Sodsfest 2004: Dolly Sods in June

“Thanks for the compliment. I've been working on it quite a bit lately. I'm trying to decide on a domain name and then I'm going to move it there and make it much more dynamic.”

“Dub,
Good luck. Keep us posted.
NJpacker”

“Dub sometime I would like to do things like that for the clubs website.


8)”

“OK! Just how the heck do you pronounce the name of the shelter???
”

“ensign phillip cowall”

“Sounds more like a disease.”

“ENS Phillip Cowall Memorial Shelter :P

And wtf is hanging out of my mouth in that picture??”

“If you don't remember, maybe you don't wanna know... LOL

That shelter looks a HE!! of a lot nicer than anything I've seen down in GA or NC!”

“That does sound like something that a cow gets????


Bad meat!


8)”

“Yea, it was a really nice shelter”

“I believe that was your tongue...”

“Looks more like her teef.”

“Hey, I have straight teeth, thank you very much!”

“Yeah, I think it's the tounge.”

“So, you guys want to start low and hike up Red Creek and finish downhill?

We could start high and finish going UP!”

“Alright, which one of you jokers just signed up in the last five minutes?”

“I think I signed up as a maybe back when the invites were issued, Tom. It wasn't today, Bro!”

“well we are still maybes.”

“I signed as a maybe long ago. Not sure what the plans will end up being, so I'm waiting to see how things look by closer to the date.”

“I did TT!”

“Ok, ok, but just a few minutes ago it was 8 & 8, now its 9 & 8.

I hope you guys can make it.

It will be worth the trip to see the West Virginia Highlands!”

“I'd love to go but can't commit anytime soon.
Do you have an upper limit on group size?”

“It's a place on my wish list, Tom. Like Geo said, just need to work this one out. There are so many trips I'd like to do, but can't do all of them...”

“Thanks ynami, I was wonderin' if my 8's were turning into 9's.

That's the first sign of something!”

“If 6 Was 9”

“I only did it to confuse you Tom.”

“Not In-Sane ! ! !”

“Oh come on Tom, ... sure you are!”

“Well, maybe insane, but surely not confused!

"Not Insane!", was from Firesign Theater, was it not?”

“Do you have an upper limit on group size?"

NO! The more, the merrier : )”

“Just wondering about permits and that kinda stuff.

Cool.”

“The Sods is well used and even over-used on nice weekends.

No permits required..........yet.”

“Ask Dub, he'll know more about that stuff. I've never been down there.”

“Yet is right.”

“Over use of Dolly Sods is one reason I started exploring Roaring Plains back in '85.

Too much crappitation......”

“is that a word, TT?”

“I was planning on calling the park soon and asking about group sizes, etc. Watch the Trip page for more information.”

“yup”

“isn't the dolly sods a wilderness area? wilderness areas have group size limits. maybe two groups need to be formed.”

“Baume66 has a point.Dub let us know what ya find out about the sizes.


8)”

“Yea, Dub, get on that”

“Dub, it ain't a park, there is no registration.

Just tell your next of kin where you'll be so we'll know where to send the body.”

“It is a national forest, not a park. The wilderness area extends southward from the plateau into Red Creek Canyon.

I think they recommend groups of 8 or under, but it is not a regulation as such. The area of the forks of Red Creek is heavily overused, and a virtually tent city on weekends.

The area of the plateau is not in the wilderness area north of Blackbird Knob. This area is not overused. There are plenty of camping sites available on the plateau, which is an area of upland bogs and grasslands that resulted from heavy logging, fires, and years of grazing. The grazing has stopped, and this area is coming slowly back into forest.

So there are great views up here, unique habitat, and very little up and down compared to descending into or climbing out of the canyon.

My own thoughts are that group size is important, if not from the regulatory standpoint, then from the leave no trace philosophy. Two groups of eight, perhaps getting together at some point in the trip, would be preferable to a mob descending on the forks expecting to find wilderness solitude.

As far as I am concerned, there is no way in the world I'll ever camp at the forks. God knows that place has been raped and left for dead. It cannot possibly be sanitary.”

“So, you're sayin' that the Forks has been shat upon?

I oughta drag this mob along the Canyon Rim Trail.
The rattlesnakes should be in bloom un June.”

“I love snakes!”

“Evil wench!”

“So what!”

“Hey, I call Mapleleaf evil wench”

“Yeah, get it right Tom. Scorchie's a hussy wench and Pottymouth's an evil wench. Jeez, ...!”

“As for Red Creek, it is wild down there. We kept losing and refinding the trail, bushwacking along the bottomlands, threading back and forth across the creek. It was a wild trip, and if I had broken my leg that day instead of when and where I did, it would not have been very pleasant at all.

Old logging railroad grades and roads have been pretty well broken up by all the floods that have hit there since 85. You can follow a trace for a mile or two and you come to the creek and can't find it on the other side no matter how hard you look for it. Meanwhile, the trail was relocated far above the creek on the east side, but it too is hard to follow in spots. We actually lost it for a stretch inb the lower part.

Ended up the day wet, muddy, tired, sore, and absolutely awed.”