Pinhoti Glossary

Alabama is derived from the Alibamu, a tribe whose name in Choctaw means thicket-clearers or plant-cutters.
albah (medicinal plants), amo (to clear)

Perhaps Alibamu would be a good name for me and many other Pinhoti Trail Maintainers, who indeed spend endless hours clearing fallen trees (Blow Downs) and overgrowing branches off the Pinhoti so it is easy to find and walk.

A northbound trans America hiker, perhaps on the Eastern Continental Trail, might approach Alabama on the Florida Trail, and on her first Alabama day, walk through Alabama's Conecuh National Forest. But then, for many days, she would walk north, usually on less used country roads, before reaching the southern Pinhoti Trail Terminus at Flagg Mountain. This is the Alabama Road Walk.

There are also two lesser road walks within the Alabama Pinhoti Trail, from the town of Weogufka to the Terrapin Hills Section, and from the Terrapin Hills section to Stewartville. Each of these is much less than a day, so one can camp in the woods, and these are not considered the Alabama Road Walk.

Benton MacKaye, writing in 1921 in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects, proposed a long trail from Mount Washington, New Hampshire, to Mount Mitchell, North Carolina, sort of like the already existing Long Trail of Vermont, but with communes that might supply and house hikers, and with shelters, some of which would serve food much as the chalets along European trails do. His 1921 map showed railroad service from the trails in mountainous regions to nearby cities; his 1925 map shows spur trails to various cites (including Birmingham.) The plan was impractical and vague, and Benton MacKaye didn't stick with his idea and implement it. Many others wrote better plans later, and Myron Avery is the guy generally credited with the actual organization of the building of what is today known as the Appalachian Trail.

Today's AT generally follows MacKaye's maps, but differs in any details. Many of the spur trails he suggested, and more, exist today, but differ substantially from the location on his maps. Trail towns have groceries, lodging, & gear. Every nearby bar offers a "hiker special" lunch. Hostels are not free, but lodge hikers as cheaply as is possible. These type of town facilities are more available near the Appalachian Trail than the less famous long trails, but they can always be found by the astute hiker. If one is willing to substitute the details of the plan for somewhat similar developments, MacKaye's plan for a system of trails in the mountains where people could recreate and refresh themselves has been successfully implemented.

Today, no matter what position one is taking with respect to any issue in the development or management of any long trail in the eastern United States, it is popular to claim that one is implementing Benton MacKaye's plan, even if the specifics cited actually were developed by someone else years or decades later. Many have claimed to be citing Benton MacKaye, but few seem to have actually read the paper.

The several hundred mile Benton MacKaye Trail has its southern terminus on Springer Mountain, Georgia, the exact same spot as the Appalachian Trail southern terminus. The northern terminus is northeast of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and is also on the Appalachian Trail. The BMT loops back and forth over the AT several times. The Pinhoti Trail has its northern terminus on the BMT near Dyer Gap, Georgia.

Many people hiking the length of the Pinhoti northbound extend their journeys by hiking the Benton MacKaye Trail southbound from Dyer Gap 70 miles, then by hiking the Appalachian Trail northbound from the common Springer Mountain Terminus.

A Trail Maintainer refers to a tree which has fallen down and is blocking the trail as a Blow Down, whether or not a wind storm was responsible for knocking down the tree.

A blowdown is removed from the trail by dragging the whole tree, outside a wilderness by cutting it possibly with a chain saw, or inside a wilderness cutting with a hand saw or axe. Sometimes it's easier to build new trail tread around one or more blow downs than to remove them.

Cheaha: from the Choctaw word chaha (high)

Cheaha Mountain, at 2,407', is indeed the highest point in Alabama, and has a CCC stone observation tower so you can enjoy the view.

Cheaha State Park, at 2,799 acres, is located on Cheaha Mountain. It is an ideal place for a hiker to take some time off, as it has a restaurant, store, lodging, showers, etcetera, museums of Indian artifacts and CCC memorabilia, and many nice CCC structures. The Pinhoti bypasses the core of the park on side hill trail, but trails connect well for hikers who would rather visit the park developments.

The USFS Cheaha Wilderness is just south of the Park and Mountain; Adams Gap is where a southbound Pinhoti hiker would exit the Wilderness. The Cheaha Wilderness has several other nice hiking trails besides the Pinhoti.

