North Fork Mtn Trail, WV

“Anyone her hike the most vista-packed trail in WV before?

I've never really considered it before because of the water issue...you gotta carry ALL yer water, have someone drop off some for you, or hike the trail during rain or when there's snow on the ground. And it's a 27-mile circuit hike so you have to have shuttle service if going solo. Anywho...the local outfitter owner says there's an unmarked spring up there at about the halfway point, making the water issue not so bad.

I got'sk this feeling I'll be marking this trail off my "To Do" list before next summer.”

“Where is it in WV, Buddur?”

“Potomac Ranger District
near Senaca Rocks
Just E of where WV28 and the Potomac River parallel each other”

“Regional Map
TopoZone Map
Local Weather
There's very little Web info on this trail.”

“Buddur, it looks like a good hike, but the first link says the trail is 14 miles long. Is the 27 miles you mention for both ways, or a loop that includes other trails?”

“I was reading up about that trail last night in the Monongahala Natl Forest Hiking Guide and it said the trail was over 20 miles, and about 24 miles sounds more to my recollection.”

“buddur, i would be interested in that hike....let me know when you are interested in going....”

“I will be on the ridge the night of the Leonid meteor shower.”

“When is that--next Sunday or Monday?”

“Sunday night the 18th.”

“Mr.Fritz,
The leonid Website says there'll be two peaks of showers on the 18th...around 5am and around 1pm...WHICH MEANS the 5am is actually late Sat night/early Sun morning. NOT Sun night, like I originally thought.”

“Anybody care to meet at the northern trailhead at 12noon Friday the 16th , shuttle to the southern trailhead, and do the hike till Sunday?

Anybody?”

“i am approaching my supervisor in the morning about getting friday night off....my only concern would be in working all night thursday night then jumping into the car and driving for 6+ hours then strapping on the old lowe alpine and hiking up that steep incline....

might maybe require double espresso (at the very least)!!”

“I'm seriously considering it buddur, what time are you leaving on Friday?”

“buddur (and buddha bear)....it looks like i am in but i may not be able to make it to the trailhead by noon....i will see about taking a vacation day on friday (thursday night) so that i can get an early enough start to be there by 12....

a friend from work has also expressed an interest in checking out the november woods....i will let you know if he will be coming along as well....”

“Sweeeeeeet!

My only reason about 12noon on Friday is that would give *time to arrive late* and still have time to (leave my van as the *back* shuttle vehicle) drive to the southern trailhead for the hike.

The southern trailhead starts on top the ridge (bonus) whereas the northern one we'd have to hike up a ridiculous slope that I'd rather be going down instead.

And this won't be much of a walk in the woods...this trail spans this HUGE frickin rocky ridge that spires above the countryside. Vistas will abound, but water is sparce, so you gotta carry a booty of water bottles.

Mr.Buddah, you can stay at my house Thurs night, cause to drive 6 hours means we'd have to leave ~6am...or leave Thurs night and car camp along the way.

Anywho...
Good luck with the requests, Mr.Gonzo, and hope you make it, Mr.Buddah!!!”

“I read about the North Fork Mtn Trail in Backpacker Mag aobut 5 years ago.
They said it was 24 miles and runs between about 2,400 ft and 3,800 with zero water.

My brother and I along with some of the teen age kids plan to do that trail just after Xmas.

We have close to ten days off and thought we'd hike it on a three-nighter.

We're hoping there is snow so we don't have to carry as much water.

The same bunch of us did a dead-head from the southern end in '96 in the snow.

The southern end is where Route 33 crosses the hump west of Harrisonburg, Va and near Franklin, WVa........for those of you who don't know.
The northern end is across the North Fork River from Route 28 just west of Petersburg, WVa--birthplace of T. J. Jackson.

Watch out for the Snow Snakes!”

“i will be at the northern trailhead (barring any roadside calamities) by 12noon on friday....

buddur, how much water are you planning on carrying? would 5 quarts suffice do you think?

buddha bear, are you still on for this one?

anyone else??”

“1qt for hiking in, 1qt for dinner, 1qt for breakfast, 1qt for the hike to more water, and 1 extra quart...that should do!

