Kayak Potomac River & Hike Dolly Sods

May 17, 2010 Monday   Kayak Potomac River

It is cool, windy and raining as I drive my 1996 Mazda 626 across Columbia at 7:30 a.m. to pick up Barry Nelson. We loaded his gear and headed west on Cedar Lane to MD-32 north to I-70 west. We took exit 3 through Hancock, MD arriving at the Tonoloway Parking area on the Potomac River about 9:20. Dick Whiteford and Ron Cully arrived about 15 minutes later with two kayaks strapped on top of Dick's car.

Dick is hungry as usual so we go back into Hancock's Arby's for breakfast. I thought the paddle was about 10 miles but Dick informs us it was probably 12 miles and possibly as much as 16 miles. Oops! I am paddling my new Perception Swifty 9.5' river kayak. Ron has a 13' sea kayak and Dick a 14' Chesapeake Lightcraft wooden kayak that he built. I am concerned about the distance and keeping up with Ron and Dick in their faster kayaks.

Back at the river we unload the kayaks and Ron, Dick and I launch at 10:23 in a steady rain which will continue all day. Barry is driving my car to the takeout point and waiting there until we arrive.

We have a good current and a wind at our back most of the time. I have to adjust my stroke as the river kayak turns too easily causing me to zigzag. We keep a good pace until we stop for lunch under some transmission lines crossing the river. We are all wet by this time. After about a 20 minute lunch of peanut butter jelly sandwich, Oreos and an apple we continue down river. We paddle under a railroad bridge and past Fort Frederick. After one false sighting of the big rocks across the river from the take out ramp we finally arrive at McCoy's Ferry Road the take out at 2:05 p.m.. Barry and my car a welcome sight as we can finally get out of the rain. There is a river map poster kiosk there and Ron determines that we actually paddled 14 miles.

We load my kayak on my car. Ron stays with the other two kayaks while Barry and I shuttle Dick back to his car. I am driving 70 mph on I-70 when my kayak slips it nooses and slides back onto my trunk but fortunately stays on the car. Our hands were wet and cold so we probably didn't tighten the straps enough. We drop Dick at his car and I lashed the front of the kayak to my car. Barry and I continue west on I-68 to Cumberland, MD. Very soon I see my trunk lid bouncing up and down as we forgot to close it. We head south on US-220 at Cumberland crossing the Potomac River into WV at Keyser. We follow WV-93 and Jordan Run Road south to Cabins, WV where we are staying. We turn right on WV-28 cross the river and turn left off WV-28 along the north branch of the Potomac with high cliffs across the river then recross the river on a long narrow bridge. It is a spectacular entrance to our lodging. We climb a very steep but short hill to our cottage #20 about 5:00 p.m. and are cheerfully greeted by John and Barbara Knepley.

Harman's North Fork Cottages #20 is new. It has a deck in front and on one side which has a roof. Entering from the front which is mostly glass is a great room with a fireplace on the right and a kitchen set back on the left. It is 2 floors high with a loft bedroom and bath in the back half of the cottage. Under the loft are 2 bedrooms and a bath. In the basement is a game room with large flat screen TV, foosball and a air hockey/pool table. In the back is a bedroom, bathroom and laundry. The cottage sleeps eight comfortably.

Barry and I decide to drive to Pizza Hut in Petersburg, WV for a personal pan pizza, salad and ice tea at $8.47. Shortly after returning to the cottage, Dick and Ron arrive followed by Peter Johnson and Patti Smith. We start with wine, beer and snacks and are soon joined by Jim and Saron Koury, Tom and Marge Guinard, Beth Cooper and Barbara Southworth from cottage #14 below us. Cottage #14 had a 9:00 p.m, curfew but missed it as they didn't leave until almost 9:30. Cottage #20 were all in bed around 10:00. We had paid Marge $100 each for two nights lodging. Marge refunded $25 per person so our two night cost was $75.

May 18, 2010 Tuesday   Hike Southern Dolly Sods

We arose at 6:00. It rained during the night and looked threatening but we had no rain all day. To maintain my reputation, I have to tell you what I ate for breakfast. I had 16 ounces of orange juice and milk, a banana (potassium to prevent cramps), 2 slices of home made bread toasted with butter and raspberry jam and 1/2 cup of oatmeal with dried blueberries. And yes, it was very tasty and healthy!

