Coldwater Mountain Loop (Calhoun County, Alabama)

Later in the spring, I will be hiking the Camino Portugues de la Costa and to prepare for some really big mileage days on that trek, I put together a number of training hikes with fairly low elevation change, but with increasing mileage as the trip gets closer and closer. I posted these on the Meetup, as a few friends will be joining me on this upcoming international trip. Originally, today's hike along the Coldwater Mountain Loop was planned for January, but bad weather forced me to reschedule it to today. Only my friend Angie was able to join me for this one, but I suspect more people will be on the ones later in the spring.

I met up with Angie at the Indian Trail Park and Ride just off of I-85 and only a few miles from my house. We planned to carpool the rest of the way, as it is a roughly two-hour drive over the border into Alabama to reach the trailhead. The drive was uneventful, other than the pouring rain that we had to get through on the way over. I had been watching both the forecast and doppler radar very closely. I was pretty certain the rain would stop by the time we reached the trailhead, though a super muddy trail was still a concern. 

As expected, the rain stopped a while before we finished our drive and we pulled into the gravel parking area to find it completely empty. While this is the first time either of us have visited this trail system, my research indicated that it was very popular for mountain bikers. I guess we'll have to see if they know something we didn't.

We quickly got our bearings and started up the Tortoise Trail, which is just one of the large network of interconnecting paths on this series of small ridges. Luckily, the trail doesn't seem to be very muddy at all, with only a couple of small patches of soft soil along the entire trip. Not too long after starting, we start up a steep incline only to hear some hollering coming from the other direction. With just enough time to react a four mountain bikes jump over the hill with no way to stop in time. Thankfully, their yelling gave us enough time to react and get out of the way. These are only the first of many we'll see today. 

Further along the trail, we hit a junction where three of the longer trails converge. Here a large pipe (8-10 ft in diameter) has been fashioned into the ground with cemented stones holding it and the ramp leading up to the top of it in place. This is meant to be an overpass with one trail going through the pipe and another going over the top via the ramp. We decide this is a great place to stop for a quick lunch and find a nearby bench to rest on for a few minutes. I'm dieting pretty heavily right now and so, my lunch consists of a Clif Bar, the peanut butter variety, and a handful of walnuts. It's enough to give me a little energy boost.

We continue on, hopping between different trails and trying our best to follow our planned route as defined by whomever posted this trail on AllTrails.com. After about five hours, we realize we are nearing the end and discuss what a great day it has been. Before we know it, we're at the parking area. The hiking pole that Angie accidentally left beside the "porta-potty" is even still there. Our total distance was about 14.1 miles, which made for a nice training hike. While this trail system is nothing spectacular, it's very doable and well maintained. I don't know that I would drive this far to hike it again, but overall, it was a nice hike. Now, the drive home.