December 29, 2011 - Coosa River Annex and Mount Cheaha

Today we explored the ruins of the Coosa River Annex. This site, formally affiliated with the Anniston Army Depot, was once used to store various munitions and explosive ordinance. Dotted along the grid of roads are several trapezoidal-shaped buildings that were designed to contain explosions and located far enough apart to avoid chain-reactions.

One of the "igloo" from the outside.

Interior of the "igloo".

The acoustics inside the buildings are "bouncy" and "slappy". It was like living inside a guitar amp with the reverb turned up to 11.

Alternating wood/metal layers of the door.

I don't know if earth was placed on top of the buildings as part of the original design or if falling leaves and pine needles accumulated over time and and eventually created enough soil, but there are trees growing on top of all the storage buildings. We did not see any indications that root systems were breaking through the roofs and ceilings.

Full-sized pine trees on the roof.

During its operational period train tracks led into the annex and up to raised loading docks.

What remains of the rail system.

Loading dock ruins.

Now you might ask why we were here, but the answer should be obvious- the place is eat up with geocaches. As of our visit there are 31 traditional caches located through the site. Some are simple hides in the trees but others incorporate the ruins and the decommissioned structures.

After making a handful of cache finds we moved along the road, grabbed a bite to eat and stopped by Cheaha State Park. This is the same place that the kids and I visited back in December 2010.

Boardwalk to the Bald Rock overlook.

Us in March 2008.

Us in December 2011.

We watched the sunset from the balcony of the lodge restaurant.

On the way home we stopped to watch the light show at the First Baptist Church in Glencoe. They've got a pretty cool set up- tune your radio to a specific station and watch the syncronized light show dance all around the church.

Here's the complete gallery of pictures from our busy day. RIGHT HERE!