Roaring Plains West Virginia

“Lets do a trip here in September? MarkO? you need to get with it man. who's interested?

http://www.wvhighlands.org/roaring-plains/index.html”

“sounds ok, put it up”

“Marko and I have talked about this trip so I am e mailing him to get with it or I will set it up. Give me a couple days.”

“Let's do it in September then.”

“One of my favorite places in WV, do it in early Sept as my wife is due in early to mid October so I can't leave her home alone with a due date of a couple weeks.”

“Early Sept is good for me too. MarkO, set it up!”

“Iffin I don't get eaten in July I'm in!

Now where is this place?
last edited: 3/21/08 5:01:10 AM”

“Spam: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=38.92779&lon=-79.36781&s=200&size=l&u=4&datum=nad83&layer=DRG100”

“I hiked there w/ a TT group one fall. Excellent trip!

They don't call it the Roaring Plains for nothing. The first night was super windy and stormy.”

“Here are some photos from recent trips:

http://www.maryland.sierraclub.org/hc/pictures/2007/09/20070915-RoaringPlains.asp

http://www.maryland.sierraclub.org/hc/pictures/2005/20050903RoaringPlains.asp

http://www.maryland.sierraclub.org/hc/pictures/2004/20040626RoaringPlains.asp

and the second day of this set:

http://www.maryland.sierraclub.org/hc/pictures/2004/20041009DollySodsNorth.asp
last edited: 3/21/08 6:54:47 AM”

“Very Nice Pics mrhyker.....very nice and thanks for sharing.”

“Hey Fridge, are you over St. Paddy's Day yet, you ugly orange Mick?”

“actually Nimblefoot the Irish never are over anything so good day to you and all the rest of the weekend to me. kiss the barney stone”

“That's funny and as great a truth as I've ever heard on TT (not that there's much competition).”

“We're going up there again in late September.If you go up there before us and camp at the beginning of the Hidden Passage leave lots of fire wood.”

“Getting there)
Public access to Roaring Plains is from Forest Road 19 to South Prong Trail. Bonner Mountain Road offers public access to Flatrock Run Trail.

From Canaan Valley, West Virginia: Take 32 south. Stay on 32 past the state park intersection then begin your descent out of the valley. Take a hard left onto Laneville Road. Laneville Road is very curvy and precarious in spots and ends at Laneville and Forest Road 19. Before Laneville turn right onto Bonner Mountain Road to reach the Flatrock Run Trail head on the left (not far after the bridge over Red Creek at a small gas pumping station). At Laneville, Forest Road 19 starts up the mountain. There are two trail heads on FR19 for South Prong Trail on the right hand side. The first trail head is closer to the bottom of the mountain where the parking is off the road. The second trail head is near the top of the mountain just beyond the FS70 (FS70 is gated) intersection. There will be a signed trail head with roughly eight parking spaces.

From the east: From Petersburg, West Virginia take 55 West. Pass Smoke Hole Caverns on your right, and then pass a small gas station on your left. Soon after you’ll reach Jordan Run Road, a right-only turn. Turn right onto Jordan Run Road. Go 1 mile up the mountain and then turn left onto FR19. Go about six more miles to the top of the mountain. You are almost there. At the top stay left and then pass the picnic area on your left. There will be a signed trail head with roughly eight parking spaces on the left hand side for the first trail head for South Prong Trail. Another trail head for South Prong Trail is further down the mountain on the left hand side before Laneville.

MarkO, post this trip soon!”

“Mr Hyker, is The Hidden Passage the trial to the Rim Trail?”

“im interested. im not 100 percent sure im doing the lt in september”

“Be there..............”

“http://thebackpacker.com/trips/trip/581.php

The dates are not set in stone.

The Full Harvest Moon is September 15, so there will be some moonlight for the following weekend with the 21st being the Equinox.”

“takes you out tp the Pipeline. Turn left down the pipeline and descend until you cross a small stream. The Rim trail is to your right. As of last september there was a stone hunter's blind there.

