I've taken this trip twice now. I believe the first time we turned it into about a round trip of five miles- we were in search of where the helicopter crashed back in 2007. We walked a little bit of Owl Creek. It was me, Thomas, and Leroy. This trip we ended up walking up on some farrel hogs. They ran off the opposite direction...lucky for them we aren't hunters but had they messed with us they definitely would have gotten shot. The hogs are definitely a nuisance out in the forest. rooting and tearing up the ground making it look like hell. You would think all of the people who do choose to hunt wouldn't spend tons of money going down south and leasing land to do it when you can come right to Bankhead in your backyard and kill all of them you want! But that's none of my business I guess:) Key Mill Branch is a really neat place. There is an old road bed that follows the creek to the mill. I assume it was probably wore from wagons going to the mill and being heavily traveled. I love that it's not a place many people go- it seems untouched if you feel me. When we camped here I got my drinking water straight from water flowing out of the side of the mountain into the creek. Our campsite was set up right down from the mill site in a very beautiful canyon.
A beautiful blue hole up from the mill site.
Iron ore seeping from the rocks
Old gear cog from the mill. One of them was laying in the creek and I tried to pick it up and move it and well lets just say it's still sitting in the creek because the cast iron was HEAVY!
Views from The Shelter bluff. It's a good one! Carved inside of it was 1909- the 9's being backward and KE! (My initials!) I wish I knew who it was that carved it into the rock! I can only imagine how many people used the shelter bluff for shelter over time!!
Carving in the shelter bluff
The second time we came to Key Mill- on Friday night we went to Double Springs, AL to the Gold Digger's Bar and Grill for drinks with some buddies. The above photo is what hungover hiking looks like...I may or may not have still had a buzz from the night before and I hiccuped the whole time we were there it felt like. I didn't have much energy but I wasn't about to miss out on this. Plus the night before was great catching up with friends, letting loose having drinks, and enjoying the slow paced life of Winston County. Thomas looks like he's enjoying my misery(JK he loves me!) It was suppose to storm Saturday morning and after it stopped we planned to make the hike to Key Mill to show mine and Thomas's two friends around who hadn't been there. (One of them is a hardcore Bankhead lover like me and Thomas...actually he is one we look up to more or so- a Bankhead veteran explorer.) We were very surprised he had never been to the old mill site. It's great when you meet people who share the same love and RESPECT for the forest! We stayed at the Lakeshore Inn Friday night. We all met up there after work Friday and rode out terrible storms and rain (and nursing my terrible hangover) until the rain stopped Saturday morning. It was January but luckily the weather cooperated for us after the rain we had lots of sun with highs in the sixties so it made for a beautiful day in the forest!
Wish I knew what this meant! It's carved in one of the shelter bluffs up one of the streams that feeds Key Mill Branch!
My friend Seth holding some sort of fossil I found in the creek while exploring Key Mill Branch.
Carving in the shelter bluff
