Flooded Trails and Pale Ales
By Ian Guevara
“Let’s go camp on top of a mountain,” I said with a devilish grin, pulling out a brochure from a massive display in an Alabama rest stop only miles from Meridian, Mississippi.
It had been a pretty disastrous trip up until that point. Originally, Mike, Baby Swan, Will, and I intended to backpack the 39 mile Black Creek Trail over a four day period. For weeks we prepared. Packed dehydrated food, collected stacks of trail snacks, and procured a water filter and a dining fly from our old Boy Scout troop. I spent weeks hiking the levee on the lakefront, broke in a new pair of boots, and focused on ultra-light backpacking.
We arrived at the Fairley Bridge Landing relatively late on a Friday night. Apparently in the 10 years since I had last seen this trail, the Fairley Bridge Landing park was no longer designated for camping. Furthermore, when we arrived a thin piece of pink marking tape stretched across the road to the park. It was dark, we were tired, and we just wanted to sleep. I walked to the tape and barely touched it and it fell to the ground.
“Ooops,” I chuckled, then began talking to an imaginary state trooper, “I swear officer, we didnt see the tape when we drove up.”
That night we set camp, relaxed and fell asleep to the cool March Mississippi night. The next morning I walked to the creekside embankment, a bluff that’s normally some 30 feet above the creek. As I began to relieve myself, I heard the sound of water dropping into water instead of the rustle of leaves. I wiped the sleep from my eyes to see the Black Creek was nearly 30 feet above its normal level and rising.
“Guys we gotta go… NOW,” I woke up everyone, we packed quickly, and headed to the nearest ranger station at Flint Creek Park. We walked into the station looking to see if our fears were correct, that the trail would be closed and unusable.
“Hi, we camped at Fairley Bridge Landing last nigh-,” before I could finish, the ranger interrupted me.
“Fairley? How you boys ain't soaked. That park is five feet under water right now.”
My morning bladder saved our lives. Backpacking the Black Creek trail was totally out of the question. We quickly debated our options. Go back home and have an extended break? Find another trail close by? Camp at the local Boy Scout camp?
“Let’s hike the AT!” I exclaimed. What a terrible idea. None of us would be prepared for such cold weather. It was early March, and there was still snow on some of the mountains. But we jumped in the vehicles and drove north.
Past Meridian is the Alabama welcome center. 25 years ago it used to serve free fountain drinks to weary travelers and thirsty kids. The rest stop no longer serves drinks, let alone has anyone working its desks. Just rows and rows and rows of travel brochures to advertise that part of Alabama that Nick Saban hasn’t plagued… yet. But there it was, like a beacon of light shining from the heavens, like the parting of the Red Sea, a brochure to camp on Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in Alabama.
We set off for Cheaha State Park, only stopping once for gas and an oversized pair of sweatpants in Oxford, Alabama. My only pants for this trip, and all of us could fit into these pants at one time. We called the office of the park to check for availability and to our surprise it was practically empty. That should have been a red flag. Not that the park’s facilities were sub par, they were more than adequate. No, it was the weather. It would be near 20 degrees every night and all we had in our possession was lightweight sleeping bags and a rain fly for shelter.
That experience did not deter us, we hiked all around the park, and had an amazing time. In the summer of 2020 I revisited the park for the first time in 10 years on a Labor Day weekend and since then have made trips every Easter and Labor Day weekend.
Cheaha State Park - Labor Day 2021
Only recently has the Alabama brewery scene started to pick up. Plagued by archaic laws and draconian rules regarding alcohol, Alabama was a no-man’s zone. Which is why it never occurred to me that there may be a brewery near Cheaha Mountain. There is now.
Coldwater Mountain Brewpub is tucked away in the corner of historic downtown Anniston, Alabama. Housed in an old railroad station that was built in 1895 and primarily exported cotton in its prime, it now serves a weigh station for folks who thirst for delicious craft beers and excellently cooked burgers.
This is a relatively new brewery, it was once the Cheaha Brewing Company. But Cheaha closed a number of years ago and the old train station remained vacant for years, waiting for the right people to rediscover it.
Tommy Stevens and Jason WIlson were those right people. Investors in one of the first breweries to rise out of the change in Alabama’s alcohol laws, Back Forty, Tommy and Jason were looking for a new venture. The way Tommy puts it, he saw the property while driving around Anniston, called the owner, and had the lease signed within a week. The investors were lucky to find much of the brewing equipment leftover from the previous establishment. They remodeled the building, built a kitchen, and created a friendly and comforting outside seating venue that looks over a small creek and views Coldwater Mountain in the distance.
Since they just opened in the last few months, the beer selection brewed by Coldwater Mountain Brewpub is limited, for now, with three beers. They do offer a considerable menu of beers from other local breweries on tap, including Back Forty, Straight to Ale, Ciderboys, and Ferus.
My flight featured the three beers brewed solely at Coldwater Mountain. “Trailhead”, “Bombdog”, and “Criterium” filled by flight glasses with a wonderful array of reddish and deep browns to golds. The Trailhead is a Pale Ale, named after the Coldwater Mountain bike trails that beckon riders from the region, that makes for an exceptional entry in the “Dad Beers” lineup. It hits on all the notes of a pale ale with a malty tone that hides a subtle bitterness.
Bombdog is a British IPA done well. It's not too bitter and is great for someone who wants to take down pint after pint. Bombdog has a long lasting after taste that's bitter, but not overpowering.
The star of the set was the Criterium, a simple Kolsch masterfully crafted. Boy is this a CRISPY beverage. Criterium carries a subtle fruity flavor with its initial taste and is only slightly bitter with its aftertaste. I still can’t get over its crispness. It’s a beer tailor made for Coldwater Mountain’s outside venue, a beer made to sit back, relax, listen to a babbling creek and watch the sun set behind the mountains surrounding Anniston.
Coldwater Mountain Brewpub is open Monday through Thursday from 11:30am-9:00pm, Friday and Saturday from 11:30am-10:00pm, and Sunday from 11:30am-5:00pm. The brewpub has a sleek interior with much of the original architecture of the old train station and big screen all over to satisfy any of your sports-viewing desires. Its kitchen definitely rivals the beers on tap. The pimento cheeseburger will knock you back and leave you making plans to return to relive that feeling of tasting it for the first time, chasing that dragon, and asking for more.
Sometimes fate brings you to places you can call home, Coldwater Mountain Brewpub feels like home and I have no doubt the food and beer is better than what sits in your fridge.
Sidequest:
Back in April when I first went to Coldwater Mountain Brewpub, Louie and I drank and ate our faces off after a long couple of days hiking and camping around Cheaha and the Pinhoti Trail. After leaving we were both craving ice cream. But not store bought or chain fast food ice cream, we wanted a small town ice cream shop. We found one only an eight minute drive from the brewpub in Oxford. First Class Ice Cream is incredible. All of their ice cream is crafted in-house as well as their confectionery toppings. Three words is all you need to know: Goat Milk Caramel.
Address:
1208 Walnut Ave
Anniston, AL 36201
Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/DrinkColdwater
