Please click (or put your mouse over) the images to view larger versions! :) May 4, 2008 This Sunday we decided to take the dogs hiking along the Borden Creek Trail in the Sipsey Wilderness area of Bankhead National Forest. It was our first visit to the area and it was absolutely gorgeous. We'll definitely be going back! For those of you who are local to the area, Bankhead National Forest is about 1.5 hours outside of Huntsville and I'll post directions down at the bottom of this page. :) Borden Creek Trail is a moderately easy hike, 2.7 miles long, one way. We hiked all the way down and back, plus took a little detour along the way, for a total hiking distance a little over 5.5 miles! :) Miley and Howie loved running off leash on the trail. They were so cute, if they'd get too far ahead of us, they'd stop and wait until we caught up. Howie especially enjoyed running along the muddy creek bank. The trail mostly followed along the Borden Creek and and there were several side paths down to the creek bank. They were usually steep and muddy though, and the puppies had a much easier time getting up and down these paths than Kevin and I did! :p Apparently there were weird noises along the way that freaked Miley out. Miley and Howie also had an easier time running under or leaping over the trees that were down in the middle of the trail. :p But the fallen trees did make for a good photo op. :D On the other side of the trail were a bunch of cool rock formations that were fun to climb on. At one point in the trail you actually have to walk through this cool cave-like part to get to the other side of the trail. It was a tight squeeze! :) I think the puppies favorite part of the hike was stopping for breaks and cooling off in the creek. :) All Howie wanted to do was fish for debris in the creek. :p It was the funniest thing- Miley would NOT walk in the water. She did this insanely hilarious bunny hop every time her feet touch the water. It got a little deeper than she expected here! :O Howie says it's time to get back on the trail! :) But first let's take a pic on the big fallen log. :D There was a little tiny waterfall at one point along the trail that I thought would make the prettiest picture ever, but the puppies just weren't having any of it. :p Towards the end of the trail, we came to a large beach area. It was *covered* in butterflies!! It was amazing. They were everywhere! Howie kept dunking his head under the water and fishing for more debris. :p Mid-shake pic! I just love catching the dogs in a pic as they're shaking off all that creek water. Look at Miley's crazy eyes! :) Here's Howie shaking it off. :) This one's my favorite! More crazy eyes from Howie. :) At the end of the hike we had two tired, dirty puppies!! :) DIRECTIONS to Borden Creek Trail / Sipsey Wilderness Area / Bankhead National Forest: Take I-565 east towards Decatur. Go over the bridge and turn right at the Holiday Inn onto Alt Hwy 72. Go 3.4 miles and turn left onto Hwy 67 / Beltline Rd. Go 1.1 Miles and turn left onto Hwy 24 towards Moulton (you have to turn left but you end up going right towards Moulton). Stay on 24 about 17 miles. You'll cross Hwy 157 but don't turn there. Look for Hwy 33 south on the left, and turn left there. After about 4 miles you will come to the intersection of 33 and 36 and on the left there will be a trading post which is the last stop before the wilderness area. They have trail maps and stuff here. From the trading post it is another 10 miles south on 33 to the trails. You'll see a sign for Sipsey Wilderness Area / Borden Creek Trail and the road will be on your right (Hwy 60 / Cranal Rd). After about 3/4 of a mile you will see a gravel road to your right with a sign that says Borden Creek Trail. You can go down this gravel road about 3 miles and there will be a small parking area on the left at the trailhead. OR you can keep going down Hwy 60 until it crosses the Sipsey River and you will see a turnoff for the Sipsey River Recreation Area which is the other end of the trail and you can start from that end.