(Famous last words)

I'll see you at 12, Mr.Gonzo...and hopefully 2 others will be there

Hint Hint

!!!”

“How much are you bringing for the pooch?”

“OK, the bugger is going to be in the details on this hike. I talked to Fred at the Seneca Rocks Visitor center and here's what I found out.

The southern terminus is on private land and we will have to get permission to access there. They have re-paved that road and done away with the parking so we will have to park on the side of the road. Maybe it would be best to park at the northern terminus and shuttle to the south? Also, the trail crosses private land and we will have to get permission to cross it. It's marked no tresspassing although he didn't think it would be too difficult to get permission from either owner. I got a contact number from him. He thought it was a good idea to leave a water drop near the tower. He also said Neither end is marked on a map. He seemed to think the person to talk to would be the guy that owns the property at the southern end and that is the contact info he gave me.”

“I was told pretty much the same thing.

I figured we'd all meet at the Northern Parking lot just off FR74, and all take 1 car and park at the Southern end along the road US33...and while driving there we could drop off the water. It is understood that the private property of the southern trail is marked and IS passable...just don't go off trail.

I'm going to try to bring almost the same amount of water for Buddur...he should need almost just as much as I, imho.

Still waitin' on Mr.Buddah!?!?!”

“Yah, he said they just don't like horses or mtn bikes going through.”

“Well, what about it Buddha Bear? You in or not?”

“Right now, I'm tentatively in. I have a interview of sorts on Thursday night, so I'll be leaving early friday or late thursday night. Also, I may have to do some freelance work on friday (set up 40 computers in a local school), if that's the case, I'm out... ned the cash. I'll keep ya'll posted.”

“OK, I'm in! I cancelled the computer work (have the itch to hike), and am considering hiking until Wednesday night (looking at AT sections in N. Va.), or skipping Tutkey Day alltoghter and hiking 100 miles of the AT, it's all up in the air, except for the fact that I'll be joining you this weekend.

Lookin' forward to it!

BB”

“Cool...I'll see ya'll at the northern trailhead parking lot off FR74 at 12noon Friday.”

“Thanks for the map Buddur. See ya there.”

“Tarpy, HOI...just in case you decide to join us.”

“Hey Buddur, I decided against hiking after Sunday, so you're stuck with me for a 12 hour drive!

lol”

“Guess I'm not leaving tonight afterall. Lemme know when you're gonna arrive in Crackron, Mr.buddah!!!

FYI - The writeup in the Mon. Nat'l. For. Hiking Guide book says the northern trailhead is 0.3mi. south of WV28 on CO28/11 (formerly FR74). Keep that in mind when looking for the trailhead road.”

“Thanks Buddur, that'll help alot.”

“i am packing up right now....what does the weathermeister have to say about the weekend?”

“All packed!”

“This is becoming a large group of TT'ers! Hope you all have great weather.”

“Gonzo - it looks like between the 40's and 60's with rain friday and pc or sunny the rest of the weekend. I'm sure our elevation will make it a little cooler though.

Lookin' forward to meeting all of you.

BB”

“Yahoo weather links

Weather.com for Petersburg, WV”

“Can a homie get an E.T.A, Mr.buddah?”

“I think I will try to hike south from the northern trailhead starting early Saturday and try to run into the folks hiking north in time for the camping Saturday night. This might not work out but it has good possibilities.”

“Sweep.. sweep.... sweep those boring FAVORITE threads out of the way..”

“Made it home safe and sound. Unseasonable warm and beautiful weather this weekend...and a kick-ass meteor display to boot. I'd like to thank everybody that could participate...Ms.Sklukaz and Scoobie Doo, Mr.Gonzo, and Mr.Buddah Bear. And it was nice surprise to meet Mr.HOI. Good hike, good weather, good company...what more could you ask for?”

“Mr.Buddah Bear arrived at my house close to 6am on Friday and we were on the road in 10 minutes. The drive took us almost 300 miles and took 6 hours.

Met Mr.Gonzo at the trailhead and waited a short while for Ms.Skullcap and Scoobie Doo. Then we all threw our gear in my van and took off down this rocky dirt road to begin our adventure. Drove a radio tower road all the way UP the mountain to drop off water, then back down and to the southern trailhead at the crest of WV33 and north Fork Mountain.

