dom15931
New member
Mt. Porte Crayon, WV (4770') Bushwack in search of "Thunder" USGS Horizontal Control
9-4-2009
This is an interesting little adventure outside of more familiar turf to me but closer to home. There aren't many places in the Mid-Atlantic that provide both a challenge and the tranquility that you get climbing Mt. Porte Crayon. If you live a little further south of New England than than your would hobbies prefer, like me, this is a great hike combining a remote location, an elevation gain of 2200', off trail route finding, unique forests, solitude, and locating the summit itself, which is marked with a USGS horizontal survey control marker circa 1956. Getting to and finding this monument set at the summit should not be underestimated. Bring a GPS or a good compass, or both and have good skills interpreting topographical maps. You will need them.
Mt. Porte Crayon is the 6th highest mountain in West Virginia at 4770'. It is the the highpoint of the Roaring Plains Wilderness Area adjacent to Dolly Sods. It is a broad, flat trailess summit cloaked in a unusually well regenerated 2nd growth Red Spruce forest. (Some refer to it as a "native" forest, but it's my understanding this was once logged but the forest was able to regenerate quickly here because the soil remained more intact) It's appearance looks native but research seems to confirm that it is not.
Ok, now for the actual description:
I left my home near Indiana, Pa at about 7am with my dog Cheyenne. We arrived at the Flatrock Run Trailhead at about 11:00 after a slow trip down and a few stops, construction, etc and got started about 11:15ish. The weather was excellent. Temps in the high 60's, clear skies, and low humidity were going to make this a gem of a late summer day.
The trailhead parking is 0.2 miles from the start of the trail and 5.1 additional miles to the trail end. We walked up the road to the Flatrock Run Trail markers on the left side of the road. The first mile or a little less of the trail is across private property.The trail right of way follows south along the eastern boundary lines of several larger tracts of land starting out in meadows and then into a hardwood forest. Soon thereafter you cross the clearly marked National Forest Boundary. This trail then follows, for the most part, 100 year old abandoned steam engine railroad switchbacks that were used to transport harvested timber from the mountains. These narrow RR grades make for nice trails. It is straight for a good ways along the run but upon reaching the fork of Flatrock Run the switchbacks begin and they are substantial. The mountain steepens here. Many of these switchbacks will turn angles of 150 degrees +/- and can be several tenths of a mile long and only a hundred feet or two apart. This reminded me of hiking in the Cascades last year with the large snake-like bends in the trail. The first will send you, literally, back towards your car for like half of a mile before another huge bend. On the way up I skipped over this first section to follow the stream a bit and then bushwack back up to the trail. I am glad I exited the stream canyon early because it gets steep near it's headwaters. Arriving back on the trail the old RR grade goes around the rim of the canyon crossing the headwaters. The trail map is a bit deceptive here as it does not show how drastic the switchbacks are and their length, but more a general direction. It would appear now that we were most of the way up the mountain. Horizontally we were, but the trail is anything but straight from here. Frequent switchbacks occur until the junction of the Roaring Plains Trail. I ran into two hikers on their way up on this section. These were the only people I would see today on the trail. We arrived at the crest at about 1:30 and were ready for the hard part, a .7 mile bushwack that has no herdpath. I would spot a small cairn or two in open areas, but that's it.
The terrain at the crest is patch matrix network thick low red spruce, laurels, paper birch, rhododendron, and of course boulderfields. South, along the front, are open grassy meadows or "sods". The boulder fields are the result of all of the soil being burned and washed away from fires and heavy rains that occurred after the timber was harvested at the turn of the century. Much care must be taken because there are large crevices everywhere, many of which are covered by spruce branches.
