Walking with style

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This past week I went on my first proper backpacking trip. We went to the Dolly Sods wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. This area is called Dolly sods after a German guy named "Dahle" who used the open meadows or "sods" for livestock grazing in the 20's (after it was logged quite a bit). In the 30's the CCC worked to reforest the area and prevent erosion. In the 40's the area was used for army artillery practice. Because of this, there are warnings at the trail heads to be on the look out for remaining unexploded rounds. Slightly disappointingly, we did not happen upon any of those.
I am not sure where the attraction is in hiking miles into the wilderness, carrying a heavy load on your back, sleeping in the woods, and then hiking back out, but I like it. I gathered a lot of satisfaction in carrying everything we needed on our backs and "surviving" in the wilderness for a couple of days. It was a fantastic intro trip, I think. We hiked about seven miles in and although it was tough in places, I felt really good all day. We had to cross a creek (more like a river) and ironically I really didn't like this part. I think that although I love the water, I fear falling into moving water, and it seems so easy to do so. Even if I didn't drown, I would surely hurt an ankle or a wrist. So, aside from a few instances of being precariously perched on a rock in the middle of the water looking and feeling hopeless, it was a lot of fun.
We came upon the huge, expansive meadows about 3000' up, filled with wild blueberry plants. The novelty of eating something right off the plant in the wild was not lost on me. We collected a bunch and put them in out oatmeal in the morning. I don't know if it's all the burned calories or the smell of woodsmoke, but it always seems that food I eat while camping or hiking is always delicious. For dinner we grilled up some chicken sausages with peppers and onions and it was awesome. Of course, I made room in my pack for a few marshmallows. Ironically, as I hate fires and hot things in general, I love building and lighting campfires. I get a ton of satisfaction out of keeping a little fire alive, and my new rain jacket is official now that it smells like fire.

In total we saw one snake and one deer. I was fully expecting to come across a bear enjoying the blueberries as much as I had been. Happily, we did not. I saw more stars in one night than I had in years, and equally enjoyed and feared the absolute silence of being in the literal middle of nowhere.

The second night we car camped in the shadow of Seneca Rocks in West Virginia. It was lovely. I was happy to be back in civilization and after a good nights' sleep, ready to be back in the wilderness.

Comments

WVmedicgirl said…
Wild and WOnderful West Virginia! I love it!!
02 August, 2009
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