We departed at 8:00 a.m. with Barry, Dick and Ron in my car, Peter and Patty in the Knepleys SUV and cottage #13 in the Guinard's van. We drove out to WV-28 turning right over the river and then turned left on Jordan Run Road. We climbed a bit before turning left on FR-19 and really climbed to 4000' elevation entering the Dolly Sods Wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest continuing to the Rohrbaugh Trail TR508. We dropped the non-drivers off before driving on to the junction with SR45. I drove the drivers back to the TR508 trailhead.

It is very foggy and everything is wet as we start up the 3.6 mile Rohrbaugh Trail at about 9:30 a.m.. Although threatening we never get rained on all day and the temperature is cool and comfortable for hiking. Marge is leading and knows every little detail of every trail we hike. Most of us have never hiked in Dolly Sods before so we are excited. The trail kept changing in character which sharpened everyone's interest. We crossed many swollen streams that kept increasing in size and difficulty as we turned left on the Fisher Spring Trail TR510 and descended to Red Creek. Fortunately all 14 of us successfully negotiated each crossing without a mishap. The Lord of the universe certainly was with us.

We stopped for lunch at a campsite next to Red Creek. For the record, I had a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich on home made bread, 4 Oreos and an apple. I cannot divulge how many of Emily Mitchell's wonderfull cookies I consumed. Thank you Emily! We walked the banks of the wide and turbulent Red Creek searching for a safe crossing place. It was determined to be too dangerous so we decided to save it for next year when the water levels are down a bit.

We returned to our planted vehicles via Red Creek Trail TR514 for about 3 miles. We arrived at our vehicles around 4:00 pm having hiked 8 miles. It took us much longer than anticipated due to the many difficult stream crossing and the large group.

Back at the cottages after cleaning up we all got together in #20 for an evening of fellowship. We shared many good laughs and stories. Thanks to Marge's detailed planning and everyone's participation, we enjoyed the delicious snacks, spaghetti, vegetables, salads, desserts, beer and wine.

May 19, 2010   Hike Northern Dolly Sods

Dick and Ron packed it up and headed home. We were up at 6:00 and packed everything in the car. I repeated the breakfast I had yesterday. We again assembled all cars at 8:00 and drove the same route as yesterday except we continued north on Jordan Run Road before turning left on the mud FR75 up the mountain to northern Dolly Sods and parked at the first area just in Dolly Sods near Bear Rocks.

It is cloudy, cool and windy as the area is exposed and treeless at over 4000' elevation. Although the area is elevated there is a lot of standing water. We walk the dirt road for about 0.25 miles before turning right on 2.4 mile Bear Rocks Trail TR522. We descend, climb and then descend crossing a good sized stream which is easy compared to yesterday's stream crossings. We go over another hill which affords us some great panoramic views to the south. Everyone is warm and are shedding their warmer clothes as we start to see some sunshine. We turn right on Raven Ridge Trail TR521 and climb to the Dolly Sods Wilderness boundary which we follow. Raven Ridge Trail intersects the Rocky Ridge Trail TR524 in the northwest corner of the wilderness boundary. We head south on the Rocky Ridge Trail with great views into Canaan Valley with it's floor a 1000' below us. We can see the Timberline ski runs and a large lodge on top of the valley wall.

We see several interesting rock formations some of which we climb. We stop and eat on some rocks surrounded by trees. The sun is out with little air movement so it got a bit warm. We enjoyed another excelent batch of Emily's cookies. Barbara S made some blondies which she shared with the group that were very good.

We headed east on the 4.3 mile Dobbin Grade Trail TR526. Marge was concerned as the trail descends into a valley with a beaver pond that could be marshy considering the wet conditions. Marge decided to go for it. We crossed another good sized stream below the dam that was easy compared to yesterday. Marge entertained us with stories of "Tom and Marge slept here" as well as others. We returned to the Bear Rocks Trail and recrossed the large stream of this morning. We returned to our cars about 2:30 having hiked 11.7 miles.

It is too early to eat so we decided to regroup at the Dairy Queen in Petersburg. We had a discussion about whether the northern or southern route to Petersburg was shorter. Marge challenged me to a race with the loser buying the other ice cream. I arrived a few minutes before Marge but when we compared mileage it was the same so we called it a draw.

Barry and I returned via WV-55 to I-81 to I-70 and home at 8:51. We stopped at the Winchester, VA Cracker Barrel for supper. I can't tell you what I ate.