You know how I have a list of places I want to hike to?
I have another list, of places I want to paddle to. It's almost as long as the hike list...
Near the top, even from before I had a boat, I had Hambrick Cave. It's a very unassuming slot cave at water level near the dam, recently fenced off. It looks like it might be a rain-runoff waterfall track which makes me think there are multiple exits.
To get to it, park at either end of the Honeycomb trail and paddle parallel to the trail until you see the cave. It is impossible to miss, there's even a couple of signs. It's closest to the dam end.
I don't know why I thought it would be more difficult to locate or dangerous (because of boat traffic) to visit. I guess it's what my brain does with locations. I felt very comfortable going last night, even though it was with 20+ total strangers and one person-Jennifer-I have only hiked with a couple times. I think it's because I KNOW the Honeycomb Trail, I've hiked that thing a dozen times now.
The group was, as is almost required in the area, made up mostly of engineers. I talked to men who worked for NASA, on the Arsenal, who owned small companies. People who spend weekends in caves or climbing cliffs or building robots and brewing beer in the garage. It was an eclectic mix of about 15 or so men and 6-7 women and boats...I love Spero, but gosh She was very low end in that flotilla! A couple yaks looked set to head into a month in the Arctic. No one else had named their boat though. I felt sorry for them. We were the youngest people there by 10 years.
I ended up talking to a couple from a town near us! NEAR US! His name is Phillip and his wife is Stephanie and they had borrowed kayaks-also Perception Swiftys! Theirs were the older models that REI carried years back. One was sun bleached and the other had been set upon by squirrels. (hello, new worries) He tried to make our own radio station called Swifty 95, DLX. Then I said it was 9 point 5, as in the boats are 9 and a half feet long and I can't sing. So then we gossiped about the Cullman paper when Dick's-where we got our boats-opened the headline said: "Cullman has the Smallest Dick's in Alabama". Ah. Hometown pride. hahahahahaha
His wife seemed worried about snakes (he did too) and bat poop and other things. But she had a shaved head, so she is badass in other ways no doubt. I will just go ahead and say now that snakes are NOT GOING TO TRY TO GET IN YOUR BOAT. I see them every time I am out and they are always going off in the other direction. Even the one that dropped out of a tree over the water the other day made sure to drop next to the boat and not in it. I will, however, say that if one DID fall in the boat, I would probably get out PDQ until I could flip the boat and remove el snakeo. I'm not afraid of them until they try to touch me. hahaha!
We arrived around 6 and put in. There is NOT a boat ramp above the dam. When you pull in at the dam, there's a 'river access' road off to the right near the bathroom. That goes below the dam. Above the dam, there's AMPLE parking and a spot to upload tiny boats and a very narrow and steep rock ramp that can accommodate 1-2 boats at a time.
I have another list, of places I want to paddle to. It's almost as long as the hike list...
Near the top, even from before I had a boat, I had Hambrick Cave. It's a very unassuming slot cave at water level near the dam, recently fenced off. It looks like it might be a rain-runoff waterfall track which makes me think there are multiple exits.
To get to it, park at either end of the Honeycomb trail and paddle parallel to the trail until you see the cave. It is impossible to miss, there's even a couple of signs. It's closest to the dam end.
I don't know why I thought it would be more difficult to locate or dangerous (because of boat traffic) to visit. I guess it's what my brain does with locations. I felt very comfortable going last night, even though it was with 20+ total strangers and one person-Jennifer-I have only hiked with a couple times. I think it's because I KNOW the Honeycomb Trail, I've hiked that thing a dozen times now.
The group was, as is almost required in the area, made up mostly of engineers. I talked to men who worked for NASA, on the Arsenal, who owned small companies. People who spend weekends in caves or climbing cliffs or building robots and brewing beer in the garage. It was an eclectic mix of about 15 or so men and 6-7 women and boats...I love Spero, but gosh She was very low end in that flotilla! A couple yaks looked set to head into a month in the Arctic. No one else had named their boat though. I felt sorry for them. We were the youngest people there by 10 years.
I ended up talking to a couple from a town near us! NEAR US! His name is Phillip and his wife is Stephanie and they had borrowed kayaks-also Perception Swiftys! Theirs were the older models that REI carried years back. One was sun bleached and the other had been set upon by squirrels. (hello, new worries) He tried to make our own radio station called Swifty 95, DLX. Then I said it was 9 point 5, as in the boats are 9 and a half feet long and I can't sing. So then we gossiped about the Cullman paper when Dick's-where we got our boats-opened the headline said: "Cullman has the Smallest Dick's in Alabama". Ah. Hometown pride. hahahahahaha
His wife seemed worried about snakes (he did too) and bat poop and other things. But she had a shaved head, so she is badass in other ways no doubt. I will just go ahead and say now that snakes are NOT GOING TO TRY TO GET IN YOUR BOAT. I see them every time I am out and they are always going off in the other direction. Even the one that dropped out of a tree over the water the other day made sure to drop next to the boat and not in it. I will, however, say that if one DID fall in the boat, I would probably get out PDQ until I could flip the boat and remove el snakeo. I'm not afraid of them until they try to touch me. hahaha!
We arrived around 6 and put in. There is NOT a boat ramp above the dam. When you pull in at the dam, there's a 'river access' road off to the right near the bathroom. That goes below the dam. Above the dam, there's AMPLE parking and a spot to upload tiny boats and a very narrow and steep rock ramp that can accommodate 1-2 boats at a time.
I had tried to take some pics of the seaweed growing at the put in. I know it's not seaweed, but it is very kelp-looking.
Anyway, it left my lens spotty. Those aren't orbs.
OMG, what is that waiting around the bend? A monster?
oh
He's super not-scary.
WHERE DOES THIS GO???
WHERE?
The barge had zero wake. It was like swimming near a whale, the other boaters paddled up near it and waved back and forth with the crew.
I will admit, barges were one of my bigger worries about being on the actual river.
Turns out, the assholes of the water are IDENTICAL to the assholes of the road. People who drive trucks are the least considerate drivers, hands down. And they use those trucks to drag boats to the lake and go as fast as they can, sending out a wake that can flip smaller boats. Of course, by that time, they are a tiny dot in the distance and don't give a rat's ass anyway.
It's the cave!
We got here by 7 and everyone clumped up and chatted, then floated apart and reclumped.
Matt and I shared a small container of Zevia and vanilla rum.
It was...interesting. I have had to give up nearly all diet drinks, but stevia sweetened things don't bother me. So far. I am keeping it to one can every few days just to be safe. And I am neutralizing it with alcohol.
The bats did not emerge in a Scooby Dooesque swirl, but in twos and threes until it was almost too dark to see.
People who had been there before were bitterly disappointed, but I thought it was really cool the way they dipped and swept right next to the boats and our heads. I've seen the bats emerge at Sauta in a wave that was terrifying and I've seen them trickle out nearly unnoticed. It happens. I don't know what the difference is.
People who had been there before were bitterly disappointed, but I thought it was really cool the way they dipped and swept right next to the boats and our heads. I've seen the bats emerge at Sauta in a wave that was terrifying and I've seen them trickle out nearly unnoticed. It happens. I don't know what the difference is.
Paddling back in the dark was very enjoyable. The canoe people with lights flanked the larger group, the rest of us kept between them and the shore and didn't turn on our lights at all. There was no traffic, just our little fleet heading back to the tiny ramp.
It was our first time loading the boats in the dark and that was easy, too. Though I left my water bottle in my boat for the ride home! eep.
Also, I discovered I am a slow paddler. I had no idea. hahaha!
Storm Glass says it will be another fine day!
