Upcoming Activities
APRIL 5, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike: Cahaba River Park in Western Shelby County north of Montevallo
The river splits the park into two sites with different amenities. The north side, which is called the Helena/Hoover Sector, includes most of the park’s acreage. The sector comprises 1,212 acres of Forever Wild property and 127 acres of county property. The south side of the river, which is called the Boothton/Montevallo Sector, comprises 188 acres of Shelby County property.
Cahaba River Park is a Shelby County venture that has being developed in conjunction with Forever Wild Land Trust, an initiative of the Alabama
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Improvements to Shelby County 251, or River Road on the north side of the Cahaba River, are now complete. The Park offers about 15 miles of professionally designed and constructed trails for mountain biking, hiking and trail running; multiple parking locations at trailheads; several canoe launch sites that will allow for short trips or runs as long as 7 miles; 2 sets of pavilions and restroom facilities; and a caretaker’s house for a law enforcement officer.
Our hike in the Helena/Hoover Sector on April 5 will include walking on several trails. The park’s trails offer a nice blend of forest, river and creek views including a good view of the area’s elevation.
Please bring your picnic lunch and water with you on the hike. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and older able to walk up to five miles without complaining are welcome to participate in this trip.
Please meet at 8:45 a.m. in the parking lot behind the McDonald’s on U.S. Highway 31 at the Riverchase Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m.
Admission to the park is free.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, telephone 205-631-4680, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com
APRIL 6, SUNDAY, please meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Sunday Dayhike in Oak Mountain State Park
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age eight and up able to walk the distance of about 4 miles 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.
Information and trip leader: Randall Adkins, 205-719-7719
APRIL 10, THURSDAY, please meet 9:30 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Leisurely Weekday Wildflower Walk, Dunnavant Valley Greenway Walking Trail (DVGWT)
If the pretty waterfall near the trail is flowing nicely on the day of our hike, we will make a side trip off the trail to view it and then return to the main trail where we will hike to the far end of the trail and back to the start. A few days before April 10 one or two of our hikers plan to scout the area in order to ascertain whether the waterfall is likely to be running or not on April 10. There are footbridges over the streams, and, except for a short, steep patch over a ridge, walking on the trail itself is easy. Happy hiking! Please bring your water with you.
Please meet at 9:30 a.m. in the small DVGWT trail head parking lot on the edge of Yellow Leaf Creek on the edge of the soccer fields on AL Highway 41. We plan to depart from there at 9:45 a.m. Please note that this is a different meeting place and starting point from the place where we have begun our hike on this trail nearly every other time we have hiked on this trail in the past!
Information and Trip Leader: Christine Heckemeyer, 205-979-5730
APRIL 12, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.: Southeastern Outings Dayhike
Where: DeSoto State Park and Lost Falls
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 9 and over able to walk about 5 miles without complaining are welcome.
After the outing we’ll enjoy an optional restaurant dinner together.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Applebee’s Trussville. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m.
Info. and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205-631-4680
APRIL 19, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Kayak and Canoe Trip, Locust Fork River
Novice canoeists are welcome and may come on this trip, but each one must be partnered with an experienced canoeist in their canoe.
Please note that for this trip you may rent one person sit-upon plastic kayaks and paddles for $30 each at the put-in from River Beach Outfitters. Rental fees include shuttle service. Also, the outfitter will charge a $15 fee for all private boats, be they canoes or kayaks, used on this outing. If you wish to rent a kayak from the outfitter, please notify Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680 BEFORE April 19 to reserve your boat.
If you want to come on the April 19 SEO kayak and canoe trip AND you are renting a boat from the outfitter at the site of the trip, in this instance you are required to call or contact ONLY the trip leader and notify him that you are coming! Dan will inform the outfitter how many rental kayaks he will need to provide to SEO people for this trip.
Please note that the outfitter has only 70 one-person kayaks for rent, so be sure you call to reserve early. Once all their solo kayaks are reserved for April 19, there will be no more kayaks available to rent!
This outfitter does not have canoes to rent. However, Dan Frederick’s daughter, Aree, currently has canoes which she is offering to rent to people who want to canoe on this trip and who do not have their own canoes. The charge for renting a canoe from Aree is $50 per boat. Southeastern Outings will pay the $15 per boat shuttle service fee for people renting canoes from Aree. Again, please notify Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680 BEFORE April 19 to request a rental canoe if that is what you want. We will do our best to fulfill your request.