The Chinnabee Silent Trail runs west from the Pinhoti in the middle of the Cheaha Wilderness. At its western terminus is Lake Chinnabee, the dam and recreation facilities built by the CCC. The 6 mile Chinnabee Silent Trail was built in 1977 by deaf Boy Scouts with Troop 29 from the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind in Talladega. The 6 mile Skyway Loop Trail returns southbound from the lake to the Pinhoti at Adams Gap.

Near the Pinhoti - Chinnabee junction was once the Caney Head Shelter. Its materials were flown in by helicopter and when the wilderness was declared, another helicopter moved it west to become the Cheaha Falls Shelter, along the Chinnabee Trail.

Creek Indian Chief Chinnaby had a fort at Ten Islands on the Coosa River, or perhaps on the north side of Choccolocco Creek, near the influx of the Wolfskull Creek in 1813. He was friendly to settlers and protected them in the fort. He fought on the side of Stonewall Jackson in the war of 1812.

USGS 7½' quad Ironaton shows Chief Chenneby's Grave a few miles west in McElderry.

Conecuh: Combined Muscogee words koha (canebrake) and anaka (near)

The Conecuh National Forest and the Conecuh Trail are among the first things a northbound hiker sees crossing from the Florida Trail into Alabama.

Coosa is probably derived from the Choctaw word koshak (cane).

The Coosa Trail and the Coosa (Alabama State) Wildlife Management Area, along the Coosa River (Dammed as Lake Mitchell), are south of the southern terminus of the Pinhoti Trail in Coosa County. The Pinhoti Trail is in Coosa County from its southern terminus at Flagg Mountain until just beyond the resupply town of Stewartville. Troubles in eliminating the 2 roadwalks between Weogufka and Trammell Trailhead lie with Coosa County, which is concerned about the reduction in tax revenue that comes with putting the narrow trail corridor in state ownership.

The 200 mile long Coosa River is formed at the confluence of the Etowah and Oostanaula Rivers where the Pinhoti crosses it at Rome, Georgia. The Pinhoti crosses the Conasauga River northbound from Dalton Georgia; it and the Coosawattee join to form the Oostanaula River on their way to Rome. The Coosa River joins the Tallapoosa River near Montgomery, at Wetumpka, and becomes the Alabama River. Those walking from the Florida Trail to the Pinhoti on the Alabama Road Walk might pass this confluence near Wetumpka.

Nearly all the water sources along the Alabama Pinhoti flow west into the Coosa River. Occasionally one might obtain water on the east, Tallapoosa River, side of the divide. There are several flood control dams and associated small lakes along the Pinhoti whose purpose is to control flooding in the Coosa and Alabama River Valleys, and in the tributary streams closer to the Pinhoti. Many more similar flood control reservoirs are near but out of sight of the Pinhoti. Northbound beyond Rome, Georgia ground sources flowing either direction end up in the Coosa.

Alabama Power has 7 dams on the Coosa.

The Eastern Continental Trail, ECT, in the northbound direction, as it would typically be hiked beginning in the winter and ending in the summer, starts at Key West, Florida. One walks the highways and bridges of the Keys and roads to Big Cypress, west of Miami. One continues north and then west on the Florida National Scenic Trail almost until reaching Pensacola, crosses the border into Alabama, and briefly traverses the Conecuh NF before walking almost a week on less busy paved roads to the Pinhoti. The Pinhoti Trail, the Benton MacKaye Trail, and the Appalachian Trail are followed, and then the International Appalachian Trail across Canada to Cape Gaspé, and by ferry boats, to islands beyond.

This is a good place to discuss how official various trails are. An example of a trail with every possible official approval is the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The United States Congress approved it, as have many state, counties, and cities. Multiple clubs have agreed with the National Park Service to maintain the trail and its facilities. There are books, maps, websites, and programs to inform anyone about any aspect of the Appalachian Trail.

The Eastern Continental Trail is approved by... No one. It's a name given to the above route by Nimblewill Nomad, but people had hiked it before under other names or no name at all. Even Nimblewill asked me later what I thought of changing the name to 'Trail of the Ancients'? As Pinhoti maintainers, we know all about ECT hikers, and many of us have hiked the route ourselves, but except for offering a bit of extra information here and there, and wanting to extend south to improve the lot of the roadwalkers, it does not change the way we manage the Pinhoti Trail. There is no ECT guidebook or App. A hiker just uses their brains and obtains the directions to hike all the trails comprising the ECT.

