I thought a recent look about with Spkldoe and Reesee would satisfy my urge to wander the Mon, but my appetite was whetted…way too many loose ends.
Applying Fontanaman Logic© to an amazing reach of Summer's last gasp forecast and armed with a hasty organic literary, on Saturday morning Snowflake was pointed north on U.S.219N.
I grew weary of two lane at Edray and soon pulled in for a pit stop at Clover Lick Depot along the Greenbrier River Rails to Trails.
Red Spruce High Elevation Forest atop Cheat Mtn is worthy of a separate trip and remains a loose end…MORE please!
The north end of Back Mountain Road meant decision time. Zig to continue to the final destination or zag to add variety. My gut said zag. After a quick food and fuel stop in "down town" Frank, the first gravel of the day emerged and a short time later, I was scouting campsites at Laurel Fork.
Several folks had the same opinion of the favorable forecast, so I chose the only site on the east side of Laurel Fork in spite of the less than ideal hammock hanging potential to avoid the crowd.
I arose early Sunday morning well rested but chilly.
Following a short hike to watch the sunrise, I began tearing down and repacking to move to a campground on a high ridgetop to alleviate cold butt syndrome associated with the cold air sink that is the Laurel Fork. As I gingerly stepped down to a tree overhanging the creek to retrieve my ridgeline and tree strap I heard a calamitous racket. Oh S#/+!! What did I drop into the creek? Out of my periphery, I saw the flash of a sizable critter disappear under the undercut steam bank. Whatwuzzat? A second haint flashed down the opposite bank, porpoised across the stream under water and emerged under the cut bank almost beneath my feet! The critter was the second of a pair of sleek and healthy river otters!!
Cold trailing here: To many of you, seeing river otters may not seem like a big deal. Consider that as a species, otters were considered extinct in West Virginia during my lifetime; but through a reintroduction program the river otter population has now grown to manageable numbers throughout the state. To me, that's simply incredible!
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/outdoors/ ... a0e50.html
I submitted the sighting report to the WVDNR citizen science survey.
https://wvdnr.gov/wvdnr-seeks-public-in ... ect/?amp=1
Living adjacent to the state's second largest wetland, it's not my first wild otter sighting, but as it took place on a native trout mountain stream, I remain in awe of this recent experience!
Back on the hot track, I loaded my gear and set off to my new destination to <sigh> set up camp again.
Shavers Mountain farthest back is the target.
Camp was reconstructed, lunch was partaken and with a half day remaining, I got back to exploring. I stumbled upon a mountain spring, filled my water supply for the night and rode the length of Shavers Mountain to look around. I took a new to me backroad loop that included an Elkins fuel stop then returned up the mountain to an overlook to watch the sunset. I was joined by local fellow riders who freely shared riding insights as we watched the sun go down. Canadian wildfire smoke made the sunset pop!
I gingerly made my way back to camp and took on a delicious dehydrated chili, red lentil and vegetable soup mix supper with dark chocolate and dehydrated cantaloupe for dessert. All chased with hot fruity Pedialyte electrolytes.
AlI settled in for a little fire tv.
Emerging in the predawn, Snowflake emphatically urged "Shake yer bacon son! It's time to ride!!
First stop was last evening's overlook to assess conditions along Shavers Fork as our planned track parallels the stream. Hmmm, running a tad thick in the valleys this morning. We headed out anyway.
What a treat! Shavers Fork Road is like riding a gravel 30-mile postcard. So fine.
Cold trail:The horizontal rock layering is a geomorphic clue that the locale is on the Allegheny Plateau. Contrasted here by the jumbled and tilted rocks of the more easterly Allegheny Front as seen on our recent Dolly Sods outing. Africa and North America bumped heads back in the day and land was shoved about 600 miles westward piling up the Allegheny Front. Erosional forces shaped the Plateau between the front and what is now the Ohio River.
The drainage pattern changes from ridge and valley to a tree-like dendritic stream providing another geomorph…in topo view at least.
Back on the hot track. Well into mid-morning, me and Snowflake reached Parsons near the mouth of Shavers Fork where it, forming a big dendritic branch, enters the Cheat River.
Interesting WV history can be found in Parsons, but my first priority was brunch! But I did manage to find the liars bench on the porch of a national historic landmark in the form of the Parsons Depot upon which to have repast.
Tucker County Courthouse and Tucker County has a colorful history.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucker_ ... t_Virginia
Satiated and rested, exploring resumed. Leaf peeping on Backbone Mountain.
Seeking Douglas Falls on the North Fork of Blackwater River near Thomas.
Nope, not that steep trail in riding gear. My quest in vain I hiked back along the nice access trail. Imagine this cascade 10X higher and you will see Douglas Falls. Or go here for a quite well done closeup.
https://youtu.be/qENSouWz1ZM?si=enSiOksUog1U3jy3
I was in a full lather by the time I got back to the bike. The day had become hot! Vents were openèd and gear was shed. No Rok Straps
were deployed!
Exploration resumed in the form of Coketon coke furnace remains.
https://abandonedonline.net/location/co ... %20century.
Then on to leaf peeping at Canaan (pronounced Ka Nane) Valley State Park. My phone camera only marginally allows sharing the absolutely popping colors.
Heading back to camp, I renewed my springwater supply, gathered and processed fire tv material, rustled up supper and kicked back to enjoy my temporary backyard until fire tv time.
All packed and ready to head home. I bid adieu to my temporary heavenly home and opted for the easy route along WVs 'BRP in reverse' in the form of US219S. Reverse BRP in that the Seneca Trail follows the valley with stupendous views of the surrounding mountains everywhere one looks. Miles of linear postcards!
I made it off Shavers Mountain but soon encountered the pea soup fog belt near Elkins. I managed the limited visibility long enough to make my way to a Sheetz convenience store and pulled in to wait out the fog so this guy wouldn't have to scrape me off a grill. As I was sitting on a guardrail nursing a coffee, some DNR Wildlife guys pulled in for fuel (Elkins is a main WVDNR office in Northeast WV) I could not resist the opportunity to tell my otter tale. They politely listened as I gushed over sighting the Laurel Fork otters but showed no surprise and we chatted about the reintroduction program success. Turns out they were headed to Laurel Fork Campground for work that day. They didn't offer what for so I didn't ask. Their work sometimes goes unrecognized by the public for the good of the resources they manage so I thanked them for what they do and made myself scarce.
The fog had lifted and I saddled up southbound. I made a brief pit stop at the foot of Snowshoe but resisted the urge to loop the mountain.
But I did scoot along WV150, the Highland Scenic Highway to enjoy the not quite peak but fantastic leaf colors. Looping back to resume the reverse BRP, I gave Snowflake her head and set sail for home. A worthy segment completed.
The Monongahela National Forest is much more than verdant and hardscrabble, rather it is a treasure trove, some prominent and some hidden. These explorations are but a sampler and the journey is far from over. The tricky thing about visiting the Mon is that you are always left wanting more. Y'all are welcome to come join in tying up those loose ends!
