Log of our adventures (married couple, golden retreiver and cat) as we travel around the world. I am originally from WV, but we recently moved to my wife's hometown of Schliersee, Germany in the bavarian alps. We spend most of our free time hiking, skiing, mountain biking, and traveling.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Treebeard is alive & well in Otter Creek
This photo was taken on the west side of Shaver Mt while descending Mylius Trail. Spooky face!
Otter Creek Wilderness
This photo was taken on the east side of the first ford of Otter Creek just north of the Mylius / Otter Creek Tr Junctions. It is an unnamed tributary that empties into Otter Creek just a few yard past this waterfall. It was sort of hidden and not visible from the main trail.
Otter Creek Wilderness Backpacking SE Loop
June 3-4, 2006. The wife, Apollo, and I backpacked into the Otter Creek Wilderness of WV over the weekend, spending 2 days & 1 night hiking a route outlined by mrhyker at midatlantichikes.com. A map & trail description can be found at http://mrhyker.tripod.com/ottercreek-se.htm .The weather was great the entire time, and didn't rain until our drive home Sunday afternoon. The temperatures were on the cool side during the day, and got down into the 40's at night. Great camping & hiking weather!
We left our car at the Condon Run parking area and hiked east / south-east on the Hendrick Camp Tr to it's junction with the Shaver Mt Tr. We proceeded north / north-east on Shaver Mt Tr, following the ridge line thru endless growths of ferns and tunnels of Rhododendrons. This trail is in great shape, and the switchbacks made the elevation changes easy. Soon, we descended the mountain west into Otter Creek via Mylius Trail. Otter Creek was high, so the ford at the end of Mylius Tr was interesting, but we made it across and over to Otter Creek Tr.
At this point, we left the loop part of the hike outlined by mrhyker and proceeded north on Otter Creek Tr. After fording the river one more time, we came to the junction with Moore Run and Possession Camp Tr, and continued north following Otter Creek. Even though our plan was to hike down and camp at Moore Run Falls, the next ford looked a little bit to high & dangerous for the wife & I, so we decided to spend the night at Possession Camp, a large grassy clearing. This was a great camping area, and we really enjoyed our stay there.
The next day, we backtracked south on Otter Creek Tr and followed it back to the car. Along the way, we ran into 2 Forest Service workers who were busy clearing the trail. They said that they had already cleared Shaver Mt Tr till it's junction with Mylius Tr, and were now working there way down stream on Otter Creek Tr. This made the rest of the hike out easy, even though Otter Creek Tr is very wet in places.
I would give this hike 5 out of 5 stars. The scenery was nice, especially along the creek. The trails were easy, with very moderate elevation changes. Using mrhyker's map and trail descriptions, I had no problem finding and staying on the trails, even though they are not signed or blazed in most places. You definitely need a good map & compass though. We plan on going back and exploring the rest of Otter Creek when the water is not so high.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Dad fording the North Fork of Cranberry
The old man kept up the whole 24 miles. In fact, I felt like I was slowing him up when my feet started bothering me. Pretty good for a 62 year old senior citizen carrying 30 pounds of gear!
Cranberry Wilderness Backpacking
Last weekend my Dad & I spent 3 days & 2 nights backpacking in the Cranberry Wilderness of WV. We followed a route outlined by mrhyker of http://www.midatlantichikes.com. An outline and description of the route can be found at http://midatlantichikes.com/cranberry1.htm. We had a great time, with nice weather and moderate temperatures. We hiked 24 miles total, taking our time to enjoy the scenery and resting frequently. We camped the first night on the North Fork of the Cranberry just off the North Fork trail. The campsite we choose was approximately 1/3 of a mile NE of the Liming Station, and is marked on the trail map provided by mrhyker. One thing I would like to point out is that the trail sign marking the junction of the Forks Trail with the North Fork Trail is either missing or we passed it without noticing it. The North Fork Trail is in good condition most of the way, with only a couple of blowouts that caused the trail to be re-routed. All of these re-routes are easy to see and are marked clearly with cairns. Also, one ford of the North Fork river was required.The second day was mostly spent crossing the ridge which divides the Cranberry river and the Middle Fork of the Williams River. After following the Cranberry river down FR76, we ascended the ridge on Birch Log Trail. This trail is in great shape, with a moderate grade that made the climb bearable. We found a good place to refill our water bottles just to the right of Birch Log Trail at 38 deg 17.000 N by 80 deg 21.408 W, with an accuracy of 85 feet. After following the North/South trail east for 1 mile, we descended the ridge via Laurelly Trail. This trail is in poor condition, with alot of wet spots and nettle patches along the way. Upon reaching the bottom and fording the Middle Fork river, we turned right (east) onto the Middle Fork Trail and continued for half a mile before setting up camp just across the river near Hell For Certain Branch (also marked on mrhyker's map). This was a great campsite, with a nice view of waterfalls coming out of Hell For Certain Branch only a short distance away. Although we ended up having company just across the river and within view, we really enjoyed this campsite, and I would definitely camp here again.