This is the trip we did last year. It was fun hiking the plains w/o backpacks. We'll be there again 9-20 to 22.

http://midatlantichikes.com/rp2.htm
last edited: 3/23/08 8:22:32 AM”

“Oops, I just read from your link that The Hidden Passage is not what I originally thought.
It goes from South Prong to the Pipeline.
I have done that one several times.

It took me several trips to find my way to the Rim Trail though the kids and I always had great adventures trying.

There is a campsite by a spreading hardwood tree just at the edge of a grassy clearing after a steep little creek crossing a little ways in from the Pipeline.

Some of your photos look like that site to me.

There are other photos of some of the women in your party descending the boulder field to pick up the Rim Trail's last mile or so that leads back to the site where the RP Trail come very close to the edge of the plateau.

That is the place where I lost the trail in November '96 in the rain.
I had to resort to descending Long Run Holler the way I had bushwhacked up a couple of days earlier.
On that north(?) slope of Long Run Holler below the Rim Trail is where half the bears in West Virginia live.
On my way up I saw dozens of probable dens dug out on the down-slope side of rocks, some of which(rocks) were as big as a house.
As I slowly ascended stopping to catch my breath many times I thought to myself, "gee, that's nice........I hope the bears don't want to come out and play!".
I had nowhere to run(futile) and a long way to tumble back down.


My car was parked at the point where Long Run and Roaring Creek meet.
last edited: 3/23/08 10:31:41 AM”

“I believe all of the day light campsite photos are near the junction of the Hidden Passage and the South Prong Trail. There is a large spreading tree there next to a stream and an open field (Great for star gazing.). It's one of my favorite sites. There is another cool site heading down South Prong Trail right on the other side of the same stream and to the left. That's where you have to start to bushwhack out to a hard to locate view over the South Prong drainage and across to Dolly Sods.
last edited: 3/23/08 11:19:18 AM”

“OK, those campsite all look alike.....ha ha !

I was wrong again.

But now I know where you mean with the stream.

I haven't been on the Tee Pee Trail..............though I may have been in that area when I was lost for a day-and-a-half in Nov '96.

I was 'round and 'round and found cairns on the boulder field thinking that I had it made but no such luck.”

“Shortly after coming down off of the "Boulder Field from Hell" we encountered the largest rattler I've seen to date. He was as big around as my wrist.”

“That boulder field is tough on those who are short of leg.”

“I was looking at your Otter Creek adventures.

Have you been to the overlook that is off Green Mountain Trail a bit north of where Possession Camp Trail intersects?”

“Never been able to find it. I thought it was behind that big campsite on Green Mt trail. We found a trail back there but it just petered out. An Outing Critquer on my site gave me a waypoint but I won't be on that side for a while.”

“From the mouth of Otter Creek it's about 3-3.5 miles up creek to Green Mountain Trail.

After climbing the steep part of Green Mountain Trail maybe 1.5 miles things pretty much level off. The trail goes off to the left and very shortly on the left there is a faint trail by a large tree. The terrain there is almost level and the trail goes at least a quarter mile if not a little more out to the edge and to the rocky overlook.
Just before that there is a sheltering tree(coniferous?) under which I have strung a tarp and stayed.
From that point I recall having to push through some spruce to get to the rocks.
It's been a few years since I've been there.

From the point where you turn left the trail to the campsite up top goes up through rhododendron and also right up a creek bed for a bit. It's close to a mile to the grassy campsite next to the little creek up top.
I always thought of that site as Possession Camp.......junction of Tr 158 and Tr 130.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/rec/wilderness_areas/ottercreek_map.pdf”

“I've always arranged my trips such that I would walk "down" Green Mt Tr. Ccan't imagine hiking up it especially with a full pack.”

“Green Mountain Trail looks like it was a skid trail maybe 1.5 miles up the old chute.”

“dude i'm down for this trip. I've never been there but the pics looked awesome.”

“dude i'm down for this trip too dude.”