Dolly Sods Wilderness - Fall Backpacking 2015
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- I finally got down to the Dolly Sods Wilderness to do some backpacking. This is an area I've known about for while and have wanted to get to. I brought along my fiancé Shaela and our 2 dogs, and our climbing friend Cheri came too. We did a decent loop over a weekend in mid September, and got to see quite a bit of what this area has to offer. It was beautiful! Hope you enjoy coming along.
Never take the Dobbins grade trail, it is nothing but swamp and miserable.
Haha, I completely agree!
Great video looked like a awesome trail, Thanks
+GARYSGUNS Thanks, we liked it a lot
great video! good filming and editing! Dolly sods in the rain is "fun" to say the least. haha. sub'd!
Thanks! Fun would be one of many words you could use to describe it, lol
MOST EXCELLENT ... thanks for sharing the trip. It's literally been over 4 decades since I've been there, so it was really fun to watch and remember spots along your trek. Two lovely ladies, two fine beasts .. you know how to do it up right. Definitely the beasts were the stars of the show!
+RallohE Haha thanks bud! It was a great area, we'd definitely go again. I'll let them know you said so, the ladies and the beasts. But the dogs won't be too surprised about being the stars, they always are :)
The scenery looks beautiful, you wouldn't think you'd be in west virginia.
Right? That above treeline plateau reminded me of New Hampshire and the Whites, just not as high
I'm heading down here Friday actually. How hard is it to spot the trail(s)?
Thanks, and great video!
It wasn't too bad. Everything is marked with standing plastic posts. They are a little conservative with how often they place them, but they were there when you needed them, just gotta keep your head up and pay attention. Its not such a big area that you'd ever get really lost though. Enjoy!
Great video as usual . Have you been to Otter Creek Wilderness Area in Parsons , WV ? Treat yourself if you haven't .
+tom delauder Thanks Tom! No I haven't I'll have to check it out, thanks!
Thanks a lot for the video! Looks very scenic and I hope to do some backpacking there sometime. Even though you had rain, August or September might be good months to visit. Did you have any problems with a lot of bugs or ticks?
Sorry for the late reply. We didn't have any issues with bugs. The rainy days helped with that I'm sure, and the open windy area the first day too. Surprisingly we didn't find any ticks on us or the dogs.
Hiked there earlier this year. What an awesome place! You were way luckier than we were. It was wet wet wet everywhere. Poured on us as soon as we stepped out the truck until about 11PM the first night.. Wouldn't have changed anything though. Great video by the way. I'm going back!
+Alex Banks Thanks! Sometimes that makes for some good memories, even if it sucks at the moment. I'd definitely go back.
thanks for the video. you're a good sport considering it was pretty wet, cold, and you marched thru some nasty water. even kept a good attitude and played it smart when you missed a marker. thanks for the good example, and for sharing. happy hiking!!
+afdave Gimail Thanks! I'm used to dealing with mediocre weather, I just wish it was nicer for her sake
Thank you! Hoping to get a small group out there early this fall. Though I was up there years ago, I now have a better idea of what to expect. Showing us the terrain and trail signs really helped, also appreciated that you didn't edit out missing a marker.
+Mo Bailey Thanks! Glad it was helpful for you!
You know what the holes in Crocs are for right? It's where your dignity leaks out. In all seriousness I use them for water crossings and camp too. Dolly Sods I've seen a few videos on and looks like an amazing place I want to visit. Looks like you had a great time.
+cfraimondo233 Haha! I fought for a long time to not buy a pair, but since I've had them I've used them quite a bit. Definitely go check it out!
You picked a GREAT section to hike! glad you saved Dobbin Grade for your last day. Muck can be up to your knees and there really is no good way around it.
+KuntryRD We sure liked it! I have to thank another youtuber, Syntax77, for that advice. I'm not quite sure why they'd direct a trail through that stuff...
Glad you could make it to my neck of the woods! Nice pups. You picked a good time. Most of this year, the road was so bad driving faster that 5 mph was difficult. Road was repaired in late August. Hope no one left you any garbage to pack out. People have definitely not been using leave no trace practices.
+KuntryRD Thanks! We took her car too, which does have AWD, but not much clearance. We didn't see much trash at all. I picked up a few scraps along the trail, but we didn't find anything at either site we stayed at, not even in the fire pit! It was a great place, we'll definitely come back.
Thanks for sharing your hike! I always enjoy your videos. Makes me want to get outside! I will be heading to the Linville Gorge soon. Fall is a great time of year in the gorge!
