Odum Scout Trail

[BassClarinetman]

Didn't know whether to do this report on the Pinhoti Forum or here, but I figure those who want to see it will find it.
Hiked the Odum Scout Trail Saturday and Sunday, Oct 2-3. In Saturday from the High Falls Trailhead at 3pm and reached Little Caney Head at 5:30pm. Spent the night at Little Caney Head. I was going to go down the Pinhoti to the Cave Creek Crossing and come back up the Nubbin Creek Trail to the Odum/Nubbin Junction, but the weather wasn't looking good. In hindsight, since it didn't begin raining in Bham until about 2:30, I would have been OK. Temp was in the 50's Sat night and it was quite comfortable to hammock. Didn't sleep much better,but my back and hips feel sooooo much better.
The trail needs grooming. There are no big tree falls that block the trail and cause you to squirm and crawl under etc..., but there are 7 or 8 places that you have to detour. Some of those locations have the blazes in them. From about 1 hour or about 2 to 2 1/2 miles from the trailhead there are several place where the brush/undergrowth has encroached on the trail from ankle to knee high. I was wearing knee high gaiters, but still managed to get my left knee pretty badly scratched. The brush is mixed sawgrass? (big stickers), huckleberry, and some kind of reddish brown barked plant with small stickers and branches. Small pine trees are growing inches from the trailbed and branches of trees and bushes are hanging over and grabbing at hikers and their packs. There is no individual item that would take a lot of time, but put together it would take a team of 2 -4 a day or two to clear it depending on experience level. Does anyone know if this area is in the Cheaha Wilderness or can you use power tools? The trees and branches that need clearing aren't the problem, it is the brush. Except where going over rocks and the newer tree falls, the trailbed is clear. It probably will get tougher to find as the leaf fall gets really going.
The falls 1/4 mile from the High Falls Trailhead are flowing well. The initial climb at the falls is still tough with a full pack, but otherwise I found the trail well graded from about 1/3 of a mile in all the way to Little Caney head. There were 3 large hawks, maybe a Golden Eagle flying at the overlook. Man, that bird was big. I had been trying to get a picture of one futher away and it flew right over my head. I had my camera set to focus on the bird farther away and when I tried to get the one close, all I got was sky. It looked just like one of those Angry Eagle pictures as it swoops to the attack. I'll remember that for a while. 3 campsites near the Trailhead, 1 to the right at the top of the last fall, 1 relatively large campsite about 1/3-1/2 mile from the Trailhead, 1 about 1 1/2 miles in and 1 about 2 miles in at the overlook. None look particularly flat, but there are probably some tent sites. No water seen from the top of the falls to Little Caney Head, so bring enough water if you plan to camp between those locations.