Please do NOT just show up at the meeting place on April 19 without making an advance reservation with Dan Frederick!! And if you have made a reservation to participate and then decide to cancel, please be absolutely sure to call and notify the trip leader. Don’t just tell your friend if you intend to cancel!!
Life jackets are required and must be worn. You are responsible for finding your own boat. Bring your own, borrow one, paddle with a friend, or rent from the outfitters listed.
Please bring with you in the boat your picnic lunch, something to drink and a towel. Put your belongings in a waterproof dry bag in the boat. Wear old, thick-soled shoes you don’t mind getting wet (old sneakers work well). Also bring at least 6 feet of sturdy cord to tie up your canoe if you don’t already have rope attached to your own canoe. If you have further questions, please call the trip leader.
For more essential information about this trip, please see Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips at the end of this calendar.
Please meet at 9:45 a.m. at the Cleveland Chevron Service Station. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Reservations Required: You are required to contact Dan Frederick by email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or call 205/631-4680 if you plan to come on this kayak and canoe trip. Please advise your name, telephone number, skill level, whether you are bringing a canoe or kayak and whether you need a paddling partner. You may leave a message on Dan’s answering machine if you wish.
Info. and Trip Leader: If you have further questions, please contact Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or call 205/631-4680.
APRIL 24, THURSDAY, please meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Leisurely Weekday Hike
Where: Veterans Park, 4800 Valleydale Road, Hoover, AL 35242
If you are retired or not working or have off on this particular Thursday, 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.
The hike is about three miles. The walking pace for this hike will be moderately easy. We’ll stop often to catch our breath and note views, trees, birdsongs, and the trails and woods around us. Happy hiking!
This walk will be Southeastern Outings’ tenth 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 in Inverness.
Admission to Park: Free
Information and hike leader: Randall Adkins, 205/719-7719 cell
MAY 3, SATURDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern
Outings Sunday Afternoon Mountain Laurel Walk, Dunnavant Valley Greenway
Walking Trail (DVGWT)
Details: The trail winds along a bubbling stream, Yellow Leaf Creek, overhung with majestic American beech, oak, and hickory trees. The stream expands to 15-feet wide at its widest point along the trail.
We may offer two
options. Option A involves a short
moderate hike off trail to view a pretty waterfall nearby, and then return to
the main trail where we will hike to the far end of the trail and back to the
start. A few days before May 3 Dan
Frederick will scout Option A to ascertain whether the waterfall is likely to
be running or not on May 3. Option B
involves easy hiking on the main trail from start to end and return on the
trail. There are footbridges over the
streams, and, except for a steep patch over a ridge, walking on the trail
itself is easy. Happy hiking! Please
bring your water with you.
Well-behaved,
carefully supervised children age 7 and older able to walk 4 miles without
complaining are welcome to participate.
Please meet at 1:45 p.m. in the
small DVGWT trail head parking lot on the edge of Yellow Leaf Creek on the edge
of the soccer fields on AL Highway 41.
We plan to depart from there at 2:00 p.m. Please note that this is a different
meeting place and starting point from the place where we have begun our hike on
this trail nearly every other time in the past!
Information
and Trip Leader: Dan
Frederick, 205-631-4680
MAY
10, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern
Outings 10.6-Mile Bicycle Ride
Where:
Chief
Ladiga Trail, Piedmont, Alabama
Details:
Join
friendly folks for a 10.6-mile bicycle ride on the Chief Ladiga Trail in the
Piedmont, Alabama area. Ride on
Alabama’s first extended rails-to-trails conversion route on an old railroad
right of way. The trail we’ll be riding
on is smooth, 8-10 feet wide and even paved. There are no hills on this trail. The trail is suitable for road bikes plus
mountain, hybrid and urban bicycles.
Ride through towns, fields and picturesque woodlands. No
motorized vehicles are allowed on your trail!
Bicycle helmets
are required and must be worn. Please
bring a picnic lunch and drink.
The
pace of this bicycle ride will be leisurely.
From time to time we will stop bicycling just to enjoy the scenery and
views from the four bridges over the creeks.
However, please note that
this ride is 10.6 miles long. We recommend that participants intending
to come on this outing have bicycled at least a few times during the 30 days
prior to May 10. In order to be assured
that you can ride comfortably on this trip you should probably be able to ride
at an average speed of 8-12 miles per hour on level terrain.
