Mountain Odyssey
Hiking Guide Updates |
| WEST VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS CONSERVANCY Web Page for the Hikers, Backpackers and Ski-Tourers who use MONONGAHELA NATIONAL FOREST HIKING GUIDE – Edition 8 (Updated 7/2/07, 8/7/07, 8/19/07, 8/26/07, 9/2/07, 10/2/08) |
EDITION 8: Topographic Maps For Sale -- 50% off NOTE FOR CD VERSION OF MNF8: MONONGAHELA NATIONAL FOREST HIKING GUIDE, Edition 8 Table of Contents: ~~ INTRODUCTION (p. 1-18 of MNF8) KEEPING YOUR FOOD FROM BEARS Thirty-five years ago black bears were rare in the Mon. Now they are common. The increase in the bear population is probably due to the WV Division of Natural Resources (DNR) modification of the bear-hunting season in response to knowledge of bear behavior gained from radio-telemetry studies. These studies established that pregnant females and females with dependent cubs go into hibernation earlier than males. By setting the bear season late, the DNR assured that most breeding females would be safe in their dens and safe from bear hunters. Not only are bears increasing in numbers, but so are humans out camping, backpacking and building their homes in bear habitat. An increase in contacts between the two species is thus guaranteed. Unfortunately, people are inadvertently training bears on how to get human food, garbage and food set out for birds. An excellent book is available, aimed especially at homeowners in bear country: Masterson, Linda. 2006. Living with Bears: A Practical Guide to Bear Country. PixyJack Press. 255 pp. This book goes overboard with its recommendations for backpackers. Only backpackers in grizzly country would want to follow them. You don’t just want to protect your property and your food; you also want to protect the bear. A bear that becomes used to raiding campsites and homes for food sooner or later will be killed when it becomes too bold. CAR CAMPING: Never leave food or garbage unattended when you leave your campsite or retire for the night. Store food and garbage in your car, not in your tent. Obviously, you should never deliberately feed bears or leave garbage behind when pack up and leave. Remember, "A fed bear is a dead bear." BACKPACKING: Don’t leave food or garbage unattended in camp. Don’t fool yourself and try to bury garbage. Bears and other animals will smell it and dig it up. You will be teaching bears to visit popular campsites. Sooner or later they’ll be trying to get food while the campsites are still occupied. Here are four methods of keeping your food and camping equipment safe. Three are "rope over branch" variations. They are relatively easy to do, requiring only rope, waterproof bags for storing your food, and (preferably) a small cloth bag with a drawstring to hold the rock that you will be throwing over a branch. The problem with the "rope over branch" methods is that savvy, well-educated bears in areas that are very popular with backpackers or overnight canoeists learn how to get food caches down. Ropes can be yanked or chewed. A branch can be broken down, or the bear can do a balancing act out to where the cache is hung. Also, you need sizable trees and suitable branches. If you do cache your food with rope(s), be sure it’s a good cache. Otherwise, you are just training the bears to raid good caches. Unless bear cables or other devices are provided, bear canisters are the only solution in treeless areas and those inhabited by savvy bears. So far, I am not aware of any bears reaching the "savvy" level in the backcountry of the Mon. One Rope Over Branch: Required: 30 feet of nylon rope about ¼" in diameter. Waterproof stuff bag or garbage bag for storing the food. (I would never use my pack to cache food because I would not want it demolished if a bear should get hold of it.) Highly recommended: a small bag of sturdy fabric about 2" X 4" with a drawstring to hold the rock. Procedure: Find a branch strong enough to hold your food bag, at least 12 feet above the ground. Put a rock or rocks in your little bag, tie it to the end of the rope, and throw the rock over the branch. The rope should be at least 4 feet from the tree trunk—6 feet is better. (Think of a large bear on the trunk reaching out with its long arms and clawed forepaw.) Tie the food bag to the rope and pull it up so that the bottom of the bag is at least 10 feet from the ground. It that’s difficult, use a branch or a trekking pole to push on the bottom of the bag. Tie the long end of the rope to a tree trunk high off the ground. Problems: Suitable branches may be hard to find or non-existent. Savvy bears will know how to pull on the rope or break down the branch to get the cache. Two Ropes Through Crouches in Trees: This method may work where trees are present but branches for the one rope method cannot be found. Required: two 30-ft ropes. Procedure: Find two trees with suitable crouches at least 12 feet apart. Throw ropes over the crouches. Tie the ends of the ropes to the food bag and hoist it up so that the bag is suspended between the two trees, at least 10 feet above the ground and 6 feet from the trunk of each tree. Problems: A pushover for savvy bears. I personally do not have the throwing accuracy or strength to do this. This method is very popular in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area of northern Minnesota. Here I have seen many ropes caught in high-up tree crouches, some with attached rocks, suggesting that the ropes often become snagged and cannot be removed. The Loop Method: This method makes the rope inaccessible to savvy bears. Required: one 30-foot rope, two food bags. Procedure: Put your food in two bags of roughly equal weight. Find a suitable branch, which needs to be higher than required for the one rope method. Throw the rope over the branch, attach one food bag, and pull or push the bag as high as you can get it. Take the second food bag and tie it to the other side of the rope as high as you can reach. Tie a generous loop in the rope about 6 inches long. Tuck the rest of the rope up next to bag, out of reach from the ground. Then push this bag up until its is level with the first bag. Both bags need to be at least 10 feet above the ground. To retrieve the bags, insert a branch or trekking pole into the loop and pull the second bag down. Problems: A suitable branch for suspending the cache may be hard to find. It definitely helps to be tall so that you can tie the second bag as high as possible. Savvy bears can still break down the branch or do a balancing act out to the food bag. Bear Canisters: They stand up to the most savvy bears and grizzlies, too (not that we have them in the Mon!). Many national parks require backpackers to use them. Required: bear canister and for some brands, an outer fabric sack with loops so that you can attach the canister to your pack. Procedure: Put your food in the canister. Close the lid. Leave the canister on the ground (not in the sack). BearVault canisters are rain proof. Do they work? One national park where they have been required for years is Yosemite. In 2005 I was pack packing in the adjacent Emigrant Wilderness, where canisters are not required. I met a man who’d been backpacking in Yosemite recently. One afternoon he had barely reached his campsite, removed his pack, and detached the canister when a bear showed up. It looked at him, looked at the canister, looked at him and the canister again, and left without even trying to get at the food. A truly savvy bear! In grizzly country, you would put the canister a long ways from your camp. That shouldn’t be necessary for black bears. I wouldn’t leave a canister near a large stream or lake, just in case it got batted into the water. Problems: Expensive -- $70 to $80.00. Heavy: A Bear Vault canister, preferred by many, weighs 2 lbs. 9 oz. Limited capacity: It looks as if it would be a struggle to get more than 4-man-days of food into a canister. It may be inconvenient to attach to your pack. MONONGAHELA NATIONAL FOREST WINTERS (p. 31-34) ~~ STRUCTURE AND USE OF THIS GUIDE (p. 44-51) ~~ ~~ POTOMAC RANGER DISTRICT [V] (p. 124-198 of Edition 8) ~~ GREENBRIER RANGER DISTRICT [III] (p. 201-250 of Edition 8) (III-B) – MIDDLE MOUNTAIN AREA (p. 211-233) McCray Run Trail TR302 -- Segment 1, p. 212. Laurel River Trail – North TR306N - Southern Access description, p. 213. Laurel River Trail – North TR306N - Segment 1, p. 215. The guide then describes entering a clearing with 2 possibilities of travel. The RR grade to your left and a road (easy walk) to your right. I could not find the RR grade around the clearing at all. The road trail is obviously the more often used. This is as far as I hiked on this segment. During my scouting of the far N end of this trail I found that the FS had blocked the RR grade with logs where the road comes down and joins it. I am of the impression that they no longer consider the RR grade as a viable route. I'd recommend dropping any mention of the RR grade as an alternate trail for safety reasons. Laurel River Trail - North/ TR306N - Segment 3, p. 215. Just before the trail bears left to follow Beaver Dam Run there are 2 notes: Just before this turn, heading towards FR 14, the trail picks up an RR grade. At one point it appears severely eroded and ready to fall into the river. The hill at this point looks too steep to cut a new trail into it. Shortly after the trail turns W it is rerouted off the RR grade to a footpath on your left. The map looks correct this regard but the reroute happens before "several large boulders" as described in the text. Beulah Trail TR310 - East, Segment 1, p. 217. Beulah Trail - West, Access description, p. 218.
~~ MARLINTON RANGER DISTRICT [IV] (p. 251-280 of Edition 8) Laurel Creek Trail (TR466), page 257: I had an enjoyable little backpack trip on this circuit route in July of 2007. Most of the route along Laurel Creek is dank and damp, but there are good potential backpack campsites on either side of a former wildlife clearing planted with pines, somewhere between Point [C] on the map and the point where the trail actually is in the streambed of Laurel Creek. The shelter there is little-used and is in a very pleasant spot on the south side of a wildlife clearing. The nearest dependable running water is at the point where the trail starts uphill from Lockridge Run, but there is also a small wildlife pond at the lower end of the wildlife clearing. The guide says, "At 6.3mi is an open forest understory with a cover shaped like a huge amphitheater." When I did this trail in July 2007, the cove was not obvious. The trail in Segment 2 is narrow, and the tread is almost gone in places, so you are often walking on a slant. Lockridge Mountain Jeep Trail (FS 311) is closed to the public. It might be a nice alternative to Segment 2, since it has some nice views. (IV-C) – HIGHLANDS SCENIC HIGHWAY, PARKWAY SECTION (p. 262-265) ~~ WHITE SULPHUR RANGER DISTRICT [VI] (p. 281-301 of Edition 8) (VI-B) -- BLUE BEND AREA (p. 297-301 of Edition 8) ~~ GAULEY RANGER DISTRICT [II] (p. 302-347 of Edition 8)
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Welcome to WVHC’s web page that provides a means by which you can learn about recent changes in the foot trails on the Monongahela National Forest that have occurred since Edition 8 of WVHC’s MNF Hiking was published in late 2006. This web page is also intended to permit foot-travelers on the MNF to describe their experiences, and to learn about the experiences of others. Because MNF8 is so new, you will note that the number of updates, error corrections, etc. described below is fairly small. Over time this situation is bound to change, as it did during the lifetime of MNF7.