Trailhead: Upper South Prong
10/4 - 10/6/19 (2 nights)
2019 bag nights: 19
I was looking for a 3 night backpacking trip and was planning on going to Big South Fork to minimize drive time, but the beginning of October was too hot. So, look for somewhere higher up. After a little consideration, I realized this would be the perfect time to check out the Roaring Plains Wilderness that has been on my todo list for a while. The weather forecast looked perfect, highs in low 70s and the coldest night was going to be in the upper 30s.
I got to the South Prong trailhead and the car thermometer said 68. There was not a cloud in the sky and there were only two other cars at the trailhead, perfect day for hiking.
I was hopefully that there would be some fall colors, but the views from the car did not make me too hopeful.
The trail was gentle and easy, but mostly in the trees. Then I took an unofficial trail towards a potential campsite with a view. I caught up with another solo backpacker who was heading towards the same area. I dumped my pack and hiked back about 30 minutes to get water and then set up my tent and waited for sunset.
The white speck above the tree is the first quarter moon.
It cooled off as it got dark, but it was not windy. The other hiker and I talked for a bit and waited for the stars. I knew the moon would make astrophotography less than ideal (the moon was right over the center of the milky way). This is facing north east, the stars were very nice.
Just a hint of clouds on the horizon to make things interesting.
Woke up in the morning and the clouds were right on top of the ridge, not much in the way of views this morning, but still nice.
I had a leisurely breakfast and then packed up and headed down the trail. It was a lot cooler today (about 40) and damp, but still great hiking weather.
All the ferns were tuning brown, it made me wonder if WV had the same drought as KY.
The gas pipeline was nice to walk down towards another potential view.
This thermometer was right next to the cairn marking the next unofficial trail. I ran into a couple dayhikers who had driven up the forest road. From reading, it is usually locked, but the forest service opens it for hunting season in the fall/winter.
Another nice view. Today was supposed to be partly sunny, but the sun only broke through the clouds for about 10 minutes in the late afternoon.
Some late blooming wildflowers
Most of the ridge is dry and the couple places I was hoping to find water were not flowing, so I circled back towards where I started. At this point, I had run into about 20 dayhikers all on an unofficial trail. I decided that I could make a decision in the morning, but I wasn't loving the Roaring Plains. I ended up hiking on the forest road for about a mile. This is the 10 minutes of the day when the sun broke through the clouds.
There was a bunch of Goldenrod blooming along the road, this one was about 4 feet tall, very pretty.
Not surprising since it is only about 5 miles from where I woke up, but it is still cloudy. I was hoping the rain would hold off until late afternoon, but it started sprinkling around 11 as I was eating lunch.
Not bad hiking, but the views were a little muted. I got to one of my potential campsites and there was a group of people already set up camp even though it was only about 1:00. I did not want to camp near them and I did not want to hang out in my tent for the next 8 hours, so I kept hiking.
I was surprised to see this beaver chewed tree since I was not in an area that I thought would have beavers. A little later I found a smallish dam and I think I saw a young beaver, but it moved too fast to be sure.
After a bit more hiking, I had a decision to make, set up camp and hang out in my tent for the afternoon or hike another hour and be at my car. Even though I had a book, the idea of hanging out in my tent did not sound appealing, so I headed to my car.
Next time there is rain in the forecast, I'm bringing my tarp, then I could have read and watched the rain vs laying in the tent.
I will go back to the Dolly Sods, but I won't go back to Roaring Plains unless the forest road is gated.