Somewhere on Flagg Mountain 1,150', is the southern terminus of the Pinhoti Trail. It will be found on USGS 7½' Quad Flag Mountain. The titles of the Quad maps spell Flag with one g. The 1971 version spells the mountain Flagg, whereas the 2018 Quad spells the peak Flag Mountain. Local lore attributes the name to flags posted on the mountain during the Civil War.

In the middle of Alabama's section of the Pinhoti, ENE of Lower Shoal Shelter and the Pinhoti by a little over a mile is Flag Mountain 1,340'. It is on the Heflin Quad.

Just before a northbound Pinhoti hiker crosses from Alabama into Georgia is Flagpole Mountain 1,940'. It is on the Indian Mountain Quad and is indeed an eastern peak of Indian Mountain ridge.

The Florida National Scenic Trail has its southern Terminus west of Miami in Big Cypress NP. It travels north up the Peninsula and west to the beaches south of Pensacola or to Alabama Northeast of Pensacola. It has some long road walks, some long walks on flooded trail sections, and some walks on military land next to active bombing and shooting ranges. (Yes, your heart might beat a lot faster on those segments). It takes a couple of months to walk, and is best done late December through March, because less water floods the trail, and to avoid heat, humidity, and bugs present at other seasons.

The Florida Trail actually contains more route options, spurs, and trails completely separate from the main line of the Florida National Scenic Trail. Those wanting to explore Florida more completely will want to understand the distinction between the Florida Trail and the Florida National Scenic Trail.

Neither the Florida Keys Road Walk nor the Florida Trail enter Everglades National Park. However, a hiker is in historic everglades ecosystems, heavily changed by man, from South of Big Cypress on up the Kissimmee River.

To walk from the Florida Trail to the Pinhoti Trail, one typically crosses into Alabama and walks dirt roads through Alabama's Conecuh National Forest for a day or so, and then hikes many days on the Alabama Road Walk to reach the southern Pinhoti Trail Terminus at Flagg Mountain. The Alabama Hiking Trail Society has marked and described preferred routes for the Alabama Road Walk.

The Great Eastern Trail (Northbound) starts at the Pinhoti Terminus at Flagg Mountain and proceeds north beyond Rome, Georgia. It diverges from the Pinhoti near Summerville, where it remains on the old rail bed rather than turning east to Georgia's High Point Trailhead. It passes through Cloudland Canyon Georgia State Park, Lula Lake Trust Lands, and Lookout Mountain, crossing into Tennessee at Chattanooga. It follows Tennessee's Cumberland State Trail and Kentucky's Pine Mountain Trail, and briefly joins the Appalachian Trail at Pearisburg before joining West Virginia's Allegheny Trail. A new Headwaters Section, the Tuscarora Trail, The C&O Canal Towpath, Pennsylvania's Mid State Trail, and New York's Crystal Hills Branch of the Finger Lake Trail System (Terminus) complete a journey to Upstate New York and the North Country National Scenic Trail.

Only 3 people claim to have finished the Great Eastern Trail. I have the fourth most miles. I can say that many of those miles were among the toughest I've ever hiked. And since I've hiked about 100 times the length of the Pinhoti, I feel qualified to say that this is one tough trail.

The Great Eastern Trail has been under discussion and development for decades by an ever shifting alliance of hiking and trail building organizations. In 2005, the name was changed from Western Appalachian Alternative (WAA) to Great Eastern Trail (GET). This was controversial enough that the Florida organizers dropped out, and the southern terminus jumped from Big Cypress, Florida to Flagg Mountain, Alabama. There's no real reason the Florida Trail could not someday rejoin the GET. And in the meantime, the kind of hiker who would walk from Alabama to New York is the same kind of hiker who would walk from Florida to New York. Given time, someone will, then another and another. Whatever the official termini are, someone will always think of the GET and other long trails as mere links in a longer hike.

Another GET is the Grand Enchantment Trail, between Phoenix, Arizona, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. That trail is suitable for people with very good cross country navigation and excellent water finding skills. It has nothing to do with the Pinhoti except that it appeals to the sort of super hikers who would also build a trail across two states, like the Pinhoti. A handful of Pinhoti People have taken on the Grand Enchantment Trail, including John Calhoun and myself.

There is a Highpoint Trailhead where the Pinhoti crosses US278 east of Piedmont, Alabama. (Between Oakey Mountain and Davis Mountain Shelters.) Thru Hikers aware of the bypass, a dirt road to the south of US278 which is further south tangent to the Pinhoti, can avoid walking the shoulder of this busy road.

