October Roadtrip Day 6...Highpointing in West Virginia

Day 6 Friday 10/27/17

     There was only one thing on tap for the day, Spruce Knob.  At 4863 feet, it’s the highest point in West Virginia.  The forecast was for 60’s and plenty of sunshine.  A perfect day to be out on a trail.

     The reason I stayed in Elkins the night before was simply due to its location, just a block from Hwy 33, the road I would travel for most of the day.  The last few times I’ve driven through West Virginia, I saw my share of barns emblazoned with “Chew Mailpouch Tobacco."  It began as an advertising gimmick in 1891 and took off.  By the 1960’s, the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company claimed to have painted 20,000 barns.  On this trip, I was surprised to have only seen two.  This one had a more modern flair.

    Hwy 33 eventually brought me to Judy Gap, where I picked up Hwy 28 to the Spruce Knob National Recreation Area.  From here, a nicely paved Fire Road 112 takes you on a twisting ride up into the mountains.  You can either turn on Fire Road 104 to a parking lot near the summit, or continue to one of numerous trailheads.  I continued on and took the road slowly as it quickly degraded with enough potholes to give my suspension a solid workout. 

     During the research phase of this trip, I read up on the trails to the summit.  Sure, I could drive, but it was such a nice day to just walk.  The website I was following clearly stated the Huckleberry Trail was about 7.6 miles round trip.  Silly me, I believed it.  If I had known the truth, I would have left Elkins significantly earlier to get to the trailhead at dawn.

     The first pullout after Fire Road 104 was for Lumberjack Trail.  The trail map showed the Huckleberry Trail, but it also indicated that all trails converged at the base of the trail.  Yes, you had to hike to the trail.  None of the feeder trails seemed significantly shorter.   So, at 9:30A, I left the car parked next to a Park Service vehicle and started up the trail. 

    While relatively flat, I do believe I chose the muddiest route by far.  How muddy, when I came across the Park Service crew, they were cutting alternate trails around the worst of the muddy patches.  I made it a point to thank them.

    Like I said, it was a perfect day to be on the trail.  Within a half hour my jacket was in my pack and I was quite comfortable in just a T-shirt.  The scenery, while a week or two past peak, was still welcoming.

    When I came to the trail juncture I had a decision to make.  I could hike the five miles up to Spruce Knob and truly Earn the peak, or I could turn back. 

    Doing the math it became quite clear.  Ten miles up and back, plus the four back to the car would mean rushing to beat the fading light of the day.  Considering the trail, that didn’t seem like the smart play, so I turned around.  Still, eight miles of hiking makes for a pretty good day.

     The road back to pavement somehow seemed worse on the drive out and I welcomed the pavement.  I parked up in the lot at the top of the mountain, put my keys in my lap to grab the camera and hear an ominous “ting” sound from the car.  Considering the workout it had been through I was fearing the worst.  It turned out to just be the ignition key somehow getting free of the others and striking something metal on the way down.  And of course it bounced way under the seat.

     From the parking lot it’s a short walk to an observation tour atop Spruce Knob.  I had to go looking, but did find the marker.

    The view from the tower.

     There’s also a half mile loop trail around the summit.  It was well worth it.

      It was around 3P when I finally worked my way back down to Hwy 33 again.  A few miles later I saw a sign indicating fifty-seven miles to Harrisonburg, VA.  I’ve driven this stretch of road before.  It’s a lot of steep climbs and tight corners.  My sixteen year old four cylinder CR-V wasn’t too happy with it.  It just felt good to be over the mountain and eventually heading into town. 

     My home for the night was the Motel 6 in Harrisonburg.  I’ve stayed at a few of them over the years with drastically mixed results.  This one was far enough off the road to be fairly quiet.  But, the cracks in the ceiling seemed a little ominous.   The fact that half the electrical outlets didn’t work didn’t exactly help their rating.  And yes, I do review them.