Landis Trail of North Fork Mountain - Chimney Top

As I mentioned in my previous entry, there are two short routes to the Chimney Top formation along North Fork Mountain trail, and this will be the second entry on Chimney Top.

I completed this hike, solo, in October of 2009. For the most part the season had already changed, autumn was in full swing, and the leaves were beyond their peak colors.

I had already completed the hike to Chimney Top via the northern terminus of the North Fork Mountain trail, so I thought I would try a different route. The Landis trail meets the North Fork Mountain trail about  half-mile south of Chimney Top and follows the spine to the spur trail for the formation.

Landis trail is a shorter route to the top, but if you're not prepared for a straight up climb of about a mile, I would recommend the formerly listed route. It is nothing compared to hiking at altitude in the Rockies, but for the Appalachians it is one of the more difficult trails you can hike. The trail is well worn and, hopefully, you can see the degree of incline in the photo.

This is where it gets interesting. I had noticed on the drive up the North Fork Valley there was a very distinct line of snow on both the North Fork and Allegheny Mountains. When I hit about 2,000 feet on the climb, this is what I encountered.

It made the hike so much better, the color of the leaves and the dusting of snow was incredible. The climb ended at the junction of North Fork Mountain trail.

From this junction it was a series of ups and downs, weaving through the mountain laurel, all the time trying to avoid getting lost amongst all of the spur trails to the multiple vistas. If you don't get motion sickness, this short video shows what it was like to hike through the snow-covered jungle of mountain laurel and rhododendron.



As I made it to the spine and made my way to the first of several openings in the wall of rhododendron, the snow picked up.

From another view, you can see the distinct snow line I saw from the valley floor.



I wouldn't be honest if I said I didn't get turned around a couple of times as I attempted to make as many trips to the edge as I could. But I couldn't help myself as every vista seemed to be better than the last.

I eventually made it to the small cairn and a quick climb to the area of Chimney Top. Some of the following shots may look familiar, simply with a few more colors on the trees and a dusting of  the white stuff.

I was very careful, being solo, as I pulled myself up to the perch overlooking the Chimney Top formation. A chance I probably shouldn't have taken by myself, but you can see why I did.

I didn't spend nearly as much time on top this time. I snapped off several photos for my memories of another incredible adventure to (again) one of my favorite locations east of the Mississippi.

On the way back, I couldn't help but take a few more trips to the edge and one last look across the valley to the top of Dolly Sods Wilderness.

When I made it back to the junction of Landis trail, I set up the camera for a very rare self-portrait. I had to have a photo of the fact that I was hiking in shorts in the snow and in late October. You may or not be able to tell from the photo but my pants, socks, and shoes were soaked through from hiking through the snow-covered rhododendron.

The hike straight down was uneventful but the pounding from the downhill sure was hard on the knees.

From a quality standpoint, I don't know that I could choose one route over the other as they both have amazing vistas along the spine of North Fork Mountain. However, this hike is definitely more difficult. This trip, because of the snow was significantly better than the first. Here is one more motion sickness inducing video of a section of open hardwoods along the top.

As with the hike to Chimney Top from the northern side, there is no water so plan accordingly.

Chris

North Fork Mountain Trail - Chimney Top

Back in 2009 I completed this hike twice in 30 days, once via the northern terminus of the North Fork Mountain trail, and the second via Landis trail. The destination was the same, Chimney Top and a natural 360 degree view.

The North Fork Mountain trail is the easier route to Chimney Top.

This trail has several switchbacks during the approximately 1.5 hike to the spur trail for Chimney Top. The Landis trail may be a shorter mile hike to the junction with North Fork Mountain trail, but it is nearly straight up (no switchbacks).

My first trip to Chimney Top was in mid-September and the leaves along the trail were just beginning to change, making for a beautiful hike - not that this trail needed color to make it incredible.

It seemed like it didn't take any time at all to hit the top. You will know when you get to the top when you start seeing spur trails to the many vistas along the "edge".

