The history and future as seen by an outsider: Part 4
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In My Humble Opinion
Jodi McDade
First let me explain the title for this series of columns. I am not from Coosa County, have no family from Coosa County (except some ancestors of my husband) and have only lived in Coosa County for about 28 years. Most of you have lived here all your lives and/or have family going back for many generations. But I have adopted Coosa County and have no plans on ever leaving. This is now my home.
So many of the wonderful people in the Weogufka area have participated with the activities on Flagg Mountain. I can’t begin to name the people who made sure Sunny Eberhart had plenty to eat while he was the caretaker!
There were also many people who brought firewood to the mountain (John Nelson was one!). Joe Jones, Kent Cooper, Stanley Batchelor, Barry Riddle, and others helped with the maintenance of the cabins and trails. Lloyd (Cape) and Tammy Caperton provided friendship and support to the reopening of Flagg and the Pinhoti. Again, to those I have left out, I apologize.
Significant milestones started in 2017 with the US Forest Service joining with the newly formed Alabama Trails Foundation to develop a Master Plan for the future of the Pinhoti Trail. This plan was released in 2019.
At that same time the ATF partnered with the Alabama Forestry Commission to develop a site plan for the Weogufka State Forest (Flagg Mountain). In 2020, an agreement between the AFC and ATF started developing construction plans for a new assessable approach to the tower area that would include a new parking lot and concrete pathway with switchbacks to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers.
One of the MAIN projects that was outlined was the renovation of the historic Flagg Mountain tower that had been closed for years because of safety concerns. The partnerships that have been mentioned in all of the previous columns would invest $1 million for the site plans, approach trail, tower renovation, and forest management. Through the hard work of Mark Tuggle and Rick Oates, our state legislature was educated on the importance of the projects that would eventually bring tourism to the Coosa County area as Flagg Mountain was being updated and improved. With the support of Gov. Kay Ivey, funding was set aside to help fund the improvements of the tower area.
At some point in late-2020, Sunny Eberhart decided it was time for him get back to his main love – hiking. So, Nimblewill Nomad chose to take what would be his last big adventure in 2021 and started his “Bama to Baxter” Odyssey that would include the entire Appalachian Mountain Range from Flagg Mountain to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
With the help of Barry Riddle and other trail angels along the way, Sunny finished hiking 348 miles on the Pinhoti Trail, 72 miles on the Benton MacKaye trail and 2,200 miles on the Appalachian Trail on November 7, 2021, at 83 years old! This accomplishment also made him the oldest person to complete the Appalachian Trail at that time, taking the honor from his friend Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders.
“Grey Beard” is currently on the Appalachian Trail right now with plans to finish it at the ripe age of 90 and take the record back!
The entire time Sunny was on the “Bama to Baxter” adventure he was promoting the Pinhoti Trail and Flagg Mountain. He met hundreds of hikers along the trails, and many had never heard of the Pinhoti coming into Alabama from Georgia. The legend of “Nimblewill Nomad,” one of the most well-known long-distance hikers, was sharing the information with all of these people he met on the trails, at hostels and in campsites. The media coverage of the Alabama Pinhoti was shared around the world, and hikers from all over began to include it in their hikes.
While Sunny was on that hike several people filled in as caretaker on Flagg Mountain. All of them were hikers in their own right, and each brought their own experiences to the mountain. They were DeForest “Sparkles” Tuggle, Craig Myers, Gail Ann Walsh, Charlie Carpenter, and Bonita Helton. The events continued to bring people for the “First Friday” get togethers, etc.
In the meantime, Alabama Forestry Commission and its partners were busy with the improvements they were making at Flagg Mountain. On June 9, 2022, AFC hosted a “Media Day at Flagg Mountain” with a huge group of speakers representing so many of the organizations and partners who had been involved with the work that had been done.
One of them was John “Bud” Roberts who moved to Flagg Mountain with his family in 1942 when he was 3 years old. His father, L.D. Roberts, was the first forest ranger to be stationed at Flagg, and the family lived in the Rangers Cabin. Bud left to serve in the Army, but returned to marry his sweetheart, Faye. Their honeymoon was in Cabin #4. He had many stories to share about his life and love on Flagg Mountain.
On June 15, 2022, Gov. Kay Ivey joined with an enormous group of other people to reopen the Historic Flagg Mountain Tower. The majority of people I have mentioned through each part of this story were in attendance, plus others like Chief Marcus Cloud and members of the Muscogee Tribe who have relocated to their tribal home south of the mountain. What a great day it was!
On July 11, 2022, Sunny Eberhart resigned as caretaker to continue hiking, but Randy “Chuck Norris” and LuAnn “Tigger” Anderson took over for several months. AHTS was still providing the caretakers, but it was difficult to find people willing to volunteer to stay long-term.
After the Andersons’ time was up, James Hamilton, Kanyon Ogle and a couple of others stepped in for a brief period. It was at this time that Alabama Forestry Association and Alabama Hiking Trails Society reached the agreement for the AFC to take the mountain back over so they could provide a forest ranger – Mary Thurman – to oversee the operation.
Along with Mary came a team of Coosa County guys led by Brad Dunham and Braxton Lashley to start reviving the forest land surrounding the mountain. Thankfully, they are all still there today! So since 2023, Flagg Mountain and all of the Weogufka State Forest went back under the guidance of the Alabama Forestry Commission. AHTS continues to help with the Pinhoti Trail maintenance throughout Coosa County.
I had no idea when I started this how much time, energy, support, friendships, partnerships, and lasting relationships were going to come out of what started as a dream. It was hard to realize how many years have been dedicated to all of this, but it’s also amazing how much has been accomplished!
Last year potable water was brought to the mountain by the Stewartville Water Authority with funding from the State of Alabama. Now on to the next big project – a new bathhouse in the cabins area and restroom facilities to the tower area!
And I hope that my dream of a small State Park somewhere between Flagg Mountain and Lay Lake that can provide RV camping will one day come true!