There will be an
optional restaurant dinner after the bicycle ride. You will have an opportunity to wash up and
change clothes in the Eubanks Welcome Center restrooms after the bicycle ride. If you’d like to clean up and/or change
clothes, please bring your soap and towel and/or change of clothes with
you.
Please meet 9:45
a.m. at the Applebee’s Restaurant in Trussville. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m. or
meet 11:20 a.m. at the Eubanks Welcome Center on the Chief Ladiga Trail in
Piedmont.
Reservations
Required: If
you want to come on this bicycle ride, please make a reservation with Dan
Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone
205-631-4680. Also, if you have a bike rack which can hold
more than one bicycle, please bring it with you to Piedmont in order to
facilitate the required car shuttle and advise Dan that you are doing so. We probably need to leave about two vehicles
at the Eubanks Welcome Center in order to transport the drivers of all the
remaining vehicles from the end point of the ride back to the start point to
pick up their vehicles after the ride is concluded.
Information
and Ride Leader: Dan
Frederick, 205/631-4680, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com
MAY
15, THURSDAY, please meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern
Outings Leisurely Weekday Cahaba Lily Walk
Where:
Hargrove
Shoals, Cahaba National Wildlife Refuge, along the Cahaba River in Bibb County
Over
seven miles of the Cahaba River lie within the Refuge boundary. The rolling
uplands surrounding the river are forested with mountain longleaf and loblolly
pines. Mixed upland hardwood species line ravines and the river's edge.
The
largest known stand of the imperiled shoals lily (known locally as the Cahaba
lily) also occurs within the Refuge.
During May and June, this beautiful plant blooms, and people come from
across the region to view this magnificent display of nature. Twenty people
participated in a previous Southeastern Outings-sponsored weekday Cahaba
lily walk in 2021. We were pleased with
the turnout then. For your information,
in addition to this Thursday, May 15 event, Southeastern Outings has also
scheduled an additional Cahaba Lily walk to this area on Saturday, May 17,
2024.
The hike is about
five miles round trip. The walking pace for this hike will be moderately
easy. We’ll stop often to catch our
breath and note views, trees, birdsongs, the trail and woods and lilies around
us. Happy hiking!
Wear sturdy
footwear you don’t mind getting wet and dirty.
Old sneakers work well. You’ll
want to put on your river shoes so you can walk out into the shallow parts of
the river to stroll through and touch the lilies which grow only in the
water. You’ll also need to wear your
river wading shoes to wade through Caffee Creek in order to be able to walk to
where you can view the largest stand of lilies at Hargrove Shoals.
Bare feet, flip-flops, slip-ons and thin-soled “beach
shoes” are not acceptable!! You may wear your sturdy river shoes for the
entire trip if you wish. Please bring
picnic lunch and your drink. Two hiking
poles are strongly recommended to provide substantial, additional stability
when wading in the river.
Please meet 9:45
a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan
to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Info.
and Trip Leader:
Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email southeasternoutings@gmail.com
MAY 17, SATURDAY,
9:45 a.m.
Southeastern
Outings Cahaba Lily Walk, Hargrove Shoals along the Cahaba River in Bibb County
Over seven miles of the Cahaba River
lie within the Refuge boundary. The rolling uplands surrounding the river are
forested with mountain longleaf and loblolly pines. Mixed upland hardwood
species line ravines and the river's edge.
The largest known stand of the
imperiled shoals lily (known locally as the Cahaba lily) also occurs within the
Refuge. During May and June, this beautiful plant blooms, and people come from
across the region to view this magnificent display of nature.
Well-behaved, properly-supervised children
age 7 and over welcome.
The hike is about
five miles round trip.
Rated easy. Wear sturdy footwear you don’t mind getting
wet and dirty. Old sneakers work
well. You’ll want to put on your river
shoes so you can walk out into the shallow parts of the river to stroll through
and touch the lilies which grow only in the water. Bare feet, flip-flops, slip-ons and
thin-soled “beach shoes” are not acceptable!! You may wear your sturdy river
shoes for the entire trip if you like.
Please bring picnic lunch and your drink. Hiking poles are strongly recommended to
provide additional, substantial stability when wading in the river.
Please meet at 8:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s
Galleria. We plan to depart from there
at 9:00 a.m.