There is another High Point Trailhead north of Rome, Georgia, after the Pinhoti leaves the old rail bed and crosses US27. A northbound hiker will begin ascending east after the trailhead. After reaching the ridgeline, the High Point Georgia State Fire Lookout tower will be visible just south along the ridgeline.

There is a Horn Mountain on the Alabama Pinhoti southbound from Porter Gap. It has a closed fire tower, and an historic CCC built picnic area with a rebuilt picnic shelter. It's a little east off the Pinhoti, and side trails to it are not obvious. It, and Horn Valley to the east, are named after the Horne family, who lived in the valley.

There is another Horn Mountain on the Georgia Pinhoti southbound from Dalton and Dug Gap.

Although the Andersons, the promoters of the International Appalachian Trail, have visited the Pinhoti and its southern terminus at Flagg Mountain, the two main thrusts of the IAT lie far away.

The first goal of the IAT is to extend the Appalachian National Scenic Trail north beyond Mount Katadin, Maine, into Canada. The route is selected, and many have walked it. One walks from Baxter State Park on into Canada, reaching Cape Gaspé. Using ferries boats, one continues, and walks on Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

The second goal promoted by the IAT is to hike in Greenland, Iceland, Europe, and northern Africa on lands that were once attached to North America, but drifted away by Plate Tectonics.

Most Pinhoti Trail hikers wanting to incorporate the International Appalachian Trail into their journey follow the Eastern Continental Trail to the IAT southern terminus.

One kind of Long Distance Hiking differs from typical backpacking in that the length of the hike is so long that it is impractical to carry all of the required food and perhaps even equipment. Thus the hiker must stop occasionally and acquire more supplies.

In another kind of Long Distance Hiking, known as Section Hiking, the hiker finishes short sections of a long route on various trips, eventually walking every mile of the longer route. The sections might be months long on a longer trail, but finishing the Pinhoti Trail in a series of day hikes or overnight trips is fairly practical. In some cases, it may take a hiker many years to complete all of a trail.

Less than 50 years ago, the Pinhoti did not exist. A hiker who first walked the full length of the Pinhoti when it was 10 feet long may well still be out hiking it today. I will consider anyone who claims to have walked the full length of the Pinhoti at any time in its history to be a long distance hiker. I think anyone who tells a good story of the early times of the Pinhoti will help make this book better, and ask those people to contact me. I'll also give credit to those who hike the Alabama or Georgia portions of the Pinhoti thru.

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444 mile scenic highway run by the US National Park Service. It runs from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee, and is in Alabama's northwest corner. Although one could walk or bicycle its length, it is really built for car based tourists. It is one of the sites that the Alabama Hiking Trail Society has proposed to link by the Alabama Trail.

The historical and walking significance of the Natchez Trace is that once American Colonists had moved west from the Atlantic Coast and over the divides into the Mississippi River drainage, the most practical way to get their farm goods to market was to float down on rafts to markets in and near Natchez, Mississippi. They then walked back to their farms, on this and other routes.

NOBO: Northbound in the lingo of long distance hikers.

Even though the Pinhoti Trail runs southwest to northeast, it is typical for a long distance hiker to refer to one's journey as being NOBO or SOBO (Southbound). This is the preferred terminology on most trails. The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail and the North Country National Scenic Trail both clearly run east-west, and EABO or WEBO would be OK, but on most long trails, hikers think of themselves and others as being NOBO or SOBO.

Furthermore, when a long distance hiker, NOBO on the Pinhoti, crosses into Georgia near Cave Spring, he considers himself to be in southern Georgia (He thinks relative to the trail.) even though relative to all of Georgia, he is in the north west corner. Such a hiker might consider himself in southern Alabama at the Flagg Mountain Pinhoti Terminus, even though it's fairly central to the State of Alabama.

Sylacauga: Derived from the Muscogee sule (buzzard) and kake (sitting).

Sylacauga is a full service resupply town accessible for the first few of days walk north of the southern Pinhoti Terminus of Flagg Mountain. One might hitchhike there on any of several roads from the Weogufka, Stewartville or Bull's Gap area.

Talladega: Derived from the Muscogee italua (town), and atigi (at the end, on the border).

Talladega is a full service resupply town. A Pinhoti hiker would most easily reach it by hitching northwest on Alabama 77 from Porter Gap.