I was afforded some nice views here, albeit distant, into the Appalachians with the prominent and unique North Fork Mtn at the forefront and Shenandoah Mtn well behind it. I should note that this entire area is a treasure chest of outcroppings, vistas, and cliffs to be discovered, many with commanding views. With the Appalachians tearing up over 4000' out of the deep New Germany Valley (elevations drop to the low 1000's) immediately after the crest of the Alleghenies the close-up contrast of these two different ranges is unique. there The same is true from the opposite 3000-4500' ridge of North Fork Mountain with it's massive Tuscarora cliffs, amazing views so frequent they are unlike anything else I have seen in the south. That today was not my goal on my latest trip to the area. I was after Porte Crayon, but I would get some good views later in the day, just not the prime ones further south or to the east on the Roaring Plains.
About halfway to the summit enter what will become a solid and steadily thickening red spruce forest. Nearing the summit the spruce trees are White Mountain thick. A tall stand of red spruce forest dominates the broad summit of Porte Crayon unlike the scrubby forest typical of the area. This is where it gets tricky, especially with a dog on a lead. The tall trees are scattered and the forest floor is covered with thick younger trees. Movement is slow and difficult. Having studied the topo the summit marker should be located on the far western side of the nearly flat summit area. The thick vegetation and flat nature of the summit make and area about the size of a circle with a radius of 500' almost indecipherable in elevation change to the naked eye. I traversed under just under the summit area where the trees are not as thick. I encountered witness trees used to point to boundary corners here. This could have been the one long and narrow private strip of land that has long been feared to be turned into a ski resort on the mountain that nearly reaches it's summit or it could have been a wilderness boundary, there is a preserve up here. I did not investigate because the bearings and "chain" distances were obviously not related to the summit marker judging by their course and distance. Shortly after this I turned to the south and headed off about 500 feet. The summit area was narrowing a bit. The topo interpretation was correct I though, the monument would be best located from the West, or far side, because the terrain is slightly more quickly to drop off and the summit area is less wide.
Following near the crest on an even contour I spotted a piece of old ribbon hanging. Looking into the thick trees I saw another piece of ribbon on a tree. Oh this felt good. I knew it was about to pay off. for about 10 feet there actually is a small weakly defined cut through the trees. At the base of the faintly ribboned tree was exactly what I was hoping. A circle of stones with an iron pipe extending from deep in the ground capped with a USGS marker stamped "Thunder" just as on the topo map. Knowing few people visit this summit and some certainly fail to find this monument I though of how few dogs have ever been here. Even in the picture I took of Cheyenne she looks proud. Finding it felt like a treasure hunt in a way.
The excitement was short lived. There were fly swarms like none other developing up here. They were not biting too bad but man if they decided too...I'd be in for some trouble. Luckily I had bug spray. We headed south, taking a different route crossing a bog and then onto some open meadows about .4 miles from the summit. Very unique area. Even here the flies were bad. Now we begin to circle east and then northward. At least the views were good, but we couldn't stop for a break or we'd be eaten alive by the bugs. Watching my GPS trace I turned to intersect what I believe may had been an old ATV trail used by the forest service I had crossed halfway through the off trail whack. It was. Walking back I basically made a figure 8 during entire off trail portion. The trail gets about 1500 horizontal feet from the summit marker at it's closest point. That 1500 feet is quite thick but it does make the route easier. The trip reports I had read did not mention this. What was interesting more still was that following it further and taking a westbound fork onto an old unmarked RR grade I ended up just below the trail junction with the Roaring Plains Trail on the Flatrock Run Trail. Nice. So this is the best way if you wish to minimize the thick trees and boulder traps.
It felt good to be back on the trail. Camping would have been nice at this point had I brought the supplies, not for a lack of energy to return to my car, but time to sleep and then spend the next day on the Roaring Plains Trail finding some great vista's that I had never been too. "Next time" I thought and started down.
This is one of those mountains that the switch backing nature of the trail really takes the beating out of what would have been about 1500' of elevation gain quickly. You realize it on the way down how steep it is and how close together the switchbacks are. I wasn't in a hurry and there was no point in it with plenty of light left. It was 5:20 and there was only 5.2 miles to go. A two mile an hour pace would get me out a about 7:45ish. Arriving back at my car I felt very glad that I had chosen to do this. It would make for an interesting tale at the various Labor Day picnics over the weekend.