One of the first views from the top is a view directly above the cabins along the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac and Route 28 - everything looks so small.

You could spend an entire day checking out the multiple vista points but we had a specific destination we were in search of.

It may be only another quarter-mile to the spur trail we were looking for, but with all of those views, who cares. Simply look for a small cairn and a short trail that goes straight up. You may end up getting off trail as you climb and weave your way through the rhododendron, but as long as you continue straight up you'll end up in the right place.

When you break out into the open again you will be staring at a 10-15 foot rock wall and this will be your view to the south.

A quick scramble up the wall, pull yourself up, and you have made it to one of the most beautiful destinations anywhere in West Virginia. This is not Chimney Top proper but without good rock climbing skills or nerves of steel, you won't get any closer.

From this point you are looking across the North Fork valley to Dolly Sods Wilderness...and Chimney Top.

I just had to relax and take it all in.

Not the best video quality, but did I mention the 360-degree view?

The video does not do this location justice but the photos do a little better job. Looking south along the spine of North Fork Mountain.

Looking east toward the Smokehole section of the South Branch of the Potomac (and eye to eye to one of the soaring buzzards).



Looking north toward Petersburg, West Virginia.

And, finally, looking west toward Dolly Sods and Mt. Storm.

If I would have brought sleeping gear, I could have spent days up there. Alas, all good things must come to an end and we scrambled down off our perch. Before we started our hike back down we did a little exploring of the rocky outcroppings.

You can go a short distance to the south, on the cobble between the main spine and the outcroppings of Chimney Top. Be careful though, that cobble is loose and I couldn't tell you where it goes after it drops out of sight.

From here you can wrap around the perch overlooking Chimney Top to another view of the formation.

Although not a good shot, it surprised me, but there are peregrine falcons in the area. This one flew about twenty feet directly over my head.

It was a quick, easy descent back to the trailhead. Bottom line to this trail: it is a short, moderately difficult, hike to one of the most beautiful locations you will find east of the Mississippi. If you plan this hike, take note there is not a source of water anywhere along the North Fork Mountain trail - plan accordingly.

Chris

Seneca Creek Backcountry - Judy Springs Trail

This hike was day two of my adventure with the young engineer from Salt Lake City - the first day being a hike to Lion's Head in the Dolly Sods Wilderness.

From Dolly Sods in was south on Rt. 28 past Seneca Rocks, then up the mountain to Spruce Knob. Spruce Knob is the highest point in West Virginia at 4,863 feet and the road to the top was recently paved.

Just below the spur road to Spruce Knob is an overlook that looks up the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac Valley and North Fork Mountain. It is quite a view!

We met up with our partner for the next day at the Spruce Knob Lake campground, where we would spend the night.

The three of us got up before daylight hoping to catch the sunrise on top of Spruce Knob, but all we got was a heavy fog.

From Spruce Knob it was on to the Judy Springs trailhead, with plans to hike to the upper falls of Seneca - approximately ten miles round trip.

It's about three miles to Judy Springs and another two to the upper falls. It's downhill the entire length but the grade is only slight, to the degree you hardly notice you are walking downhill - or uphill on the way out.

It was a quick three miles to the springs, one of the main sources for Seneca Creek proper. The water was already very low for this time of the year but the spring was still flowing strong.

The spring area is also the junction of several Seneca Backcountry trails. The trails are well worn...and so are the trail markers.

From Judy Springs it is another short two miles to the junction of Huckleberry trail, Horton trail, and the upper falls with a couple of creek crossings mixed in. Our state flower, the rhododendron, was out in full bloom making the crossings and the falls even more amazing.

There are wild rainbows and brook trout in nearly every pool.

I've made the hike to the upper falls many times, but typically via the Horton trail, and mainly because this is one of my favorite places in the entire state. It's easy to see why the upper falls holds a place near and dear to my heart.

The water was particularly low on this trip.

