October Activities
OCTOBER 30, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike
Where: DeSoto State Park and Lost Falls
Details: Moderately easy hike in DeSoto State Park. We will hike along the beautiful West Fork of Little River. We’ll also hike various other trails in the park and visit Lost Falls. We expect to see a total of eight waterfalls during this hike. This is one of the most scenic state parks in Alabama. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 9 and over able to walk about 5 miles without complaining 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: Doris Hatch, 205-901-8367
NOVEMBER 3, WEDNESDAY, Meet 9:00 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Weekday Hike
Red Mountain Park
Please Note-All participants on this hike shall have made a good faith attempt to be vaccinated against the Covid 19 virus provided that the vaccine is available to them.
Details: This will be a moderately strenuous loop hike of about 4.5 miles in Red Mountain Park beginning at the Park’s Jones Valley parking lot on Venice Road on the north side of Red Mountain. We plan to use a combination of the 12, 16 and 17 trails to loop up and down through beautiful hardwood forests, past mine ruins, down old railway rights of way and across mine tailings.
Would it excite you to hear that Birmingham has secured a recreational, public park space of 1,400+ acres—an area twice as large as New York's Central Park? Could you, your friends and family find a use for more than 18 miles of new hiking and biking trails, open fields and picnic areas, all within 15 minutes of downtown Birmingham?
In March, 2012 The Red Mountain Park Commission opened the eastern section of this park to the public, offering folks a chance to walk the property and get a feel for the location and scale of the land.
This will be Southeastern Outings’ twenty-second hike in the Park. Please come with us for a 3-4 hour hike on a walkable portion of this noteworthy place. Hike rated moderately strenuous since it is a fairly long hike and there are some hills to climb. This is one of the largest city parks in the United States! For considerably more information about the park, please visit the park’s website:
http://www.redmountainpark.org.
Please bring plenty of water to drink and wear comfortable footwear suitable for walking 4.5 miles. Dress appropriately for the weather. We expect to complete the hike about lunch time.
For those who would like to enjoy lunch with their fellow hikers, you may join the group for lunch at the Subway sandwich restaurant on Lakeshore Parkway on the drive back.
Please meet at 9:00 a.m. at the Jones Valley parking lot for Red Mountain Park, 2109 Venice Road, Birmingham, Alabama. We plan to depart from there at 9:15 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Francis Rushton, 205/290-5557 or email ferushton@gmail.com
NOVEMBER 6, SATURDAY, 9:00 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Weekday Hike
Where: Pinhoti Trail from Pine Glen Campground to Sweetwater Lake
Please Note-All participants on this hike shall have made a good faith attempt to be vaccinated against the Covid 19 virus provided that the vaccine is available to them.
Details: This will be a more ambitious weekday hike for Southeastern Outings. Beginning at Pine Glen Campground, this 5.6-mile out-and-back hike, located near Heflin, Alabama, is mostly flat with Shoal Creek guiding your way over rolling hills to Sweetwater Lake, a large, pretty lake that makes a great place to hang out and relax before the walk back.
The trail is lovely and all along Shoal Creek. For most of the way, the trail skirts Shoal Creek, and at 2.3 miles a bridge takes you over the seasonal stream. After you walk another 0.3 miles, you’ll cross a dam spillway and skirt the left side of Sweetwater Lake. At 2.8 miles, the path crosses a peninsula where a camping area provides the perfect place to hang out before the walk back. The trail is good for all skill levels, is primarily used for hiking and is easily accessible.
Optional dinner after the hike. Please meet at 9:00 a.m. in the Leeds Highway 78 gravel parking lot. We plan to depart from there at 9:15 a.m.
Info. And Leader: Francis Rushton 205/290-5557 or ferushton@gmail.com
NOVEMBER 7, SUNDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Moderate Dayhike Along Buck Creek in Helena, AL
Details: Come explore the wilder side of Helena. Hike with SEO on a lovely creekside trail in Helena in Shelby County. Total hiking distance is less than four miles. Hike rated moderately easy. We will be walking briefly off trail and walking up some hills when the trail routes us away from the creek. Well-behaved, properly supervised children age eight and up welcome.