Pics: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/574523697yvXNFr
-Dom
9-4-2009
This is an interesting little adventure outside of more familiar turf to me but closer to home. There aren't many places in the Mid-Atlantic that provide both a challenge and the tranquility that you get climbing Mt. Porte Crayon. If you live a little further south of New England than than your would hobbies prefer, like me, this is a great hike combining a remote location, an elevation gain of 2200', off trail route finding, unique forests, solitude, and locating the summit itself, which is marked with a USGS horizontal survey control marker circa 1956. Getting to and finding this monument set at the summit should not be underestimated. Bring a GPS or a good compass, or both and have good skills interpreting topographical maps. You will need them.
Mt. Porte Crayon is the 6th highest mountain in West Virginia at 4770'. It is the the highpoint of the Roaring Plains Wilderness Area adjacent to Dolly Sods. It is a broad, flat trailess summit cloaked in a unusually well regenerated 2nd growth Red Spruce forest. (Some refer to it as a "native" forest, but it's my understanding this was once logged but the forest was able to regenerate quickly here because the soil remained more intact) It's appearance looks native but research seems to confirm that it is not.
Ok, now for the actual description:
I left my home near Indiana, Pa at about 7am with my dog Cheyenne. We arrived at the Flatrock Run Trailhead at about 11:00 after a slow trip down and a few stops, construction, etc and got started about 11:15ish. The weather was excellent. Temps in the high 60's, clear skies, and low humidity were going to make this a gem of a late summer day.
The trailhead parking is 0.2 miles from the start of the trail and 5.1 additional miles to the trail end. We walked up the road to the Flatrock Run Trail markers on the left side of the road. The first mile or a little less of the trail is across private property.The trail right of way follows south along the eastern boundary lines of several larger tracts of land starting out in meadows and then into a hardwood forest. Soon thereafter you cross the clearly marked National Forest Boundary. This trail then follows, for the most part, 100 year old abandoned steam engine railroad switchbacks that were used to transport harvested timber from the mountains. These narrow RR grades make for nice trails. It is straight for a good ways along the run but upon reaching the fork of Flatrock Run the switchbacks begin and they are substantial. The mountain steepens here. Many of these switchbacks will turn angles of 150 degrees +/- and can be several tenths of a mile long and only a hundred feet or two apart. This reminded me of hiking in the Cascades last year with the large snake-like bends in the trail. The first will send you, literally, back towards your car for like half of a mile before another huge bend. On the way up I skipped over this first section to follow the stream a bit and then bushwack back up to the trail. I am glad I exited the stream canyon early because it gets steep near it's headwaters. Arriving back on the trail the old RR grade goes around the rim of the canyon crossing the headwaters. The trail map is a bit deceptive here as it does not show how drastic the switchbacks are and their length, but more a general direction. It would appear now that we were most of the way up the mountain. Horizontally we were, but the trail is anything but straight from here. Frequent switchbacks occur until the junction of the Roaring Plains Trail. I ran into two hikers on their way up on this section. These were the only people I would see today on the trail. We arrived at the crest at about 1:30 and were ready for the hard part, a .7 mile bushwack that has no herdpath. I would spot a small cairn or two in open areas, but that's it.
The terrain at the crest is patch matrix network thick low red spruce, laurels, paper birch, rhododendron, and of course boulderfields. South, along the front, are open grassy meadows or "sods". The boulder fields are the result of all of the soil being burned and washed away from fires and heavy rains that occurred after the timber was harvested at the turn of the century. Much care must be taken because there are large crevices everywhere, many of which are covered by spruce branches.
I was afforded some nice views here, albeit distant, into the Appalachians with the prominent and unique North Fork Mtn at the forefront and Shenandoah Mtn well behind it. I should note that this entire area is a treasure chest of outcroppings, vistas, and cliffs to be discovered, many with commanding views. With the Appalachians tearing up over 4000' out of the deep New Germany Valley (elevations drop to the low 1000's) immediately after the crest of the Alleghenies the close-up contrast of these two different ranges is unique. there The same is true from the opposite 3000-4500' ridge of North Fork Mountain with it's massive Tuscarora cliffs, amazing views so frequent they are unlike anything else I have seen in the south. That today was not my goal on my latest trip to the area. I was after Porte Crayon, but I would get some good views later in the day, just not the prime ones further south or to the east on the Roaring Plains.
