Ascent of Rock Mountain on 2015-01-16Others in Party: | supported by Rose
| Date: | Friday, January 16, 2015 | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | Peak: | Rock Mountain | Location: | USA-Alabama | Elevation: | 820 ft / 249 m |
Ascent Trip ReportA bushwack/trails/woods to 3 areas ..... 2 miles, 1:20 hours including the chat with Martin.
This COHP has 3 Candidate High Point Areas, all on the northeast-southwest Rock Mountain Ridge. Based on my visit to the Ridge, the COHP.ORG TRs are for the most part outdated and do not reflect today's ridge conditions. They have changed for the better, the walk on the ridge was easy .... on trail, wide track, road or in very open woods with little undergrowth, easy. I was expecting rough conditions so I dressed (including snake chaps) for a nasty bushwack. It was not required.
After checking out the area I decided to approach/ascend to the ridge by starting south of the northern candidate (Area 1).
From I-20, exit 100 we traveled west on Hwy #216 for .5 miles to a right turn onto Gilbert Tommie Road, which we drove north for .5 miles and parked (150 yards after the bend to the right (northeast, parallel to the ridge). The HP northern area is to the north at 150 yards.
AREA 1 (33.28957,-87.10503, abt 150+ yards east of the PB coordinate) .... 150 yards easy bushwack nb from Gilbert Tommie Road. I bushwacked/ascended north 150 yards to the ridge. The woods on the slope are for the most part fairly open, by always looking for the easy-way I avoided the undergrowth. Once on the ridge the woods are very open with no/little undergrowth. After checking out the Ridge I chose my spot at a clump of trees (nothing really obvious). I added a wooden cairn and orange flag tape. A bunch of old garbage near by, also at 40 yards west I found a "Detector/Recorder??" attached to a tree, probably to record animal movement.
AREA 2 (33.28631,-87.10914, abt 200 yards east of the PB coordinates at a new fence line) ..... .4 miles southwest of Area 1. From Area 1 I moved south on the ridge on paths, wide track or open woods about .4 miles to my chosen spot at a new fence line (was added to the old one), on route I past an old Hunter's Stand. Nothing obvious. A woods road just west of the fence heads west on the Ridge to the Water Tank. It appears that the Ridge west of this fence sees a lot more traffic than the east side to Area 1. I slithered on my back under the fence.
AREA 3 (33.28336,-87.11280) ..... .4 miles southwest of Area 2. I followed the road southwest to fairly obvious HP, in an open grass field. I agree with the others, the ground to the west towards the Water Tank is at lower elevation.
As I backtracked to my TH I ran into Martin and his 2 dogs, lives on the south side and comes up here every day. Had a nice long chat, didn't know about the HP, told him that I saw 2 deer on the Ridge, apparently there area a lot of deer in this area.
"FAILING TO PLAN IS PLANNING TO FAIL."
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Summary Total Data | Total Elevation Gain: | 200 ft / 60 m | Extra Gain: | 40 ft / 12 m | Round-Trip Distance: | 2 mi / 3.2 km | Route: | wack/trails/rd from gilbert tommie rd | Trailhead: | gilbert tommie road 700 ft / 213 m | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Bushwhack | Weather: | Cool, Calm, Clear |
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