PREREGISTRATION IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. EVERYTHING STARTS VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BOTHER WITH REGISTRATION WHEN YOU ARE THAT SLEEPY? PHONE 601-528-6160, ASK FOR MARILYN.
AFTER THE CHALLENGES THERE WILL BE A PARTY AT RED WOLF WILDERNESS ADVENTURES, ON MS 29 SOUTH OF JANICE LANDING. A BAND, HOTDOGS AND SNACKS. BAND BEGINS AT 1:30 P.M. A BLUES BAND.
REMEMBER: CANOES FOR THE TRIP ON BLACK CREEK MUST BE RESERVED AND PAID FOR BEFORE THE TRIP. CONTACT BLACK CREEK CANOE RENTAL IN BROOKLYN, MS; 601-582-8817 or RED WOLF WILDERNESS ADVENTURES ON MS 29 NEAR THE JANICE LANDING NORTH OF WIGGINS; 601-598-2745.
THE NORTH END OF ASHE NURSERY, OFF HIGHWAY US 49, HAS BEEN ADDED AS A CLEANUP SITE.
SNACKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR BOTH THE HIKE THROUGH THE WILDERNESS AREA AND THE PADDLE ON BLACK CREEK. JUST THE SAME YOU SHOULD ARRIVE AT EACH CHALLENGE START WITH SNACKS AND WATER OF YOUR OWN JUST IN CASE. WEAR STURDY SHOES, SNEAKERS OR WATER SHOES IF YOU ARE GOING PADDLING. IN A GARBAGE BAG STUFFED IN A PACK OR DRY BAG BRING RAIN GEAR AND EXTRA CLOTHING IF YOU ARE GOING CANOEING. YOUR PHONE AND CAMERA SHOULD BE IN DRY BAGS OR CASES PROVEN BY YOU TO BE WATERPROOF, NOT BAGGIES OR ZIP LOCKS!!! NO GLASS ON THE CREEK. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR KEY OR THE LITTLE ELECTRONIC DOODAD THAT OPENS THE DOOR WITH YOU ON THE CREEK. THEY BOTH SINK.
-jc
To celebrate the passage of the Wilderness Act 50 years ago, the De Soto National Forest, south of Hattiesburg, MS will hold a Wilderness Challenge Day, April 19, 2014. Participants will have the opportunity to hike 10.5 miles (or less) through the 5050 acre Black Creek Wilderness or paddle a canoe on Black Creek, a National Scenic River, through the wilderness. There is also an option to join a cleanup crew to freshen up the banks of Black Creek.
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| Black Creek as it begins its run through the Black Creek Wilderness. |
Registration will be held at the Black Creek Trail's Janice Trailhead on MS 29 near Black Creek. Registration is free but there will be a charge to rent a canoe for the creek trips. Everyone is expected to come prepared for a day in the wilderness and provide their own water, food and snacks, rain gear, comfortable shoes, and for those on the paddle trip, a dry bag with extra clothing.
For more information email msstone@fs.fed.us. The headquarters for the De Soto National Forest is in Wiggins, MS. The telephone number is 601.528.6160.
The National Wilderness Preservation System, created when the Wilderness Act of 1964 was signed into law fifty years ago, provided the legal mechanism for Congress to approve wilderness areas in federally owned lands. Now, nearly 110 million acres of federally owned land is set aside in 756 wilderness areas--five percent of the total land area of the United States.
The Black Creek Wilderness was approved by Congress in 1984. Mississippi has two other federal wilderness areas; the Leaf Wilderness also in the De Soto National Forest and land in the Gulf Islands National Seashore. In Louisiana there are also three: Breton Island, the Kisatchie Hills Wilderness and the Lacassine Wilderness.
"Where man himself is a visitor who does not remain," is a founding principle of establishing wilderness areas. No motorized or mechanized devices are permitted in wilderness areas including vehicles, motor bikes and as of 1986, no bicycles. (No bicycles are permitted on Black Creek Trail.) The absence of human impact in wilderness areas makes them popular with hikers seeking to really get away from it all. The stretch of the Black Creek Recreation Trail running through the wilderness is said to be the most scenic and serene of the 41-mile trail.
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