Which trail(s) need clearing? Big Beechy had some blowdowns on the descent to Middle Fork when I was there in October. I was glad I had a folding buck saw with me in Linville Gorge recently, so maybe I'll start taking it to the Cranberry, too.Originally Posted by Hog On Ice
All, thanks for the ideas. I bought the Monongahela NF Hiking Guide on CD. My eyes are fatigued now...
I'm with WV, do tell more!
Bow saws are vicious sharp! I'm reluctant to bring something like that on the trail, but it is an efficient tool for the job. I use a length of split garden hose as a safety guard; what do you use? (Lost the original guard.)
Was Big Beechy passable?
..Mike the Weed Warrior bio // Think globally, act locally: Remove an invasive plant
Oh, sure. The only problem I had was lifting my dog over some logs that humans could straddle pretty easily. He's not very agile when wearing a pack.
checking my records the trip was on the weekend of April 15 - parked at North South trailhead off of 150 - it appeared that the snow load last winter had dropped a number of the spruce and pine along the North Fork Trail and the North South Trail - so basically I would be concerned about any trail that goes through the spruce sections in the wilderness
wrt saws - my preferred saw for trail work is a pruning saw (backless/frameless) - something that I can use to cut straight through blowdown without the frame getting in the way - for example the 21 inch Corona Pro pruning saw is a good choice for wilderness work.
Thanks, HOI. That's not too surprising about which trails, and that's good advice about the saws. I should be able to get up there for a day next week to look at that section of the North Fork Trail that parallels the Scenic Highway (150) in the spruces. It figures in a number of possible loops.
Vegamike, I was looking at possible 50 mile loops, and they look like figure-8s and serpentines, with lots of doubling back. It will be interesting to see what you come up with. There are four trails that run roughly East-West. Any two of them could be used with some connecting trails at each end to make a loop 25 to 35 miles long. The best 50 mile loop I could figure would start at the east end of Big Beechy, follow it to the Middle Fork Trail and take that west to the Three Forks of the Williams River. Take the Little Fork Trail up to the North-South Trail, jog east a bit and take the Big Rough Run Trail down to the Cranberry River Road (FS 76). Follow the road south along the river to the Forks of the Cranberry, and take the North Fork Trail to its intersection with the North-South Trail. Go west on the North-South Trail (yup) to the Laurelly Branch Trail, and take that down to the Middle Fork Trail, where you go east to its trailhead on the North Fork Trail. Take that north back to your starting point. Whew! This covers a lot of nice territory, including most of the spruce ridges that HOI was talking about, so if there are blowdowns, you'll find 'em.
Last edited by WV; 06-13-2011 at 20:12.
Remember that there are many trails outside of the wilderness proper that can be used for loops also.
True. Big Rough Run is one of them. I was thinking of suggesting two separate loops, one in the Cranberry and one nearby in the Tea Creek area (involving the Gauley Mt., Bear Pen Ridge, Tea Creek, and Right Fork trails.
There are nice views along the Gauley Mt. Trail, and I hear Bear Pen Ridge is pretty special. Vdeal, can you suggest others you've liked?
WV,
I was referring to the trails on the south side of the wilderness area. I haven't hit many of those but I have done Kennison Mt. Tr. It starts out very steep from Cranberry River but transitions into a nice rolling forest walk at the top. We used it along with the South Fork Tr. to return to the Glades area which unfortunately doesn't have a connector trail to anywhere else. However, Kennison Mt. does connect to Frosty Gap Tr. which can hook you up to the Pocahontas Tr. and then you could work back over to the Rough Run Tr. Lots of lots are possible. Check my aforementioned links.
Vdeal, yes, those are good possibilities. From the bottom of the South Fork Trail it's only 4 miles or so on FS 102 (gated road) to the Forks of Cranberry, so it could connect to the North Fork Trail that way.
Another Southern loop could use the Fisherman's Trail up from the river to the Pocahontas Trail to Frosty Gap Trail to South Fork Trail, etc. I think I'd prefer that to the Kennison Mt. Trail because it's more varied (but also longer).
Vegamike, have we tossed out more possibilities than you can process yet?
Thanks for the suggestion. What do you use for a sheath?
vdeal, WV, thanks both of you. You've given me lots of great ideas! Planning is underway...
..Mike the Weed Warrior bio // Think globally, act locally: Remove an invasive plant
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks