Snowshoeing and Some Thoughts on visiting Dolly Sods in Winter

 I'm going to give this blogging thing a try again. It has been a couple of years...quite a couple of years. But here I am and I'm still outside. I just haven't been writing as much about it. I have been posting on instagram, so it is worth checking that out, too.

We snowshoed up into Dolly Sods today with a friend. We started at the gate on the north side of Forest Road (FR) 75.* There were a couple of inches of snow where we parked. It quickly became 6 inches as we walked up the road. Then after the first mile, it was more like 12 inches. It kept getting deeper all the way up the road until the very top of the plateau. Just below Bear Rocks, the snow was suddenly gone, having been scoured away by the constant wind up there. Wherever there was shelter, there were snow drifts. We made the three miles uphill to Bear Rocks in decent time. Then we spent some time at the cliffs on top of the plateau. It was a pretty magical, perfect weather day:  temperatures in the low 20s and little wind. We had originally intended to hike yesterday, but our friend had a conflict. That turned out to be a good thing: yesterday, the high was about 10 degrees and the winds were gusting over 50 mph. 

We only saw one group the entire day: a group of six that were woefully underprepared for the night they had just spent out. They were in good spirits, at least, and headed out, so they were going to be fine. 

*So, a few thoughts about visiting Dolly Sods in winter because we've encountered a few groups that seemed surprised by these things over the past few years. 

• Unless you are staying in Old Timberline, there is no way reliable way to drive up to Dolly Sods in winter. The US Forest Service gates both FR 75 and FR19. I don't think FR 80 is gated, but it also isn't plowed. At all. This means that however you go, you will have a long approach walk. It is three miles from where we parked today to Bear Rocks, on the eastern edge of the plateau. It is all uphill to get up there. It isn't super steep, but it is a steady climb. FR 75 absolutely needed an AWD vehicle today just to get to the gate. I've seen several parties pull up to the gate there completely surprised that they couldn't drive up. 
• Weather: The weather can be really harsh up there. If it is breezy and chilly down in the valley, or where you live, you can bet it is gale force winds and frozen up in Dolly Sods. We were up on the west side of Dolly Sods two weeks ago and it was so windy that it was difficult to stand. I've also been lucky enough to be up there when it is cold but there is little wind. Those days are pretty magical. If it has been warm, it will be a muddy mess up there in the winter. My point of all of this? Hiking in Dolly Sods in winter requires you to be prepared for harsh conditions. 

Pictures:

Michael and our friend working their way up the road

Wind scour lines in a snow drift

Looking out over the valley to the east

Michael near Bear Rocks

North Fork Mountain in the distance

Flagged trees near Bear Rocks.

Dolly Sods: Snowshoeing to Bear Rocks

It snowed here last week. It snowed a lot up in the mountains. Given that we hadn't seen enough snow in the last two years to use our snowshoes, we couldn't resist a day trip up to Dolly Sods. Usually, when we go up there, we hike in from the west side, near Timberline Ski Area. This time, I wanted to try something different: hiking to Bear Rocks on the east side of Dolly Sods. It is an extremely popular area in the summer, but winter is a different matter. Access to the east side of the wilderness in winter is challenging: the US Forest Service gates the road three miles below the boundary of Dolly Sods. You can park at the gate as long as you don't block the gate.

The drive up to the gate got interesting once we passed the last driveway. It isn't plowed. All wheel drive or four-while drive is definitely advised. Once parked, we headed up the hill. At first, there wasn't much snow and I was worried we had driven all this way only to get skunked. But, I needn't have worried. Soon enough, the snow was deep enough for snowshoes. We passed one party on their way down. They had spent a long, cold night out and hadn't made it to Bear Rocks. Once we passed their campsite, we were breaking fresh trail. The hike up the road was uneventful. It is just three miles of steady climbing, none of it terrible. We made it to the boundary of Dolly Sods in time for lunch.

After lunch, we set off exploring Bear Rocks and snowshoeing down the road. It was spectacularly beautiful up there and amazingly quiet. I never realize how much background noise we all live with every day until it is absent. The only sound was the wind, which was mercifully light by Dolly Sods standards. The sun was warm and it was a perfect winter day.

 The road up to Dolly Sods

 The boundary of Dolly Sods

 Rabbit tracks in the snow

 A turkey track

 Snowshoes!

 A bobcat track.

 Michael at Bear Rocks

 Looking east from Bear Rocks towards North Fork Mountain. By the time we reached this point, the sky had become a bit hazy.

 Another view from Bear Rocks.

 Icicles on a conifer

 Remnants of snow on a conifer

 Looking west into the wilderness area.

Michael snowshoeing down the road.

Dolly Sods 2018: Braving the Cold

We spent the weekend on our annual trip to the Canaan Valley. We rent a cabin very large house near one of the ski areas with a number of friends. We spend the days hiking and playing outside and the evenings eating too much, playing board games, and working on puzzles. I always look forward to the trip and the time spent with friends. This year, it was 65 degrees and raining when we arrived in Davis. Two days earlier, there was over a foot of snow up on the plateau, but two days of rain washed it all away. By Saturday morning, the temperature had dropped more than 50 degrees and a couple of inches of snow fell in the last few hours of the storm.

Saturday, we hiked up to the top of the plateau and in to Dolly Sods. It was ten degrees and the winds were blowing at 40 mph. It was also still snowing lightly. 

 Dolly Sods in a rare moment of sun on Saturday. It was not remotely warm. Any time we were exposed on the ridge, we were getting blown around pretty badly. Given the combination of wind speed and temperature, we were pretty cold.

 Rocks on the west side of Dolly Sods.

 Michael and our friends hiking in the snow and wind.

The ice-covered trail. Because of the rain the day before, a lot of the trail was covered in water. Even though it was well below freezing, it hadn't had time to freeze yet.

Sunday, we woke up to this:

That motivated no one to head outside right away. However, almost as important as the temperature number is the wind speed on the lower right: 0 mph. That is a rare, rare thing in the West Virginia Highlands.

While we were eating breakfast, we noticed that, because it was so cold, moisture was crystallizing out of the air and floating around in the sun like glitter. You can just see it in the top center of the photo above. It was magical and fascinating to watch.

Another view of the "glitter" and the hoar frost on the ridge behind the house.

Michael and I drove up to a parking area near the top of the ridge and hiked from there to the Forks of Red Creek. We figured that, with all the rain a couple of days before, Red Creek would be running high and the waterfalls would be pretty impressive. Even though it was five degrees when we started, which was colder than the day before, it was so much more pleasant. There was no wind, which never happens in Dolly Sods and it was bright and sunny.

 Hiking south along the Valley View Trail.

 Ice feathers on the trail.

 Hoar frost on a tree.

 Looking back north towards where we started.

 A wild turkey track in the snow.

I mentioned that, the day before, water covered the trail in many places. By Sunday morning, it was almost all frozen. In this case, the trail was basically an ice rink. We had microspikes on, but the ice was hard enough that they wouldn't dig in very well, so it was still pretty slow going.

The hike over Breathed Mountain was really pleasant. There are a couple of ways to get to the Forks of Red Creek, but Breathed Mountain is the only one that doesn't involve a major stream crossing. We saw seven (!) backpackers in two separate groups hiking the other direction. They had all started on Friday night in all the rain. One of them said his tent poles froze together after the temperature dropped Saturday morning.

 Fresh bobcat tracks on Breathed Mountain.

 The Left Fork of Red Creek

 Icicles on Red Creek.

 A cairn marking the trail

 The waterfall at the Forks of Red Creek. This was as close as I could get. There was so much water in the creek and no way to cross the Left Fork, let alone the main stream. If you want to see a comparison, the photos on this post show what it looked like in the summer a few years ago.

After spending a few minutes at the falls, we turned around and headed back. We wanted to make sure we got to the car before dark and we definitely didn't want to worry anyone at the cabin. The temperature started dropping pretty quickly as the sun sank towards the horizon.

 The Valley View trail in the late afternoon sun.

Michael hiking towards the parking area.

All said and done, we hiked 8 miles and really enjoyed doing something a little different.

Wet, Wild, and Wonderful West Virginia: The Annual Getaway

We spent last weekend with a bunch of friends in a cabin (and, by cabin, I mean a house that sleeps 16) in the Canaan Valley in West Virginia. This is the fifth year we've done this in some form and it continues to be a weekend that I look forward to all year. We eat and drink  too much, yell at each other while playing board games, and play outside. What could be better?

This year, the weather did not cooperate. The hope is always for enough snow to go snowshoeing or skiing. Most years, we've had at least a little snow. Not this year. Worse, not only was there no snow, the initial forecast was for 40 degrees and raining all weekend. We did wind up catching a cloudy, but dry break on Sunday, but overall, it was pretty much a washout.

After hanging out and eating most of the day on Saturday, I finally needed to get out for a walk. The great thing about where we stay is that you can walk out the door onto miles of hiking trails without having to drive anywhere. We walked out into Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge in the rain to see what we could find. Since it was raining, I used Michael's waterproof camera, which is a point and shoot. It is a great little camera, but it has a few limitations, particularly in low light conditions.

 All of the creeks were out of their banks, including this one.

 A little bit of club moss.

 Walking up the hill, away from the large creek.

We had to do a short bushwhack to make a loop back to our cabin. It turned out to be the most interesting part of the walk. This cairn was randomly along the way on our walk through the woods.

 A creek on the bushwhack portion of our walk.

The lake outside our cabin. This was pretty much what things looked like the entire weekend.

On Sunday, we walked up into Dolly Sods. It wasn't raining, which was good, but it was a bit colder, especially on the plateau. That being said, for January in Dolly Sods? It was positively balmy. It was also stunningly beautiful, because of the fog and frost, not in spite of it. I used my camera on Sunday.

 Frosty moss on the way up to the plateau.

 Hoar frost on blueberry shrubs up on the plateau.

Michael standing on a wet, muddy trail in the fog. There was so much water up there and, in a normal year, it would have all been frozen.

Hiking in the fog.

Frozen Mountain Laurel branches.

 Wet, muddy walking.

 The rocks on the Rocky Ridge Trail. This is one of my favorite sections of Dolly Sods.

 Hoar frost on cedar trees.

Hiking out through blueberry bushes.

It was a great weekend, in spite of the weather.