Dayhike to the Walls of Jericho in Alabama

When I was much younger, I would listen to my scoutmaster’s tales of the Walls of Jericho in Jackson County and just over the state line into Tennessee. I had always wanted to go there, but it was on private property and access was cut off to outsiders in the late 70’s. Well, a few years ago it was purchased by the forever wild land trust (or, something like that) and these days it’s open to the public.
This past Saturday I finally made the trip. I took my time and waited until after breakfast to leave the house. I got to the trailhead and was on my way by 10:30. At the trailhead there were some warnings about the time/footwear/water required for the trip, I wasn’t worried, I had plenty of time/my trusty Montrails/100 ounces of water.
The trip down was fast. It took me less than an hour to get down to the water. (sometimes I run, sometimes I fall) The footbridges were pretty cool and I took a quick look at the cemetery. Maybe I’ll camp here someday. There was a sign pointing to a “South Rim Trail” that I didn’t see in any of the information I found on the internet.(maybe next time) From there the trail is pretty sketchy and left me wanting for some trekking poles or a walking stick. It was narrow and slippery in many places, mostly the high ones.
Anyway I made it to the first part of the waterfall and thought “This is it?” I took off my shoes and enjoyed the cold water as well as the crawdads nipping at my feet. While my sore puppies were taking a swim I had a bite to eat. About that time a couple came past me and continued upstream. (I knew I should have studied the info better)
After lunch I continued up stream and found the amphitheater along where the big falls should be. The lack of rain kept the falls silent. I was able to climb down in the hole that the falls normally fell into that was pretty cool. It was starting to get pretty crowded, so I decided to split. On my way out I checked out a little cave that I saw on the way in it was nice and cool.
When I had to start climbing out the going was pretty slow. I didn’t have a timepiece with me, but now I could see why the signs at the trailhead warned of giving yourself at least six hours to make the hike in and out. After climbing for about an hour I was out of water and very thirsty. At this point I was over this hike. Most of the time it was just steep enough to make it hard, but not steep enough to use your hands. I made a run for it. I’m not sure of how long it took me to get to the top, I was pretty light headed when I got there. After checking my radio for the time it was 2:30? How did I get this exhausted in just four hours? I drank the rest of the water I had in the van and some old tea that was in there as well. I’m typing this on Monday and my calf muscles are still pretty sore. It was worth it, I just wish there were enough trails in the area to take a multi day trip.

 

Thanks for the info, I've been meaning to go down there since they opened it up, the pictures of the place are REALLY cool looking.

 

The views will probably be better after fall. You could barley see the walls when I was there.