No-No Song

Ol' Hoyt Axton wrote his No-No song many years ago. And sometimes it makes me think not of things that I have done and sworn off, but things that I never did and never will do.

Some of my pals are into technical climbing. That is, the types of mountain climbs that require ropes, carabiners, harnesses. helmets, cams, and other such nonsense. I can see where they get a thrill out of it, and sometimes I look with envy at the photos they take from summits that I will never reach.

But...it ain't for me. I have a healthy respect for Mr. Gravity and sketchy slopes. I'm not quite afraid of heights, but I realize what's at the end of a long plummet. Death. Bloody,  gory, maybe painful death. No, thanks.

The closest I have ever come to this kind of climbing is what's known as "Class III". You could, perhaps, get hurt doing Class III scrambles, but you'd almost have to try to do that. I have engaged in this kind of traveling in Maine, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Tennessee. It's not dangerous,but it is the at the limits of what I am willing to do to reach a mountain peak. Some people consider Class III to still be "hiking" instead of scrambling. I don't argue such points. If I'm on all fours and it's almost as if I'm climbing a ladder...that's enough for me.

The end of the walking trail at Seneca Rock. From here on...you scramble.

The top of Seneca Rock. Fall off either side...and you're squished.

Yours truly, on the summit of Seneca Rock.

And here's what it looks like from the bottom.

Autumn Hike Videos

I thought I'd post various videos that I took on some hikes from this Autumn. Some of the forests I hit were particularly beautiful this Fall. That's the way it happens--sometimes the conditions just line up to produce some great Fall color and forest scenes.

In beautiful West Virginia.

Hiking down from Buzzard Roost in the South Mountains of North Carolina.

On Buck's Knob, the highest summit in Kumbrabow State Forest in West Virginia.


The loop trail on the summit of Gaudineer Knob, West Virginia.



On the trail from the top of Seneca Rock.


Fall colors, high relief, and cute little kids jibber-jabber!


On Mill Creek, Kumbrabow State Forest, West Virginia.

Seneca Shadows Campground

To get back to our latest West Virginia adventure...

After we left Kumbrabow State Forest, we traveled over to the Seneca Rocks area to get a spot at the Seneca Shadows campground. It's a National Forest campground but is no longer administered by the National Forest and is instead leased out to a private outfit. This generally means a reduction in services and I was sad to see that this is the case with Seneca Shadows.

When we arrived there was no one on duty anywhere. The signs instructed us to pick out a campsite that had not been reserved (sites that were reserved were posted as such) and then go to the campground host to pay. So we picked out a site, set up our trailer and went to the host site. Even after some time, there was no one at the host site. About an hour later we returned to try again to pay. Finally, a very, very, very elderly couple emerged. Apparently they'd been there the whole time but are so hard of hearing they didn't perceive the knocks on their trailer door. We gave them our site number and prepared to pay. However, they informed us that the site we'd chosen had been reserved but that they hadn't had time to mark it as such. We'd have to move.

Dang!

So we went back to the site, put everything back in the truck and hooked up the trailer. Then we went to the site they told us was vacant and available. Imagine our surprise when we found it occupied. About that time the very, very, very old fellow arrived in his truck to tell us that he was mistaken. To make it up to us he offered us a site with full hookups at the base price--water, electric, and sewer. We didn't really like the site all that much, but we took it for the convenience of having full hookups, and the view of Seneca Rock from that spot was impressive.

And that's where we stayed for the remainder of our trip. I can't really recommend Seneca Shadows. Since it's been handed off to a private company it's not run all that well. It was hard to find employees for help and some of the facilities were not operating well--leaking pipes, dirty bathrooms, etc. I wish the National Forest would revoke their concession and put public employees back to work.

The best thing about our campsite was the view.

Be sure to click on these photos to see them in greater detail!

This is a major rock climbing destination. They say it's one of the best places to learn the sport of rock climbing.

Amazing, but I don't want to involve myself in the sport, but I admire those who engage in it.

West Virginia Vacation 2011

We're just in from our vacation. I'll post a few photos, but list some details later.

I have to say, having now toured just about every eastern state, that West Virginia is pretty much the most scenically beautiful state in the eastern USA.


I've been to Seneca Rock many times. And I knew that there were trails on the mountain, but I did not know that you could actually reach the very high summit without resorting to a technical climb. Well, I reached the high point after a hike with an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet that involved only a brief scramble up a steep slope to get to the very tip of the mountain.

This is the view reserved only for those who reach the top of Seneca Rock. Don't look for it on any of the trails. It ain't there. (Click to embiggen this beauty.)


Seneca Rock from the visitors center at the base of the mountain. As you can see, from the spot where I was standing in that first photo, if you go in the wrong direction without the proper equipment and training, you're in for a very painful death.


This is the brief rock scramble I had to make past the official trail to achieve the summit. I suppose this is what rock climbers refer to as "Class III" scrambling. Maybe not even that severe. But about the limits of my comfort levels.

Click to Embiggen

Well, the blog will be going on hiatus while we're on vacation. My son is staying at home to hold down the fort (and feed the cats).

We haven't been to this section of West Virginia in four years. We're very much looking forward to seeing it again and venturing to some spots we've never seen. Barring Internet access at some point, I'll speak to you folk in a couple of weeks!

Bear Rocks in the Dolly Sods Wilderness.

Me, at Bear Rocks.

Seneca Rock. This is a major rock climbing area for the east coast. They claim it's one of the best places around to learn the sport of rock climbing.

If you'll look closely, you can see tiny ant-like humans climbing the sheer cliff walls. Click to see this image at full size.

West Virginia Rock

I took this one in Dolly Sods at a place called Bear Rocks.

One of our favorite vacation places is West Virginia. Sadly, we don't go there nearly as often as we once did, but we still try to get there at least once per year. It's kind of like our secret, in a way, for we have rarely encountered crowds at any of the parks we've visited.

One thing about West Virginia is that it has a lot of genuine high country. Well, genuinely high by eastern standards. 4800 feet above sea level would be far underground in many locations in the western USA, but here in our half of the continent, that's pretty good.

And among the most beautiful parts of West Virginia are the really highest peaks--the stuff around the Allegheny Front. Here there are dozens of miles of ridges that break the 4,000-foot barrier and lots and lots of exposed rock that juts up like claws through the green fur of the great West Virginia park lands. If you've never been, you're in for a treat.

Looking up at Seneca Rock.

Taken from Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia.

If you click on this photograph and look closely, you'll see tiny little humans climbing up the sheer face of Seneca Rock.

Lindy Point.