“Everybody needs beauty…places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” – John Muir, The Yosemite, 1912

Only an hour’s drive from Huntsville, Alabama, sleeping on the state line off Highway 79 north of Skyline is the canyon known as the Walls of Jericho. Tucked away in a remote valley in northern Jackson County, sculpted out of an earthen form by the collective dominances of gravity, water and time, waits a grand beauty for those who would hazard in to seek it.

What’s in a Name?

It is perhaps fitting in the spirit of John Muir’s compelling and unavoidable tendency to intertwine his faith with his love for Yosemite and the other American National Parks that this anonymously iconic cleft in the Alabama rock was named after a Biblical tale involving a pivotal moment in the development of God’s plan for the Israelites.

In another ironic tie to the story from the book of Joshua, just as God’s people had to encircle Jericho thirteen times, anyone who wants to witness the modern day Walls of Jericho must….you guessed it…walk a long way before the payoff comes.

Hiking

But you won’t be bored for a second. The first hour of the hike out from the Alabama trail head features a steep grade switching back and forth before reaching the valley floor. This first section will seem easy due to the helping hands of gravity (gravity is a prominent player in this part of the state), and it will indeed be easy, but hold that thought for later.

The dropped log bridge crosses Hurricane Creek at the headwaters of the Paint Rock River. If it’s warm—and I suggest going in the spring or late summer—forego the log crossing and forge the creek. After all, your dog will already be splashing in the creek chasing trout…you might as well join playful George.

The trail continues along a relatively ungraded section until reaching the mouth of the canyon near the confluence of Turkey and Hurricane Creeks. For overnight campers, a small shaded pasture is the perfect spot as long as you don’t mind the old family cemetery nearby.

Up, Up and Away

Along the trek into the canyon, you might not notice the walls’ increasing extrusion up and away from Turkey Creek. Make sure to take a minute to stop for a rest and look up for an unexpected “oh wow” moment.

Above you’ll find that after only a few minutes into the canyon itself, you are already surrounded by rock faces hundreds of feet high.

The trail flanks the creek to the left, but an alternate, and my preferred route on a summer day is to splatter your way straight up Turkey Creek, which depending on flow can range from a babbling brook up to class IV and V rapids.

Most of the time you are hiking a brook, so don’t get scared. Protect your feet and get ready for a good core workout balancing on slick river rocks.

Turkey Creek is the heart of the canyon, and its beauty is unfolded one sweeping rapid at a time as the trail unwinds to reveal cascades, pools, falls, caves and spouts. [spacer size=”0″]

Your First Hike

I’ve hiked WOJ 10 or 12 times now, and on several of those occasions I’ve been lucky enough to bring along a newcomer. Beholding the look of amazement on the face of a Jericho virgin is akin to watching a 5 year old on Christmas morning. The anticipation manifests itself in the realization that this whittled stone palace has been here your whole life, patiently awaiting the day you lace up your boots and penetrate its protective wooded armor.

Lunch with a View

The hike up either the creek or the trail will stir up a good appetite. Plan to perch up on the natural amphitheater to eat lunch while warming yourself in the sun. In the canyon, one could take in a sunrise and a sunset only about five hours apart.

After lunch, boulder up to the origin of the canyon where after a rain you might find a thundering waterfall pitching off the forest floor above and disappearing into an underground stream below. In all my trips, I’ve seen it run just twice, but those two times were worth all the miles.

Cannon Ball!

You brought your Chaco’s and your Class V’s, right? Spend an hour playing in the natural pools and working on your back country cannonball.  But don’t dive in on a rock….your buddies don’t want to carry your broken arse out of the canyon.

Hang out as long as you like and get to know the other hikers, who have come from all over the southeast to take in the beauty.

Enjoy yourself, cause you are about to have to pay the piper.

The Hike Out

Remember that easy hike down the hill earlier? It’s time to reverse it. One and a half miles out of the canyon and two long miles uphill and you will know that you have earned your communion with Mother Earth.

An easier option is to park at the Tennessee Trailhead, located just a few miles north on the same highway. While it is substantially farther in distance, it is inversely proportional in vertical rise. Either way, make sure you packed a cooler and left it in the truck. You’ll need some 12oz anesthetic to cool off those quads at the end of the climb.

When you think about it, God put you on this earth at quite an amazing time, really. Only within the last 100 years has it become possible due to advances in transportation and elemental survival gear for so many people to venture out into the wild places where only a small number have dared to stamp a footprint. The right to fully appreciate nature’s beauty must be earned through daring, determination, struggle, and sometimes pain.

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[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]O[/dropcap]n a recent trip into the Walls, I encountered two men, father and son, both past the half century mark, but one naturally much more so. We met on an uneasy foot-crossing which required a yielding of the right of way. As I pressed myself against a boulder in the stream to let them pass, I noticed something on the elder man’s head—on top of neatly tucked silver hair, a cap bearing a rendering of Half Dome…the kind of hat one would have worn proudly only had he personally footed the eighteen mile scramble through desert heat, rattlesnakes, and slick steep granite faces to reach the summit of Yosemite’s distinctive bald peak.

“How’d you like the hike up to Half Dome?” I asked. “I’ve heard it’s not easy.”

“It’s not, but it’s worth it,” said the old man.

“I hope to make it up there before I die,” I told him.

He cocked a little grin and eyed me with a look that confirmed he had not squandered his 75 years on this earth—“I do too.”

Are you up to the challenge?

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Walls of Jericho Information

Where: Alabama 79 north of HWY 72/Skyline almost to the Tennessee state line. Look for signs to the hikers lot. (Don’t stop at the horse lot…unless you’ve got a horse.)

How much: Free.

What to bring:

• 2-3 liters of water per person (You shouldn’t drink from Turkey Creek, but I’ve done it and it seems to be clean.)
• Snacks and lunch.  Waterproof camera.  Dry socks/water shoes. I never go in without confidence in my ability to spend the night if I have to. I’d suggest you do the same.

How long: An hourish drive each way. They say to allow 6 hours for the hike. I’ve done it in 2:45 when I was in a hurry, but 4-5 hours makes for an enjoyable well-paced round trip.

Closing Inspiration

A final thought to consider the mind of John Muir, American Inspiration:

“Little men, with only a book knowledge of science, have seized upon evolution as an escape from the idea of a God. Just say ‘evolution’ and you have explained every phenomenon of Nature and explained away God.

To my mind, it is inconceivable that a plan that has worked out, through unthinkable millions of years, the development of beauty that has made every microscopic particle of matter perform its function in harmony with every other in the universe, that such a plan is the blind product of an unthinking abstraction.

No; somewhere, before evolution was an Intelligence that laid out the plan. Evolution is the process, not the origin of the harmony. You may call that Intelligence what you please: I cannot see why so many people object to call it God.”

Kinzer