Info. and hike
leader:
Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or southeasternoutings@gmail.com
MAY 24, SATURDAY, Picnic at 7:00 p.m. Concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
FREE Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Concert
Where: Railroad Park situated
along 1st Avenue South, between 14th and 18th Streets South in downtown
Birmingham
Please join us for this special concert which promises to yield a great evening of fun. Relax on the lawn with your blanket or lawn chair. If you’d like to eat with us, please bring your picnic (no glass or alcohol allowed) to enjoy at 7:00 p.m. Concert itself begins at 7:30 p.m.
To find the group, please look for the Southeastern Outings people near the walkway on the railroad side (far side of park away from 1st Avenue South) of the park. You are welcome to bring as many friends and family members as you wish.
Admission: FREE
More Info: Please call the ASO office, 205/251-6929 or Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680.
MAY
31, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern
Outings Kayak and Canoe Trip on the Elk River near Elkmont, Alabama
Novice canoeists
are welcome and may come on this trip, but each one must be partnered with an experienced canoeist in their boat.
Many of our
members have expressed a desire to paddle once again on this stretch of the Elk
River. We are extremely grateful to
Dan’s daughter, Aree Frederick, who has agreed to provide outfitting services
to our entire group for this outing. For
this trip you may rent one-person plastic kayaks and paddles for $30 or you may
rent two-person canoes for $40 from Aree.
She has for rent about 65 one-person sit-upon kayaks and about 25
tandem (two-person) canoes.
If you rent a boat
from Aree, she will bring your rented boat to the put in and meet you
there. She will also meet you at the
take out, so you will never need to transport your rented boat at all. Shuttle fee, paddles, and life jacket are
included in the boat rental fee for those who rent boats from Aree Frederick.
If you wish to
rent a kayak or canoe from Aree, please notify Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone
205/631-4680 BEFORE May 30 to reserve your boat.
If you want to come on the May 31 SEO kayak and canoe
trip AND you are renting a boat from Aree at the site of the trip, in this
instance you are required to call or contact ONLY Dan Frederick and notify him
that you are coming! Dan will inform Aree
how many rental kayaks and canoes she will need to provide to SEO people for
this trip.
This is a new
outfitter for Southeastern Outings. Both
of the two Elk River outfitters we used previously closed their
businesses. However, we will still boat
on the same stretch of the Elk River as we have done previously. We have been unable to sponsor a trip on this
river for the four years because we could not identify an outfitter who would
provide boat rental services to us.
You may bring your
own kayak or canoe on this outing. You
will not have to pay a shuttle fee to Aree because boat owners on this trip
will run their own shuttles.
Children able to
swim and age 10 and over welcome.
After the
kayak/canoe trip we will go for dinner at an excellent Italian restaurant in
Athens, Alabama. If you would like to
have dinner with us at the restaurant after the kayak and canoe trip, please
bring your things to clean up with and a change of clothes. After the kayak and canoe outing is
completed, we plan to schedule a stop at the Buc-ee’s in Athens, Alabama. If you wish, you will be able to use the very
large restrooms and change clothes and wash up there in relative comfort before
you come to the restaurant for dinner with us and/or drive home.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Hayden/Corner Park and Ride at Exit #284 off
I-65 North. We plan to depart
from there at 9:00 a.m. For more essential information about this trip, please see
Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips below.
Reservations
Required: You must call Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email southeasternoutings@gmail.com if you plan to come on this kayak and canoe trip. You may leave a message on Dan’s voice mail
if you wish.
If
you are planning to meet the group initially at the put in instead of at the
designated meeting place near Birmingham, please tell Dan Frederick in advance
that you are planning to meet the group at the put in.
Please
do not make it necessary for Dan to contact you concerning information which
you have already received in this announcement and in the notes below.
Info.
and trip leader: If
you have questions, please call Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email southeasternoutings@gmail.com.
Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips
The kayak and canoe outings listed in the
announcements above are suitable for beginner/novice canoeists and kayakers,
but each beginner canoeist must paddle with an experienced
canoeist. Life jackets or personal flotation devices are required and
must be worn. Bring your own boat, borrow one, paddle with a friend, or
rent a boat from the outfitter(s) listed above.
Please bring in the boat your picnic lunch, something to drink, and a towel. Put your belongings in a waterproof dry bag in the boat. Wear old, thick-soled shoes you don’t mind getting wet (old sneakers work well). Also bring at least 6 feet of sturdy cord to tie up your boat if you don’t already have cord attached to your own boat. If you have further questions, please call the trip leader.
