almost heaven

[whippoorbill]

Just returned ... spent ... after spending a few days wandering the Roaring Plains and Flatrock Plains (plus an hour or so at the Sinks of Gandy) in wild & wonderful West Virginia. We were buttressed against one of my favorite places in the known universe: Dolly Sods. She, in all her glory, was visible across valleys throughout, as were other fine sights.

...'twas as if in a dream, a place I'd seen sleeping many times before, but real this time, with some wild & wonderful dude named Alfie leading the way.

Down toward camp

Roaring Plains above

Atop Roaring Plains

Roaring Plains down toward eastern front

Valley view before him

Alfie wuvs the wocks

View of Dolly Sods from Camel Rocks on Flatrock Plains

Roaring Plains Trail is typical of Sods hiking.

Sinks of Gandy features a high-mountain stream flowing into the large mouth of a cave.

Tuesday morning, before returning home, we hiked up the
Roaring Plains a second time, and approached its edge.

The edge

Trip note: When sleeping, my buddy snores to such a degree that it warrants comparison to the snorting of a gal bear in heat. Bears populate the plains area heavily, and this co-tenter had no hard time imagining strident males bearing down on our tent and Alfie's amorous snores. As an act of self preservation, nightly, once Alfie's din would start, I'd softly slip to our nearby vehicle and zonk there. Relief, though, would set in when my big buddy safely clambered back to the Suzuki each morning, uneaten.

Thanks for looking,
Whip'd

 

[manumuskin]

Whip you did it! you made light where there was none.It's ashame the light didn't cooperate at the sinks.woulda liked a nice shot of the entrance but the shadow kinda does it in.
to all interested Alfie does not like the wocks anymore.he used to when young and skinny but now the wocks hurt his ankles and knees and he cried the whole trip.Alfie made it but barely.One of these days he will bite off more then He can chew.The mind is young but the body is fat.A sure ticket for a fast demise one day in a place where he will never be found and subjected to embarrasing absurdities the modern mortuary practices put indefensible dead folks through.Couldn't think of a better place to kick then on top of flatrock plains looking north over the Sodds.
Alfie

 

[Bachman's Ivory]

Killer shots as always. It looks fantastic there!

 

[glowordz]

This looks like an awesome place:
the hills swelling, sweeping, blooming, the plains flowing;
the rocks tilting, frowning, crowning, the wind singing.

A landscape to cherish, worthy of dreams.
Thank you, Whip, for sharing.

Glo

 

[Boyd]

Beautiful place and great photos!

 

[james ungehajer]

Looks like y'all had a great time, thanks for sharing the trip with great photos.

Jim

 

[whippoorbill]

Thanks ... I need to get back and do it right. Learn the mountains, see what works, what doesn't, be patient with light, etc. Time with a place so distant is such an issue.

... used to when young and skinny but now the wocks hurt his ankles and knees and he cried the whole trip.Alfie made it but barely.One of these days he will bite off more then He can chew.The mind is young but the body is fat.A sure ticket for a fast demise one day in a place where he will never be found and subjected to embarrasing absurdities the modern mortuary practices put indefensible dead folks through.
Alfie

Don't fade away, Alfie. I need you. We need you. Get it back.

 

[PancoastDrifter]

Great pics. Fantastic collection. Thanks.

 

[Teegate]

Well done Bill! Looks like the weather cooperated for you.


Guy

 

[oji]

Bill, Great pics, I especially liked the B/W and panoramic views.No need to worry about your buddy because Bars don't eat other Bars. All that would happen is a big old bruin would cuddle up with Al!

 

[oji]

Al, Those are some great looking sites in your home state. I can see why you need to go back and visit. A little high country to compliment your flatland wandering. You must have gone crazy during your stay in the desert!

 

[grendel]

I just spent three days over the colombus day holiday hiking Dolly Sods. Beautiful. Snowed up top for about an hour on day two. I loved the high country there. Great country, I will be back. I have only a few crappy pics on my cell phone as I remembered my camera but forgot the battery.



falls on Red Creek

 

[woodjin]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing the pics. I'll have to visit there someday.

 

[turtle]

Besides the obviously amazing geographic layout, is there an interesting history to the area that attracts your interest? What part of the preserve is your favorite? Camping anywhere or only designated areas? How accessible by car? I'm loving the introduction that you offered and would consider a ride down there on a four day weekend.... beautiful and fairly close to home!

