Sodsfest 2004: Dolly Sods in June

“See trips page!”

“Yes! This will be an awesome trip! WV is a great place to hike and the Sods is a unique destination.”

“artilliary and mortar shells? Sounds like a blast! To bad I'll have graduation festivities to attend to.”

“The current dates are right before my daughters birthday, I'm a maybe for now but it sounds great to me!”

“There was a concentrated search for old mortar shells along trails and around obvious campsites about two years ago. There may still be some, but they will be in the remote areas off trail. Anybody's odds of finding one are remote, but Jonathan Jessup did find two in a remote area about two years ago.”

“BTW Scorchfire, there are no bad trails on Dolly Sods, just trails not taken. Red Creek is nice, but the real flavor of the Sods is Raven Ridge out to Cabin Mountain, south to Harman Ridge Trail, back to Dobbin Grade and back up to the starting point, easily a great two-day trip. With travel it would come to four days. It's about six to seven hours from Philly to the Sods.”

“Geo- That sounds like a cool loop. Thanks for the tip, I'll look into it! Everything is tentative for now cause the dates are far off.”

“Sounds like a cool trip wish I could make it, but I'll most likely be still sleeping off a hangover from the 5th annual Ba$$hole Creek Boy's Cedar River Flow canoe trip (aka drink 'til you puck, then drink some more).”

“Yes, that's why I'm not able to commit right now. I usually take a trip in early May and usually end up on the Sods for part of that trip. I could either put my trip off until June and fit this hike in as part of it or take another trip in June.

Early June is interesting on the Sods. The woodcocks return and are funny little birds. The azalea and laurel should be busting out, or about ready to. Blueberries bloom then too.

The northern part of the Sods is plateau country, at about a 4,000-foot elevation. There are interesting bogs and other features of an elevated plateau that are interesting. It tends to have its own weather patterns and there are unique plants that grow nowhere else around, including scattered balsam firs.

But it is the bogs that are the most interesting features, with tiny sundews growing there. Of course, it's not exactly fun to hike through bogs, and hiking through bogs has a somewhat injurious effect. But there is a boardwalk into Alder Run Bog on the Northlands Nature trail that offers an up-close encounter with bog life. That is always an interesting sidelight.

The other interesting part of the northern Sods is the grassy balds, with expansive views.

But don't take my word for it.

I had a group Sods trip planned last spring, but the Sods was socked in with fog so thick you couldn't see five feet in front of you. I have been thinking of a return trip.”

“i can't make these dates either. the weekend after might be possible though.”

“"I had a group Sods trip planned last spring........."
Geobeet

That's right, and I was the only one who showed for the Roaring Plains segment of the trip...>:^P

There I was, all alone on the edge of the plateau gazing at mountains as far as the eye could see.

Pennsy missed it too.

I was lucky enough to hit two rain-free days in the middle of 20 days of foul weather.”

“I'll sign on as a maybe. I'm doing a section hike of the PA/AT, targeting Saturday, May 29 as a starting date. Hoping to finish at DWG within 18 to 20 days. Depending on the amount of work around my house when I get home, I just might be OK for the SODS. Thanks for the invite. (By the way, if you're free any time during my PA hike, you know you'd be more than welcome to hike any part with me.
NJPacker”

“is it haunted?

if yes, then I'm going”

“It's the haunt of Tom T and myself. I expect when both of us are dead and gone our spirits will gravitate to the Sods or the Plains, one or t'other.”

“sod off, the lot of you”

“Duh.........OOPS!! I just realized that our trips will overlap! I'll not be attending the SODS hike. Shucks! But as I offered, you're more than welcome to accompany me for any duration of my section hike.
NJPacker”

“LOL NJ, Let me know what dates you'll be around the DE Water Gap and maybe I'll join you for that section depending on what's going on!”

“Dates changed to the last weekend in June... 25th to 27th. Hope everyone can make it!

