Alabama has a number of great trails BUT not so many with established FKT records. One particular absence in Central Alabama are the high-quality trails maintained by CRATA on the bluffs and hills south of Lake Martin. This is the first of these routes I plan to post efforts for and is my favorite of the bunch. Each of them are admittedly a little short (all less than 10 miles) but they all have varied terrain, some steep hills, and great views.
Started at 8:58AM— temps were perfect (mid-fifties) and sunny though with a fair bit of mud from recent rain especially in the low lying sections along Yellowstone Creek. One of the biggest variables that can slow things down at JBS is the condition of the descents off Saddlerock and the neighboring ridgeline (not sure if named) just before dropping back down to the creek and the trail head. In fall these fill with leaves and the steep/narrow switchbacks can become quite a bit more treacherous, wet weather can also make them slick and slow. Today was pretty ideal as most of the rocks had already dried and the hard-pack mud here drains well. I definitely think there's room to improve my time but this is definitely the fastest time I'm aware of on the trail which has a few frequent runners and quite a few more hikers. Hoping that someone else gets the hankering to better this effort and show some more love to these trails:]