Please meet at 1:45 p.m. in the parking lot for the Helena City Park on AL Highway 261by the bridge over Buck Creek in Helena. We plan to depart from there at 2:00 p.m.
Directions to Meeting Place: Take I-65 to Exit #247, the Shelby County Route 17, Valleydale Road exit. Go to end of ramp and turn right regardless of whether you come from the south or the north. Take Co. 17, which changes from Co. Route 17 to AL 261, all the way into Helena. You will cross one railroad and then drive over a bridge with a dam and waterfall on the left. Immediately past the bridge, turn sharply back to the right just before you cross a second railroad and then drive into the parking lot for a city park right on the shore of the creek. Distances on Valleydale Road, (Shelby County Route 17) and then Alabama Route 261 from I-65 exit number 247 to driveway into Helena Park parking lot are 5.5 miles from bottom end of southbound ramp and 5.9 miles from bottom end of northbound ramp.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or 205/631-4680
NOVEMBER 11, THURSDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Weekday Walk Very Near Birmingham
Where: Turkey Creek Nature Preserve near Pinson in Jefferson County, Alabama
Details: You are invited to participate in a moderate but leisurely-paced, fun Southeastern Outings short dayhike in the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve near Pinson. There will be some gradual climbing for a while at the beginning.
Come walk with us through this heavily-wooded area. We’ll hike on a new trail on which we have not hiked previously. The trail extends through the woods from the parking lot at the main park gate. Along the way we will stop to enjoy our lunches by a large creek with a beautiful, long, sloping waterfall in the middle of the preserve. Total hiking distance is about 3.2 miles. Please bring picnic lunch and drinking water with you.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve Main Gate parking lot on Turkey Creek Road. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Please note that this is a different parking lot from where we have always parked on all of our previous hikes in the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. Share an adventure. Bring a friend or friends.
Info. and trip leader: Bonnie Black, 205-994-5434
NOVEMBER 13, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike, Turkey Foot and Borden Creeks, Sipsey Wilderness, Bankhead National Forest
Details: Enjoy an especially beautiful, moderate 3 ½ mile hike along Turkey Foot and Borden Creeks. We will see several waterfalls on this trip. There are always three fine waterfalls on the ¾ mile walk along Turkey Foot Creek and its tributary creek. Please note that to facilitate going up or down the possibly slippery bank beside one of the Turkey Foot Creek tributary waterfalls we will provide hikers with the opportunity to use an assist rope. You are not required to use the rope. You will not be climbing a vertical cliff on a rope. Your feet will always be on the ground. It is just that having the rope gives you something solid straight in front of you to hold on to instead of scattered rocks and roots as you go up or down the short, about 20 foot distance.
After we hike to the end of Turkey Foot Creek, we’ll then walk beside the Sipsey Fork River a short distance to Borden Creek. Our hiking route then follows Borden Creek where we will see several additional waterfalls and admire the gorgeous cliffs. Along Borden Creek the trail runs through a short, but very dark tunnel. You can stand up through the entire length of the tunnel. Please bring a small, bright flashlight with you to light your way through the tunnel.
Optional dinner after. Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 7 and older able and willing to walk 3 ½ miles without complaining are welcome.
Reservations Required: If you wish to participate in this outing, you are required to call Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email your reservation to seoutings@bellsouth.net by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 12. When you contact Dan, please be sure you leave either your phone number or email address. This outing is currently limited to a total of 20 people. We hope the limitation will not prove to be a problem. We will add a second group and break up into two separate groups of up to a maximum of ten people each with its own separate leader in order to comply with U.S. Forest Service regulations. The second group will visit all the same sites as the first group, but Group Two will be walking in the opposite direction from the first group. In order to eliminate the need to take time to run two car shuttles at the start of the hike, the drivers from each group will exchange car keys when the two groups cross paths with each other on the trail. People who sign up for this outing after the first twenty will be placed on a wait list.
At a later date principal leader (Dan Frederick) will advise meeting time and place to those who have signed up for this trip. If you make a reservation with Dan to come on this trip and then for any reason decide later to not come on this outing, you are required to telephone Dan, 205/631-4680 right away.
