We arrived at Sipsey wilderness in Alabama at around 9:30: a three hour drive from Nashville. We divided into our three patrols, whistlepigs first, and started walking in the dark to our campsite. After passing a few for the other two patrols to use, we found a nice one and set up camp. That night it was about 20 degrees. We ate cracker-barrel by moonlight with freezing hands then went to our tents.
The next morning we broke down camp, ate breakfast, and started hiking. It took at least 30 minutes for us to gain feeling in our toes. As the temperature slowly climbed, it became more and more pleasant weather for hiking. And as soon as it became bearable, we came across a river.
After taking off our shoes and socks and hiking up our pants, we crossed a river that was more painful than cold. And to make matters worse, it was muddy and slippery. So by the time we had gotten across and climbed up the hill, our feet and ankles were cold, wet, and covered in wet dirt. We quickly dried off and put warm shoes and socks on.
From there it was smooth sailing until it was time for lunch. After lunch we had multiple stream crossings in which some of us got our shoes and socks wet. Luckily we were close to the campsite and had extra clothes. Our campsite was near the river and we were able to refill our water bottles while we were there. We had a campfire and ate chicken Parmesan for dinner, then we all went to our tents and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, broke down camp, and left at about 9:00. A storm had been through previously and there were many large fallen trees blocking the trail. We had to climb over almost all of them. This took a large toll on our average moving speed. On our way, we stopped by a waterfall, the needle eye(a huge rock with a hole you can go through), and the largest tree in Alabama.
We decided that we weren’t going to stop for lunch until we got back to the cars to make up for the time we spend climbing over trees. We hiked from the giant tree to an old logging road that was 3.5 miles long. There we split into two groups: a fast group and a slow group. The logging trail led strait back to the parking lot. We walked as fast as we could for 3.5 miles until we finally arrived at the cars.
The time was 3:30 when we got to the parking lot and were reunited with the rest of the troop. We immediately started making our reuben sandwiches for lunch and gobbled them up. We put all our gear in the trailer, got in the cars, and headed home. We arrived in Nashville at about 8:30.