+Jamie Hastings Thanks Jamie! Enjoy! I'm hoping to get back down there sometime soon
It looks like an ideal trail for an Autumn trip; quite varied, with lots of sections allowing for fast hiking, something I really enjoy at the tail-end of a hiking season. It seems to match that feeling one gets as the days shorten and Winter approaches, the urge to get the most out of each and every moment. The waterlogged coda wasn't the most poetic ending perhaps and I presume everyone was happy to finally arrive at the car.
+M00nsplitter Despite the rain, we had pretty good weather and temps. It was a beautiful area, and would probably be great for fall foliage just a few weeks after we went. It was pretty easy hiking everywhere that we went, great to take beginner backpackers. For me backpacking season is all year, I've got a few more trips planned for the remainder of the year still. That Dobin Grade trail was pretty sloppy, but not bad if you do it the last day. Thanks!
What water bladder and bite valve is it that you are using?
+ketcamaro Its a Platypus 3L bladder with an insulated Camelback tube and bite valve. The Platypus is much lighter than Camelback bladders with the big plastic opening, but I prefer the bite valve from CB. The piece before the bite valve is a quick disconnect, also Camelback. I have another QD on my Sawyer mini squeeze filter, so I can pop the bite valve off and squeeze water back into the bladder without taking it out of the pack, or even taking the pack off.
Did that hike last month. It gets wet easy! I don't know how you manage to keep the dogs from getting wound up on the leash. I took my dogs as well and always end up cutting them loose. I have the same packs. I prefer the older Approach pack. I was curious what setup you use for the puppies camping? I also take the softshell Cloudchaser jackets as well.
+COAR OAS The magic of editing helped hide all the cursing about them getting tangled. Other places I would let them go, but with the live ordinance around I didn't want to risk it. We bring them in the tent with us at night and they sleep on/in an old sleeping bag of mine
Next time you go, there is another route up to the Lion's Head. It is about 1/2 mile from Trail junction and just before the main trail hits its southern most point. It is usually marked with cairns, but they are easy to miss. It is steep, but not quite as treacherous.
+KuntryRD Ahh, thanks! I'd like to go again and explore the southern part a little more, so maybe we'll make it up there for that, thanks!
Looked like one awesomer time! I sure miss the mountains on the east coast, this actually reminds me of the Pisgah National Forest (first day) at Black Balsam Knob.I recentely moved to Colorado so if your interested in watching some backackpacking in Colorado check out my channel. Thanks again for sharing!
Andy
Thanks Andy! I'll definitely check out your videos, I actually just got back from Colorado. I was out there for a week doing some rock climbing and a work conference.
+Ian Young Colorado has a ton of climbing to offer, pretty amazing place. Where did you climb?
Clear Creek Canyon and Boulder Canyon. It was great! So much more out there that we didn't get to.
Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" playing in the background at the end while you munch a burger... :)
+Dan Haug Haha! I had no idea because I don't know the song, seems appropriate though!
Looked like that last day wasn't the most fun. I've seen that look in my wife's eyes a couple of times as well, but after the fact it's always a good memory. :)
Yeah the rain was a drag, and the Dobbin Grade trail mud was rough. That's known as Type 2 fun. She still liked it and didn't kill me :)
Nice video on a place that I have heard about from my 3 Washington DC based sons. Actually going to try and do an overnight there when I am in DC for Thanksgiving week. By any chance do you recall if there was a map that had the back country campsites on it. We will be headed in just overnight so would like to have an idea where we are headed to pick a reasonable loop.
BTW - watched all you canoe trip clips and that looked awesome too.
Thanks.
Tom
+Tom Bebee Hey Tom, sorry for the late reply, hopefully you see this before you go. Unfortunately, no I couldn't find a map anywhere with backcountry campsites on it. I can tell you that there are a lot of them. There is very little restrictions on camping there as well. There were a lot more sites in the lower, wooded areas(primarily the southern portion), and not very many in the high, open plateau-type areas (mainly in the north). Hope that helps.
+Ian Young - Ian thanks for the reply. We did get over there for a couple of nights at the start of the week. It was a great place and much different from the backpacking I normally do in the Adirondacks and Vermont. I did find some maps of the trails and campsites on midatlantichikes.com - but as you said there seems to be little restrictions on where the sites are established. We stayed in the north section and had no problem finding sites for each night.
Awesome! Glad to hear that you got there and enjoyed it. Thanks for link, I'll save that for next time.
Is this place not a swamp?
+Patrick Caple (No Trail Required) Technically I think its a bog... But most of it wasn't too bad, just that trail at the very end.
+Ian Young Just seems like most videos I've seen in the area involves walking through water frequently
There were lots of puddles everywhere, but most of it was avoidable. I think we got lucky though, I know it can be worse