipsey remind me of some of the trails I've hiked in the Columbia River Valley area of Oregon.
A trip to Sipsey was long overdue. I've been want to get down there for several years and finally made it. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Really enjoyed this one, Bryan. Beautiful Wilderness Area - looks like a ton of great camp spots as well. Great job on the edit, per usual!
Thank you Chris! Yes very nice area that I should've visited years ago.
Your picture-perfect bearbag throws never go unnoticed, Bryan! It’s a skill, for sure, and one I pathetically lack. Maybe I’ll just buy an ursack... What a magnificent hike! Everything was just picturesque. Great editing as well- putting it all in under 30 min must have been a challenge! What a story about the day hikers- you really stepped up and saved them from what could have turned disastrous. Bravo! It’s interesting that the trails there are numbered and not named. Getting lost is all part of the adventure, isn’t it? The terrain is beautiful. Great hike and thanks for bringing us along!
Thank you SectionHiking The AT. All I can say about bear bag throws is practice, practice, practice:). Sipsey was very beautiful. The day hikers didn't have packs or anything other than the clothes they were wearing, except for a little map they printed off the internet. So going after them was just something that had to be done. After I found them they told me they had hiked 15 miles. It's hard to imagine someone would do a 15 mile hike and not bring food and water. My theory is I've never been lost, because even though I may not know where I am, I always know how to get back to the car:). Glad you enjoyed the video.
Also I should mention the trails have names and numbers. And it's not uncommon, especially in wilderness areas, for the signs to just show the trail number.
Love those old bluffs in North Alabama. I grew up there and they're everywhere. Seems like all my friends had a bluff in the back yard except me. :D Thanks for the share.
Thanks for watching and commenting Mark.
Great video, been there a few times . great place , thanks for sharing
Thanks Dewayne! Glad you enjoyed the video.
Good to meet you this past weekend at the Derrick Knob shelter. Great videos!
Thank you James! It was great to meet you also. Wished we had a little better weather.
Beautiful area for backpacking. Really nice of you to help those people out with water. I’ve never backpacked this area before. Might have to start planning a trip there. That was a deep creek crossing. Fat man squeeze looked fun!! Awesome video 👍
Thank you Jason! Really glad you enjoyed the video.
Great video! Thank you for opening my eyes to places I hadn’t considered backpacking. Alabama wasn’t on my radar. When all this pandemic crap is over I will look into this area.
Thanks Chris! It was certainly better than I expected. Hope you get todo a trip there.
Great trip. Some really nice waterfalls there. Good thing you caught those hikers before they went way off in the wrong direction.
Thank you waterfallmadman! It could have been bad, since they had no water, no food, no flashlight and only a little map they had printed off the internet.
BSA Troop 204 installed several of those trail signs for an Eagle Scout project back in 04 or 05
Thanks for this information moondog!
Great video I love day hiking there and have been wanting to plan a camping trip just like this
Thanks Hood Road! Hope you get to do a backpacking trip in Sipsey Wilderness soon.
Brian, great trip. I've backpacked there a couple of times and liked it. We saw the Big Tree and also I think it was Bee Branch Falls, both worth a detour.
Thanks Will! Yes, Sipsey was very nice. I will have to check out the Big Tree and Bee Branch Falls on another trip there.
Thanks for put this on TH-cam!
Thanks Hiking Alabama! Glad you enjoyed the video.
22:26 My favorite part of that Sipsey trail. It gets pretty low at one point.... you need to crawl. You gotta hold your pack in your hand. It gets dark. But it's safe. Heck you could stay in there during a sudden storm, there's a spot about half way through where light comes through if I remember right..
We didn't have to crawl, but we did have to take off our packs and hold them in front of us to get through. There was a spot where light was coming through a hole in the wall.
Such a great video. Been there a few times myself. Good job with the video!
Thank you Kevin! Sipsey's beauty really surprised me.
Great video, Bryan! You ordered great weather. Sipsey is an amazing place. Knew you’d enjoy fat man’s squeeze. 😂 Enjoyed our lunch and the time to chat.
Thank you Carl for the great map and all your advice with putting together this trip. Yes Sipsey is amazing and so much like Big South Fork NRRA. Lunch was very enjoyable and again thanks for all your help.
Hey Bryan, watching from North Carolina. Really enjoyed the video. Glad you made it through the squeeze lol! Keep up the great adventures 😁📸
Thanks Allen, glad you enjoyed the video. The squeeze was ... well a tight muddy squeeze.
Bryan DeLay I’m sure. It would have been for my 6’2 240 lb frame. 😁
I really enjoyed your video. Thank you.
Thank you Missy!
Great job Professor! I will definitely lose some weight after barely making it through fat-man's squeeze. You made an interesting scene using those beech leaves... I was glad the redbuds came through on video better than I thought they would. I did notice some Hollywood style editing--maybe you could teach me some of those tricks. Yes, it was a great trip once again. But I won't take the blame for getting lost!
Thank you Brian! I would suggest having that sweet tooth extracted:). Yea the redbuds came out better than I expected. Gladly show you some editing tricks, but I'll warn you it's time consuming. I would never blame you for getting us lost, even if you were leading the charge:).