Hiked about 2.5 hours and just over 4 miles to the first campsite where a 4-wheeler road crossed the trail. Buddur and Scoobie Doo hit it off well, and evidently Mr.Gonzo tried to get into the action too??? After dinner a local hunter came by on his 4-wheeler, stopped, cracked a beer and hung out till it was done. Never did understand a word he said, just kept saying "yeah", "uh huh", or "really?". Scoobie had fun running around the whole night, and keeping a good watch out over the camp.

The next morning was very foggy and most of the day was so hazy that we couldn't see any views from anywhere. This trail spans a huge rocky ridge that has trees and underbrush on the steeply sloping east side, and a humungus vertical cliff of white Tuscarora sandstone exposed on the west side. Needless to say, we missed alot of awesome views the first day, but the second day made up for it.

Got up at about 5:30-6am as the hunter came back on his 4-wheeler...at about the very time he said he would. Was on the trail by 8am and hiked to almost the radio tower where we had lunch.

Hiked down the radio tower road and picked up our stashed water. Man...why does water have to be so heavy? 2 gallons = 16 lbs ya know. Ms.Skullcap brought a plastic 5-gal jug of water for her and Mr.Gonzo, who carried the empty jug the rest of the way out for her. Passed the spot where a spring is...well, when it's been rather wet out. I went to find it as the others hiked on, and sure enough it was as dry as the weather has been for the last month.

Hiked about 10 miles and stopped to pitch camp about 4pm. Poor Ms.Skullcap had the biggest blisters on one of her heels, but she didn't complain a bit. They were rad, I wish I'd've gotten a picture. For dinner, Mr.Buddah Bear finally ate the pudding that he got Mr.Gonzo to carry in for him. Set the alarm for 4:50am and crashed pretty early...is 6:45pm early?

Got up and watched the meteor showers till dawn, got some pics of the sun coming up over the hazy ridges. Ate breakfast, broke down camp and we were off by about 8:30am to hike the next 10 miles out.

Met up with some dood on the trail and immediately knew who he was, Mr.HogOnIce. He picked Buddur the dog out right away. We hiked for a ways till we hooked up with Mr.Gonzo and Mr.Buddah Bear. They talked for about 5 minutes till HOI introduced himself to the surprised duo. Then, two doods came by and showed us to this awesome rock outcrop with an unobstructed 360 view of the sky...and hundreds of feet straight down. Took tons of photos, needless to say.

It didn't seem to take us as long to hike the rest of the way out. A side trail is located where the main trail starts to descend down the ridge, I dropped the pack and took it to Chimney Rock, took some photos and boogied back to hook up with the others.

Back at the northern trailhead, we had someone take some group photos of us by the trailhead sign, said our goodbyes and took off. I rode with Ms.Skullcap, while Mr.BuddahBear rode with Mr.HOI back to my van to completely end the trip.

All trailguides say the trail is 24 miles, however, my GPS said we did 22.2 miles including the hike to Chimney Rock. There were tons of vistas and campsites along the way, too. The southern half of the trail had more hunters, 4-wheeler trails and private property, whereas, the northern half had more spectacular views and a more secluded feel. The trail would pretty much slope down into the wooded east side then back up to the rocky ridge to vistas, then back down into the woods, then back up to the cliffs, etc. This was a rad hike, I'll definitly be back, and like I said..."Good hike, good weather, good company...what more could you ask for?"”

“i'd like to make a trip there sometime. not too far from richmond either. thanks for the report.”

“Buddur, I want to thank you again for letting me use your blister kit. There is no way I could have finished that hike without it. Thank You!!!”

“It sounds like you all had a good hike. Too bad the weather wasn't clear both days. Let us know when you go again.”

“I'll be there just after Christmas....for a three nighter....go snow!!!”

“I think it's perfect for a 3-nighter, especially with snow.”

“If you don't have a lot of snow, you would have to do more water caches?”

“I'll just do some snow dancing to please the gods.”

“Exactly Splash. Snow = less weight (water) on your back and less hassle (water caches). And I'm sure it wouldn't hurt the scenery, either.”