About halfway to the summit enter what will become a solid and steadily thickening red spruce forest. Nearing the summit the spruce trees are White Mountain thick. A tall stand of red spruce forest dominates the broad summit of Porte Crayon unlike the scrubby forest typical of the area. This is where it gets tricky, especially with a dog on a lead. The tall trees are scattered and the forest floor is covered with thick younger trees. Movement is slow and difficult. Having studied the topo the summit marker should be located on the far western side of the nearly flat summit area. The thick vegetation and flat nature of the summit make and area about the size of a circle with a radius of 500' almost indecipherable in elevation change to the naked eye. I traversed under just under the summit area where the trees are not as thick. I encountered witness trees used to point to boundary corners here. This could have been the one long and narrow private strip of land that has long been feared to be turned into a ski resort on the mountain that nearly reaches it's summit or it could have been a wilderness boundary, there is a preserve up here. I did not investigate because the bearings and "chain" distances were obviously not related to the summit marker judging by their course and distance. Shortly after this I turned to the south and headed off about 500 feet. The summit area was narrowing a bit. The topo interpretation was correct I though, the monument would be best located from the West, or far side, because the terrain is slightly more quickly to drop off and the summit area is less wide.
Following near the crest on an even contour I spotted a piece of old ribbon hanging. Looking into the thick trees I saw another piece of ribbon on a tree. Oh this felt good. I knew it was about to pay off. for about 10 feet there actually is a small weakly defined cut through the trees. At the base of the faintly ribboned tree was exactly what I was hoping. A circle of stones with an iron pipe extending from deep in the ground capped with a USGS marker stamped "Thunder" just as on the topo map. Knowing few people visit this summit and some certainly fail to find this monument I though of how few dogs have ever been here. Even in the picture I took of Cheyenne she looks proud. Finding it felt like a treasure hunt in a way.
The excitement was short lived. There were fly swarms like none other developing up here. They were not biting too bad but man if they decided too...I'd be in for some trouble. Luckily I had bug spray. We headed south, taking a different route crossing a bog and then onto some open meadows about .4 miles from the summit. Very unique area. Even here the flies were bad. Now we begin to circle east and then northward. At least the views were good, but we couldn't stop for a break or we'd be eaten alive by the bugs. Watching my GPS trace I turned to intersect what I believe may had been an old ATV trail used by the forest service I had crossed halfway through the off trail whack. It was. Walking back I basically made a figure 8 during entire off trail portion. The trail gets about 1500 horizontal feet from the summit marker at it's closest point. That 1500 feet is quite thick but it does make the route easier. The trip reports I had read did not mention this. What was interesting more still was that following it further and taking a westbound fork onto an old unmarked RR grade I ended up just below the trail junction with the Roaring Plains Trail on the Flatrock Run Trail. Nice. So this is the best way if you wish to minimize the thick trees and boulder traps.
It felt good to be back on the trail. Camping would have been nice at this point had I brought the supplies, not for a lack of energy to return to my car, but time to sleep and then spend the next day on the Roaring Plains Trail finding some great vista's that I had never been too. "Next time" I thought and started down.
This is one of those mountains that the switch backing nature of the trail really takes the beating out of what would have been about 1500' of elevation gain quickly. You realize it on the way down how steep it is and how close together the switchbacks are. I wasn't in a hurry and there was no point in it with plenty of light left. It was 5:20 and there was only 5.2 miles to go. A two mile an hour pace would get me out a about 7:45ish. Arriving back at my car I felt very glad that I had chosen to do this. It would make for an interesting tale at the various Labor Day picnics over the weekend.
Pics: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/574523697yvXNFr
-Dom
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