Information and Trip Leader of Group 1: Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email seoutings@bellsouth.net
NOVEMBER 14, SUNDAY, Meet 12:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Second Sunday Dayhike in Oak Mountain State Park
Details: Enjoy a moderate 4-mile walk in the woodlands near Birmingham on a Sunday afternoon. This is an excellent outing for introducing your friends to Southeastern Outings and for making new friends who enjoy the outdoors. Parts of this hike may be off the color-coded trails. There will be some ups and downs.
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. Optional dinner after the hike.
Please meet at 12:45 p.m. in the Oak Mountain Park office parking lot. We plan to depart from there at 1:00 p.m.
Please bring $5/person ($2.00 seniors) park admission fee plus your drink.
Info: Randall Adkins, 205-317-6969
NOVEMBER 20, SATURDAY, Meet 10:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike, Richard Martin Trail (previously named Limestone Rail Trail), Elkmont, Alabama
Details: This trail is located in extreme North Alabama just to the west of I-65 and a few miles south of the Tennessee-Alabama border. The hike is rated easy. We will hike a total of 5.3 miles. There is much lovely scenery along the path that was once a part of the Tennessee and Alabama Central Railroad.
The trail winds through wetlands with wildlife and a great variety of birds. On the trail you will pass the site of the Civil War Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle. Please bring your picnic lunch and drink with you.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 8 and over able to walk 6 miles without complaining are welcome. Absolutely delicious optional dinner afterwards at Terranova’s Restaurant in Athens, Alabama.
Please meet 10:45 a.m. at the Hayden/Corner Park and Ride. We plan to depart from there at 11:00 a.m.
Info: Randall Adkins, 205/317-6969
NOVEMBER 28, SUNDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Easy Walk
Where: Vulcan Trail inside the City Limits of Birmingham
Details: Enjoy an easy walk in the woodlands overlooking Birmingham on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The trail is level, as it is on an old mining railroad right of way just below the crest of Red Mountain. This walk is an ideal activity for those Thanksgiving guests who have been in your house for several days and with whom you are looking for something to do to get them out of the house. A previous walk on this trail drew one of the highest number of participants, 67, on any outing SEO has ever sponsored. Don’t miss it!
Please meet at 1:45 p.m. in the Vulcan Park and Museum Parking Lot where you would normally park to visit the statue and Vulcan Park. We plan to depart from there at 2:00 p.m. We will walk from the big parking lot a short distance down some new stairs to the trail head and then on the trail to Green Springs Highway and back. The formerly unpaved section of the Vulcan Trail has recently been widened and resurfaced.
There is no charge to participate in this hike and there is no charge for admission to either Vulcan Park or the trail.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and older able to walk 4 miles welcome. After the walk is completed, there will be an optional dinner at Jim 'N Nick's 11th Avenue Grill at Five Points South.
Share an adventure. Bring a friend or friends.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or 205/631-4680
Revised Southeastern Outings Covid 19 Pandemic Information
Most of you are already familiar with the stay-at-home
orders issued by the Governor of Alabama.
The Governor stated, “A person may leave his or her place of residence to participate in outdoor activity so long as the person maintains a consistent six-foot distance from other persons.
Notice of Southeastern Outings Precautionary Measures Concerning Covid 19 Virus
Southeastern Outings assures all our outings participants that we strongly desire to protect your health during this critical time. You may make your own decisions about what to do to protect yourselves, but the following measures are what we strongly suggest. We recommend taking the following measures.
We ask our participants to maintain a reasonable social distance, usually 6 or more feet, between yourself and other people. We recognize that this may not always be possible, but we encourage you to keep some distance from others as much as possible.
We will have outing announcements, but we ask you to try insofar as possible to maintain a distance of six feet between yourself and others while the announcements are given. Dan will try to project his voice effectively in such instances, and please, please do not converse with others while announcements are being made.
Optional potluck dinner parties will be cancelled until further notice.
In any case, of course, if you have flu-like symptoms (fever, aches or pains in the joints and respiratory system problems) please stay at home and do not come on outings with us! This is just common sense.
We want to point out that walking in the woods outdoors where there are not many other people present is considerably safer at this time than being in crowds of people or in heavily populated public places. Participating in our events will give you opportunities to be in the outdoors, get some beneficial exercise, and do something you enjoy with other people while still allowing you to easily and conveniently maintain safe social distancing.
