Stop Nine - Lin and Joe

 Stop nine, state twelve! (I-24 sneaks across a corner of Georgia on its way to Tennessee.) These are blogger friends, Lin and Joe. We have met in person previously, but not since they moved here.

You'll see more of them over the next couple of days. Meanwhile, I stopped for a hike today at Green Mountain Nature Preserve in the North Alabama Land Trust near Huntsville, AL. This was an awesome place. Topography and rocks!

The trail started on the top of the ridge, and there were little hints of broken rock. This is geologically part of the Cumberland Plateau.

The trail quickly dropped about 200 feet, and then I was hiking at the base of rock walls. The cliffs are layered limestone with a sandstone cap. The map listed this as a waterfall, so I'm thinking at some times of year there is a lot more water.

When I climbed back up the other end of the loop, there were interesting rock pillars.

I don't quite understand the geology. A sign said that there is a double ridge, eroded in the middle. I guess I can see that on the topo map, but I would "get" it better if I could hear someone really explain it. The eroded middle is pretty much a flat area, and the trailhead was on that part. The hill drops off steeply on both sides.

This is a view of Huntsville from that same ridge, but north of where I hiked. It's 600 feet lower.

It rained off and on all day, but I got lucky and hiked between showers. However, the clay soil was slippery, as were the wet rocks. I hiked for an hour and a half and only did two miles, but that's OK, it was awesome! I would come back to this area to hike more of these trails in a heartbeat.

I did a loop that included parts of the Alum Hollow Trail (which leads to a large cave that I'd like to see), the Alum Hollow Connector, Three Sisters Loop, Ranger Trail and back to the Alum Hollow Trail.

Best of all? For the first time ever, I saw an armadillo alive (as opposed to flat in the road). Such a strange animal!

Much rain in the forecast, but we will see what kind of adventure we can find tomorrow.

Green Mountain Nature Preserve, Huntsville, AL, 2 miles

See Big Wheel Keep on Turnin'