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Almtnman
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Collier Creek offers history and a challenge
« Thread Started on Feb 1, 2006, 4:32pm »

Collier Creek offers history and a challenge
From The Birmingham News

The Sipsey Wilderness, with its deep canyons and wild and scenic river, is probably the most picturesque part of the Bankhead National Forest. After all, this area has been designated by Congress for preservation, recreation and conservation. Many well-trod trails wind through the Wilderness.

Other areas of the forest, too, are scenic. Other creeks and canyons make up the remaining 155,000 acres of the BNF.

But to see them requires more than a hike down a trail. That's because there is no trail. Bushwhacking adds another degree of challenge to a hike - no cutting, just burrowing through underbrush, climbing over and swinging under downed trees.

A visit to Collier Creek Canyon is well worth a day of bushwhacking. The narrow, clean creek gurgles over and around rocks and forms blue, peaceful pools. It boasts its own waterfall as well as cascades. More waterfalls are formed where other creeks spill into the canyon. They all join Brushy Creek four or five miles downstream.

The creek has a history. Upstream, a dam spans the creek. It forms what's called the CCC swimming pool. So, the CCC was here. The bridge, too, looks as if it were made by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. It's made of cut stone, like much that remains of other CCC structures. Farther downstream are two pillars in the stream, each one 20 to 30 feet tall. Between them stand two smaller identical pillars, not 5 feet tall. All the pillars are on one side of the creek bank and parallel to the flow.

[image]

The name of the creek itself might indicate a history: a "collier" is a person who makes charcoal. Colliers worked in the woods near Brierfield, in Bibb County, making charcoal for fueling the iron furnaces there. Perhaps colliers burned wood into charcoal along this creek as well.

The canyon gets deeper as the creek progresses. It's a narrow canyon, and explorers have two options: hug the creek bank, which requires crossing it where there is no longer room on one side, or struggle through underbrush and deadfalls higher on the banks. Bushwhackers alternate between the choices, climbing up and down the steep ravines as well as ploughing through sawbriers and laurel and searching for shallow places with stepping stones to cross the creek.

Collier Creek Canyon offers more than history, clear water and a challenge. On the banks and on the few possible campsites at streamside grow hemlocks and pines as big as any others in the forest; they might be the very biggest. The hemlocks are magnificent - tall and straight with reddish-brown bark and soft, green leafy needles. The pines are probably old slash pines. The ridge top was long ago cleared for planting pines, which have themselves long ago grown up and gone to the lumber yard. These giants are probably strays from the ridge top planting; their placement might have made harvesting too difficult.

Bushwhacking requires you to be present in the moment. Full attention must be paid to every step, though a little tumble here and a trip-up there makes the day more interesting. It might be the extended focus required, as well as fresh air and exercise, that makes bushwhacking exhilarating.

To explore Collier Creek: Take I-65 North to exit 308, U.S. 278. Go west about 30 miles. Soon after crossing Brushy Creek, go north on County Road 63 for 4 or 5 miles to the creek just south of Grayson and the Church of the Forest.

Here's a few photos of Collier Creek.

[image]

« Last Edit: Feb 10, 2006, 9:20am by Almtnman »

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