Dub's got finals in mid June, so since it was mostly his idea to do the trip, I wanted to accomodate him :)

Roamy- Now you can make it!”

“Is everyone going to be naked?”

“i can make that. i might be able to get running girl and boy to come with me since it won't be cold.”

“I should be able to make that with the new dates.

Gonna be cool - Dub will surely be celebrating the end of finals.”

“I'm confirmed and it's on my calendar. I'll get out my Monongahela book and check out the area.”

“It will be haunted
"It's the haunt of Tom T and myself. I expect when both of us are dead and gone our spirits will gravitate to the Sods or the Plains, one or t'other."
Geobeet

Mooooooooohahahahahhaha!!!!!!!

I visited Roaring Plains five times this year.
This year I should pick on Dolly Sods.

Count me in!”

“Not only the end of finals, but maybe graduation too. Depends on what I can schedule for that semester.”

“Anyone naked in a place with the names "Dolly" and "Sods" is asking to be haunted by something.”

“Roam, can't wait to finally meet you!”

“lookin forward to it myself!”

“: )”

“It looks like we have a nice sized group of five so far with three other possibles. We should have a blast. As Geo is more familiar with the area I think we should take the route he suggested above.”

“Me and Nicole are about 80% for this one!


Just going to call off work on Friday.We would leave after work on Thursday its about 9 1/2 hours to get there.

8)”

“Awesome! Hope yall make it.”

“CMB- Looking forward to meeting you two!”

“No doubt it will be fun to see the Sods again!


By the way you picked a good trail for the trip.And there are lots of other neat places to explore in the area.

8)”

“Word,.. cant wait!”

“Hell yeah, I finally get to meet CMB! Hey Mike, if I haven't already headed that direction give me a call and we can follow each other over.”

“I wish we could go right now.


8o-----------YAWN.....Sleeply!”

“[yawn]--time for bed for me. As far as going now I discovered on my last trip (which I had a blast on) that I am ill prepared for winter backpacking. I'm sure the views would be spectacular and the snow would be nice and deep and the trip would be a blast...but I think I'll have even more fun in the summer ;-)

My family does however own a cabin near Dolly Sods. Actually, it's near Dolly Sods, Blackwater Falls, Seneca Rocks, Spruce Knob and Cranberry Glades--its kinda in the center of it all. It would make a nice base camp for some day hikes ;-)”

“Thanks for the invite. I've been wanting to do another TT hike, and I'm thinking very seriously about this one, since I've heard nothing but good stuff about the area.”

“Man, it would be good to see you again. Dolly Sods is an awesome destination. I will be on my short summer break that week and the week after and I'll probably be trekking around WV quite a bit. If you need somewhere to stay let me know cause my family has a cabin in the area. I'll have more details of my plans as the time gets closer.”

“Winter backpacking is a state of mind Dub, you have to will yourself to be warm.

Now, with that said, anything North of Virginia is different. Maine is out of the question! LOL”

“I thought winter backpacking was a state of insulation and hibernation?”

“No backpacking is a all year deal!You learn to deal with the heat and you learn to deal with the cold.

8)”

“Yeah, I know. Once I get better winter gear I'm all about going in the winter. The views were spectacular and way different than the otehr three seasons...did you see the new pictures I added CMB?

First thing on my winter checklist...winter boots with removeable liners. I could swing semi-cold weather trips with that gear. After I get some new boots I'm gonna get a 0F down bag too...that should make things better...oh and those sierra down booties...oh yeah.”

“No I will check them out.


8)”

“Yeah, I added about 20 new pics. A few of them are worth looking at. http://jeremy.qn.net/backpacking/trips/blairwitch.htm I've also been updating my gear section all night. It needed an overhaul.”

“SMW- Hope you can make the trip!”

“Cool pics and I like the AT map.


8)”

“I've got a map like that for TC3 too...I just have to edit it and put it up.”

“Dub,
Great website!! You have the right idea. The site is put together very well. Good job.
NJPacker”