If anybody has ever hiked with Prof Delay you know that he charges up and down the trails! I was doing my best to stay ahead, practically had to run. Thats why I jumped over those sticks on the trail and got us sidetracked! And I couldn't let you run up that big hill without me doing so on a smaller one, especially since I am a decade younger than you are!! But it almost killed me!
Good visuals nice video
Me and my family hike out there all the time . We live pretty close. Glad you enjoyed it . Great video. Come back and check out the other trails sometime . Hike on ! :)
Thank you Gabrielle! Yes, I may have hike Sipsey Wilderness again.
Looks like a really great loop, love the water colors. It reminds me of the NC Piedmont but with more cliffs. Interesting that the trails don't have names there. Did you see the big tree? I believe the largest or oldest tree in AL is within the Sipsey Wilderness.
It was nicer than I expected Zach. The trails have names and numbers like most trails and it's not too uncommon for trail signs to only use the numbers. I probably should have used the trail names in my narrations. We did not see the big tree. It would have been about 3 miles out and back to the tree, so decided not to.
Oh ok. My thought is erecting most trail signs with only numbers is a recipe for a lot of confused hikers lol, so I'm surprised they did that throughout an accessible wilderness.
Another great trip Bryan. Hey those little mistakes getting is all part of the adventure. However sounds like you saved those day hikers from a disaster.
Thanks Tom! Yes it's all part of the adventure. Are you still coming to the GSMNP in April?
@@BryanDeLay yes actually a few times between now & may. I am heading up Tuesday to do 30 mile part of FHT just to get up in the woods for awhile. Really not much of a plan. Whats on your radar this coming month?
Right now nothing! Joey's laptop got knocked off a counter and the screen broke. So he's doesn't think he will be able to afford to come to Knoxville. He's got 4 week long trips back-to-back and it will be 4 weeks before he will be in a town to see if it can be repaired. Just let me know you schedule.
@@BryanDeLay You mentioned previously that Tues & Thus are not good for you? Let's work out a trip soon. I'm up for anywhere within a days drive from here in FL.
I only have plans on Thursday the 4th and Tuesday the 9th. So other than those days I can go.
Bryan, This looks like a trip I'd like to try, please let me know what if any mapping service you use to prepare for your hikes. Thanks
Chris
Chris, I used a map that one of my subscribers sent to me. It's Sipsey Wilderness and The Black Warrior Wildlife Management Area published by Carto-Craft Maps, Inc. located at 738 Shades Mountain Plaza, Hoover, AL 35226 (205-822-2103). Hope this helps!
ChrisfromFL Hey Chris, there are printable maps @ the Sipsey Wilderness Hiking Club website.
@@boulder89984 : I really appreciate the information you provided, I've joined the site. After seeing Byrans video, I thought it would be a great place visit and get into some hiking terrain that we don't get in Florida, plus give me some experience besides the super ups and downs of either the AT, Smokeies and Foothills Trails. Thanks again for your help.
Great video-but have 2 questions:
1. Is the trail well marked?
2. Conditions of the trail.
Thanks,
Paul
Thanks pjgaustad! At that time the trails were in good condition, but the trail signs were not that great.
I did some of that myself. I can't wait to get back there. I had water up to my knees when I crossed the river. I made it through fat man squeeze. Lol
Going through Fat Man Squeeze is a little bit of a challenge. Thanks for watching and commenting Fred.
@@BryanDeLay I plan on doing the loop you did in Talledega National Park next month. I did the entire thing on the installment plan and now I'm going to do the entire thing over a weekend
Have fun!
This was an awesome video. Thank you sir. I am about to be going on my first backpacking trip and I've been planning on going to the Sipsey Wilderness so this was a great vid to study up on. Only question though. As far as picking a place for each night, is there a list of sites or do I just pick a spot at random? I noticed the spots yall stayed at seemed to already have a fire ring. Just getting a map prepared.
There are no officially designated campsites and camping is allowed anywhere, but there are numerous campsites that are already established, which is what we used each nigh.
@@BryanDeLay that's what I was thinking. Awesome!!! Really looking forward to checking it out
What kind or brand is the canopy shelter you're using?
Les, my shelter is a Mountain Laurel Designs Trail Star DCF tarp
Any tips for a first time hiker? I live fairly close to this area and I’m planning to do a trip like yours. Are there parking fees at the trail entrance? Can you only camp at established camping sites? Just trying to plan ahead so any help would be greatly appreciated, I’ve never done anything quite like this before but I’m looking forward to it
First is to get a good map of the area and pay attention to the signs. As I recall there was a parking fee at the trail head where we parked, but I don't recall how much.
Kinda defeats the purpose when you hang your food bag "AT" your campsite.
Sometimes you have to do what you have to do Matthew. My primary purpose for hanging food is to keep animals from getting it, so from that perspective my purpose was achieved. Often in the GSMNP the bear cables in the campsites and very close to where the tent has to be set up. Also in 2019 I did an 11 day trip in a remote part of Jasper National Park, Canada (yep, Griz country) and often the bear poles used to hang food were "AT" the campsite. Not always can you find a tree to hang food from that is 100' feet (300' in Griz country) from your campsite.