A northbound Pinhoti hiker is in the Talladega National Forest from Trammell Trailhead until High Point Trailhead, 139 miles. The southern half of this National Forest section, to about Cheaha State Park, is managed by the Talladega Ranger District.

The ridgeline which the Pinhoti follows from Rebecca Mountain to Adams Gap is known as Talladega Mountain.

Talladega County surrounds Talladega, and a Talladega NASCAR racetrack has some national fame. There was a 2006 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby movie.

Terrapin is derived from the Algonquian torope, for Malaclemys terrapin, the Diamondback terrapin.

Terrapin: Any of several small species of turtles living in brackish or fresh water. Although many belong to families Geoemydidae and Emydidae, they are not necessarily taxonomically related.

On a sunny, warm day, it should be easy to find turtles sunning on branches above any large pond or large, lazy creek along the Pinhoti.

Towards the south end of the Pinhoti, the Terrapin Hills section of the Pinhoti is the in the woods segment between Weogufka and Stewartville.

Between Dugger Mountain and Oakey Mountain Shelter, the Terrapin Creek Watershed is a flood control dam and pond. Pinhoti hikers walk across the earthen dam. The dam actually impounds only the South Fork of Terrapin Creek.

Terrapin Creek is the large stream crossed on the old rail bridge where the Pinhoti is on the Chief Ladiga Bike Path.

Very long distance hikers are accustomed to abbreviating "Through Hiking" as "Thru", whereas people who know long distance hikers but have not done a long trip themselves do not use the short version of the word.

When reading the Pinhoti Log Books, it is often easy to pick out long distance hikers because their entries are full of shortened words and phrases like Thru, SOBO, MEGA, PNT, etcetera.

Wedowee: Muskogean word for water sumac.

I give this town name mostly to show words starting with We have something to do with water. It is a town east of the Pinhoti on Al48 & US431. A Pinhoti Trail hiker hitching east for supplies would pass several towns and stores suitable for resupply before reaching Wedowee; therefore it is not a popular resupply town.

Weogufka: Derived from the Creek words wi, (water), & ogufki, (muddy), this was also the Creek Indian name for the Mississippi River.

Weogufka is the name of a one store town and a creek, both near the Pinhoti's Southern Terminus at Flagg Mountain.

Weogufka State Park was once the name of the land on which the Flagg Mountain tower and cabin are located. The 240 acres were purchased from the Kaul Lumber Company in the 1930s depression era, and the tower, cabins, and some trails and roads were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. For various reasons, although other CCC developed state parks prospered, Weogufka State Park faded away during and after World War II.

Weogufka State Forest is the name of the land which was once Weogufka State Park.

Weogufka State Forest (the former Weogufka State Park), the Weogufka Creek Shelter, and the Town of Weogufka, are all in Coosa County, within the first 7 miles of the Pinhoti Trail northbound from Flagg Mountain. From the Weogufka Creek Shelter, creek water flows south into the Coosa River. Further along, a northbound hiker crosses Weogufka Creek (upstream) just before the town of Stewartville, and the headwaters are to the east, also in Coosa County.

Directions for canoeing Weogufka Creek can be found on line.

Wetumpka: Muscogee phrase wewau tumcau or rumbling water, referring to roaring rapids known as the Devil's Staircase there before the Coosa River was dammed.

Wetumpka is a town northeast of Montgomery on the Coosa River, south of the Pinhoti, but possibly along the Alabama Roadwalk between the Florida Trail and the Pinhoti Trail for ECT and GET hikers.

Wetumpka is also the site of a Meteorite Impact Crater about 4.7 miles in diameter. The meteor was about 1100 feet in diameter, and hit perhaps 85 million years ago (late Cretaceous).

Zeros, Neros, and Half-0s are schemes to have plenty of time to rest or resupply in towns. Sometimes hikers can resupply in a few minutes in a store. But if it's necessary to replace some specialized hiking gear, or if the town is spread out over many miles, it can take hours or days to walk around, shop, or wait for things to be shipped. A day walking around town on pavement in the hot sun may not be a rest at all. Hikers with injuries or exhaustion need more rest than others.

Hikers needing extended rest but without money to burn in towns can take time off in the woods, say at a lake or shelter, provided they bring sufficient food. One of my favorite tricks was to bring a giant sandwich, pizza, or whole fried chicken back to the trail, and goof off eating and making few miles the first afternoon back on the trail.