Turtle

 

[manumuskin]

Al, Those are some great looking sites in your home state. I can see why you need to go back and visit. A little high country to compliment your flatland wandering. You must have gone crazy during your stay in the desert!

oji
my stay in the desert was the most depressing time of my life.The saudi and iraqi deserts are not like our grand vistas of the american southwest.your basically on a level beige colored plain for as far as you can see with little nugget size pebbles strewn about.nothing grows except a few scraggly thorn bushes quite unlike our cactus.Up in iraq there is a little more relief with some low ridges made out of a rotten type of rock that crumbles in your hand but there are some awesome flint chunks strewn about that would make great arrowheads in the hands of a good knapper.
people would write me and ask what i needed sent in care packages.besides the normal goodies like tootpaste,wipes and q-tips and of course the godsend...toilet paper what i always wanted was any pics cut out of a magazine that were woods or mountains or swamps.i wanted green oji.You can't imagine how you can miss a color so bad.blue was a close second though whenever i was next to the gulf it is a dazzling turquoise but most of the time i was in the dirt.i missed the barrens,yes their sand too but at least you can make glass out of our sand.the crap in the desert is actually dust,like talcum powder.arabia has to import sand from here to make concrete,thats how poor that country is.they have oil and nothing else.so there i was ,taken out of the woods and dropped in a pile of dirt,surrounded by a bunch of Muslims who hated us but needed us to protect them from other muslims,we were like the red headed step child you kept around for the welfare check he brought in.dont know why we were over there then,don't know why we are now.I say turn em loose on each other,let em choke on their oil.
sorry for the rant,I'm in the woods again! fat and lazy now,layin in the sun and it's not 122 degrees!I shoulda morphed into Alfreda over there,woulda got me home sooner or maybe dead tough outfit,don't think the boys woulda liked that
Alfie

 

[manumuskin]

Besides the obviously amazing geographic layout, is there an interesting history to the area that attracts your interest? What part of the preserve is your favorite? Camping anywhere or only designated areas? How accessible by car? I'm loving the introduction that you offered and would consider a ride down there on a four day weekend.... beautiful and fairly close to home!

Turtle

the attraction is the remoteness,the beauty, the hillbillies...my kinda folks for the most part. The sodds proper are more open and winswept,they look like the srctic tundra,roaring and flatrock plains where we were are more recovered and spruced up but more remote and even wilder.you can either camp at red creek forest campsite which is about 12 bucks per night last time i was there.they have an outhouse and a water pump and picnic tables.thats it.the road to the campground closes in november.the road over the top fs 19 never closes but they don't plow it so it is basically closed most of the winter.fs 75 is actually gated off in novemeber.you may hike/snowshoe/ski anywhere you want but your car stays at the gate if you van get it there.yes you may camp anywhere you like for free but technically you must be at least 300 ft from the roads,and out of sight of trails and streams.this is not enforced and though the whole area looks like you could throw a tent anywhere from afar actually the wocks are everywhere and quite deadly to a good nights rest.you must pick your spot with care and most spots sleepable already have a fire ring there.we did find some nice camping areas back in spruce groves that apparently are not used for such and woul make very nice virgin campsites.there are red pine groves here and there that were planted by the state long ago and they are absolutely beautiful for camping.spruce is beautiful too but the spruce groves are usually on rougher ground but do hold some nice sites as well.the plateau tops are covered in spruce from abou 3900 ft up.max elevation is mt porte crayon which is over 4700 ft.most areas are between 4100 and 4400.
as to the history
the area was a virgin spruce forest up till about 130 years ago.then the loggers found it aroun 1880 and between then and the first world war they wiped it out.then in the world war the government used thewhole area as a bombing range which of course set the slash on fire which burned away feet of top soil down to bare wocks which torment us to this day though they are beautiful too.then in world war 2 they bombed again.today quite frequently bombs are still found in the thick brush.had one found last year laying in red creek near it's source.it was in the water and had been there for 90 years.they took it out and detonated it.how does this stuff stay viable????.in many areas on the plains the laurel is so thick and stunted it it impossible to bushwack through and in the wetter areas you have rhododendron that is just as bad so these bombs stay hidden quite well.
dolly sodds got it's name from a german family named dahle who farmed in the valley and owned the mountain from what i gather.so know it wasn't the history that attracted me to the sodds but there are some real nice hidden civil war gems in the area including earthworks,cellar holes and collapsed chimney roak piles of old troop cabins and at least one old hidden graveyard.
Al

 

[turtle]

Thank you Alfie....you wock! I now have a new destination to visit.

turtle

 

[whippoorbill]

Besides the obviously amazing geographic layout, is there an interesting history to the area that attracts your interest? What part of the preserve is your favorite? Camping anywhere or only designated areas? How accessible by car? I'm loving the introduction that you offered and would consider a ride down there on a four day weekend.... beautiful and fairly close to home!

Turtle

Alfie did quite well answering your questions, Turtle. But it's that obvious geographical/geological layout you mention that keeps me going back. Here are three photos from a previous trip to Dolly Sods:

Alfie ... let's pack again.

 

[PancoastDrifter]

Is that clear cut from logging in the distance on that first shot above?

 

[whippoorbill]

Is that clear cut from logging in the distance on that first shot above?

The open grasslands you're mentioning are the real eyecatchers from Bear Rocks on the Sods, PD. I did a little research on the open area and found this quote -- Bear Rocks' natural heathlands and open grass balds were originally recorded in 1746 by a survey party that included Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson -- from this link -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Rocks_Nature_Preserve

No clearcutting; just beautiful, extensive grasslands.