The last day was spent ascending out of the Middle Fork valley and back to the car. The Middle Fork is one of the more scenic rivers that I have witnessed in my wanderings, with alot of waterworks along the way, and two river crossings. We passed a nice campsite with a good water source along the way at 38 deg 18.131 N by 80 deg 16.460 W. This would make a good place to stay for someone who got a late start descending into the valley. After linking back up with the North Fork trail, we followed it south to it's junction with the North/South trail, which we followed east, back to our awaiting vehicle.
Overall, I would give this route 5 out of 5 stars. The scenery was excellent, with only a few places that were moderately boring. For the most part the trails are in good shape. For someone who doesn't have enough time to hike the entire 24 miles, I would recommend the Middle Fork over the Cranberry River in terms of scenery. The next time I hike in this area, I plan on descending via the Middle Fork and camping at the junction of Big Beechy, and then doing some out and back day hikes from there. Can't wait!!!
More Gear Reviews
Katadyn Hiker Microfilter - Love it! Probably the best piece of gear I have bought so far. The pump action is easy to operate, it fills a 32oz. water bottle in around 1 minute, and the water tastes great. I had no problems with it clogging or getting harder to pump. I always made sure that the stream I was filling from was clear of dirt and made sure to keep the inlet tube off the bottom & out of the sand. When I returned home, I pumped water diluted with bleach through it and let it air dry. I am sure this little pump will be accompanying me on many future backpacking trips.Granite Gear Dry Sack - Works exactly as advertised. I stuffed my sleeping bag and extra clothes in it, and was able to compress them down to a very small size. It also served double duty as a bear bag at night. This sack also just gives me a little peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens, my extra clothes and sleeping bag will always stay dry.
Montrail Torre GTX Boots - I bought these boots about a month ago, and wore them around the house, to work, and on short day hikes whenever I could. Last weekend was the first long distance hike that I have had a chance of doing since purchasing them. Up until the second day of our hike last weekend, they felt good. The balls of my feet were hurting a little, but this could have been caused by carrying to much weight in my pack (once again). The first leg of our hike on the second day was going to be on flat terrain, so I decided to not tie my boots using the heel lock method, and just tied them up normally. Several miles into the day, the heel of my right foot (the shorter foot) began hurting, so on our next rest break, I retied my boots using the heel lock method. But I think the damage had already been done, and a blister began to form. A little bit of mole skin and some duct tape took care of the problem. Other than that, the boots are very good. The Waterproof gortex works great, allowing me to walk through mud & water without worrying about getting my feet wet. They seemed to hold up to the wear and tear of some rough & rocky trails very well.
Gear Reviews
I had the chance to try out all of my new backpacking gear last weekend. I will write a few comments on each item, describing my likes/dislikes of each.Snowpeak Gigapower canister stove - This stove works great for what we will be using it for. It is very light weight, folds up & fits into a very small carrying case, and the auto ignition feature is a major plus. The boil time is very quick when using a full canister, and only increased slightly as the canister got close to becoming empty. I have nothing negative to say about this product.
Eureka Tetragon 7 (3 person / 3 season) tent - Nothing really new to write about concerning this tent since my last review. I still haven't had a chance to try it out during a rain storm. I'm sure I will get a chance soon. One thing that I will say is that I am really impressed with how well ventilated this tent is. There is basically no condensation build up inside the tent over the course of the night. All of the condensation build up occurs on the underside of the fly. 2 adults & all of their gear can easily fit into this tent, with room to spare.
Therm-a-Rest Trail Lite sleeping pad w/stuff sack - This sleeping pad is very comfortable and relatively light weight for the cost. It does a good job of insulating your body from the cold ground. The only complaint that I have concerns the water resistant stuff sack, which I bought separately from but is made to fit this sleeping pad. It could have been made just a little bigger. It normally takes me at least 2 tries before I can successfully roll the pad tight enough to fit into the stuff sack. Other than that, a great sleeping system.
Slumberjack Talon +40 Sleeping Bag - This was an item that I bought at the spur of the moment while at Cabela's and didn't do any research on because the price seemed to be right. This is a good warm weather, middle of summer bag. On my trip last weekend, I would feel comfortable in the bag when lying down for the evening, but as morning approached, I would become chilled and have to put on a layer of clothing to stay comfortable. I am not positive what the temperature got down to at night, but I believe it was the upper to mid 50's. So, my only complaint is that the temperature rating for this bag does not seem to be accurate.
Monday, May 22, 2006
New River Gorge
We were in Beckley, WV over the weekend for a friend's wedding, and decided to checkout some of the sites while in the area. This is a photo of the New River Gorge as seen from the main overlook at Grandview Park, once a state park but now part of the New River Gorge National River. We took a short hike below the rim of the Gorge which offered some amazing views of the river.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Online Petition to stop Mountain Top Removal Mining
The Sierra Club has an online petition aimed at stopping Mountain Top Removal Mining in the Appalachians. Please go to http://www.sierraclub.org/appalachia/conservation.asp to add your signature.
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