This is what it looks like during normal flows.

The other nice thing about Seneca Creek and the backcountry is the number of plunge pools and small feeder streams.

It was an easy uphill five-mile hike back out and a wonderful day in the backcountry. I will add other reports on the backcountry for Horton trail and the lower Seneca Creek trail.

Chris

Dolly Sods Wilderness - Lion's Head Loop

To date I have entered nothing but Rocky Mountain hikes. Now it is time to add a few that are near and dear to my heart - Almost Heaven West Virginia.

We have several designated wilderness areas in West Virginia and this is (probably) the most popular to hikers, due to the close proximity to Washington DC.

On this day I would show a young engineer from Salt Lake City why we call it "Almost Heaven". He had transferred to West Virginia the previous year but had yet to see what we really had to offer.

Our adventure would be an 8-mile loop, with a spur hike to the Lion's Head. The hike would begin at the Red Creek trailhead at Laneville, West Virginia.

The first leg of the hike (TR514) would be a short, flat two mile hike along Red Creek to the junction of Big Stonecoal trail (TR513). At this junction you make your first stream crossing of Red Creek, usually by July/August the water is low enough to rock hop. Your other choices are to shed your shoes or waterproof hikers and a spare pair of socks. I chose option #3, I wore my wading shoes.

Big Stonecoal trail may not be immediately evident once you cross Red Creek but you can't miss the 4' cairn.

Big Stonecoal trail is an uphill mile to the junction of Rocky Point trail (TR554). According to a reference book I use (Waterfalls of Virginia and West Virginia), there are some very nice waterfalls on a spur trail just before the junction of Rocky Point trail.

I missed the small cairn that marked this spur and at the junction of Rocky Point we decided to bushwhack down to the stream. This sounds fairly straight-forward but I couldn't find a clear route to the bottom. Through the thick rhododendron I couldn't see terra firma.

We finally made it to Big Stonecoal Creek and a nice section of waterfalls. The blooming rhododendron made for even better photos.

As we moved downstream to more cascades I realized why I couldn't see through the thick rhododendron above - that's because there was no ground, it was a 20' cliff. I'm glad I didn't try to push through.

We pushed further downstream to a couple more cascades. The water appears dark, or tea-colored, due to the highly acidic tannic acid content from the conifers and bogs in the extreme headwaters.

From here we decided to bushwhack back uphill to the trail. Once at the trail the small cairn which marked the spur was very evident, I don't know how I missed it.

A quick left on Rocky Point trail and we were looking for another cairn marking the spur trail to Lion's Head - I hoped I wouldn't miss this one.

This cairn was much more obvious and another left and a short, steep section of trail to a nice plateau of "planted" pines. I say planted because they appeared to be perfectly aligned.

Through the pines, you simply pick one of the doors through the trees to the Rocky Point outcropping. It was also easy to find Lion's Head - simply look for the crowd.

It's easy to see why they call it Lion's Head.

After a short break and lunch overlooking the Red Creek valley it was backtracking to Rocky Point trail. This trail would wrap around (below) the rocky point we had just visited and eventually meet back up with Red Creek trail.

Again, master of the obvious, it's easy to see why they call this trail rocky point. It is nearly two miles long with the majority of it being ankle-breaking cobble.

Once we re-joined Red Creek trail it was a quick half-mile downhill to another Red Creek crossing. Just like the previous crossing, it's rock hopping or getting wet.

After this crossing it is an easy, flat two miles back to the trailhead. Somewhere between this crossing and the first crossing there is, according to the waterfall reference book, another nice set of falls.

It was easy to find as we had a small creek crossing directly above it. The moss on this cascade added to the beauty.

The remainder of the hike was relatively uneventful, except for the flushing of a grouse that nearly caused a heart attack. I think my young partner was very impressed with what West Virginia and Dolly Sods had to offer - but his weekend adventure had just started.

He still had my favorite place in the state to visit, the Seneca Backcountry.

Chris