Winter in West Virginia - First Snow of the Season

kreskres Registered Users Posts: 268 Major grins
edited December 13, 2009 in Journeys
After a 5 year break, let me tell yah, I'm back in the gentle embrace of complete addiction. This backpacking trip was on the barest edge of common sense for an out of shape family guy that works too much and hasn't met a donut that he doesn't like...

After hiking the Cranberry Wilderness in November, my buddy Matt and I had been searching for another time to get out an hike. This time I was going to bring the D200 - while faking out the point & shoot was a fine challenge, backpacking is just as much about the photography as it is the walk in the woods.

Over the course of the week before the trip, the weather forecast went from rain, to flurries to snow. The first real snow of the season. We decided to push on. Leaving early in the AM to start on my 2 1/2 hour drive west, I hit substantial snow almost 10 hours before the weather guys had called for it.

Conferencing with Matt via cell phone we decided to rolled on. We did decide to change from the Roaring Springs in Dolly Sods to North Fork Mountain / Chimney Rock after meeting in Petersburg WV however. Good thing too - North Fork got about 5-6 inches, the Dolly Sods area got socked with over 3 feet...

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The first real good photo of the trip was completely happenstance. On the way into Wardensville WV, the snow & wind had paused, and the sky had gone completely white. It was eerily still. While looking out the window I spotted a river on the other end of a cemetery. So I pulled over and took a look. The Capon River was about 25ft below me. It was a vertical drop to get to the waters edge, and though you could hear the water flowing by, the surface was mirror smooth.

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Taking a shortcut through Rig WV, I passed out of the calm, and into a thickening storm. The whole landscape was colored by the odd light filtering out of the soup above.

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It was still snowing by the time I reached Petersburg & met Matt. We decided to head to North Fork Mountain, and use our two cars to our advantage, dropping his 4-wheel drive Suburu at the top of the trail head, and my less agile station wagon and the bottom. The snow was heavy, and the roads were getting worse. Even though it wasn't that fun to drive on, I loved the patterns that the snow was overlaying on the roads.

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While bracketing this shot I head a banshee scream and watched a topless Matt come ripping into frame. :-D It's always easier to do crazy things, if your already crazy. ;-)

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Fully dressed, and eager to get the blood pumping in the 31 degree winter wonderland, Matt and I worked our way up the climb from the parking lot to the bottom of the ridge line. Anything not gray, stark white or black shown like a beacon on the trail as the snow kept falling in great big clumps.

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The snow was 5-6" at the ridge line - that was according to plan. However the temperature was more like 20 degrees away from the wind. That's about 16 degree's off from forecast. We set up camp on a familiar spot, 15 feet down from the cliff at the top of the ridge. Camp was at about 3,000 feet, the top of the ridge oscillates from 3,000 - 4,500 feet. Not that much compared to other places out west, but our mountains tend to ascend from a few 100ft above sea level, and 6,684 is the tallest peak we've got out here. 4,863ft is the best you'll find in West Virgina, so NorthFork Mt. is a fairly respectable local to hang out with, as it achieves its highest elevation at Kile Knob, - 4,588 feet.

Anyway, once the tents went up and the fleece leggings went on, the next order of business was a hot cup of coffee, and finding firewood.

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The sun just started slipping through the clouds around 4PM. Hrrrmmm... would the clouds break enough to get some good shots?

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Matt and I had a feeling that a good break was coming, so we carefully scrambled out of our little camp and up a rock outcropping on the cliff line and waited...

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While the sense of being at elevation was there, the clouds and snow kept us blanketed in an isolated bubble.

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SCORE! From out of no where, large gaps in the storm started to appear, breaking up the cloud cover. We oscillated between near complete white out to sweeping views lightly shrouded in ethereal cloud veils.

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After shooting the cloud show, I tucked my camera away, and did a smart thing - I tucked my camera battery in my jacket to keep it warm Well, this turned out to be a dumb thing... as I lost it. I was sickened that the next morning was going to be bright and clear, but I'd be out of commission. I fretted about this all night - even during the roaring (smoky) fire & delicious steak that Matt snuck up the mountain. Luckily Matt found the battery by his tent in the morning light! I was ecstatic! The moral boost was needed - even with our preparation it was a COLD COLD night. (Probably low tens.)

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Look cold? Everything was snow covered and frosted - being in the wind or shadows meant being 5-7 degree's colder. This trip brought to you by cold fingers and toes.... However, with crystal clear skies with fluffy clouds and contrails it was worth it.

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Few cups of coffee, some reconstituted eggs, and we were ready to go shootn'!

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Matt loading his medium format camera up with film. Die hard to the art.

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Watch that last step... unless you think you can flap hard enough in a 2,000 foot free fall to fly... :-D

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The breaks in the cliff meant easy, careful going. It's a little dicey when not frosted with ice and covered with snow...

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The contrasts up there were striking - It was the perfect treat for two photo geeks with almost 2 decades of backpacking experience/addiction.

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I can't count how many pictures like this I have. Still, everyone makes me smile...

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Matt climbed over to a jutting outcrop of rock ahead of me, I stayed back to capture him doing the "shot shuffle" along the top of the fractured fossilized sandstone column.

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This is a great example of people as reference points in photography...

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Makes your brain jump doesn't it?

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Cold and tired after stressful climbing, it was time to come off the ridge and start making for home. You can see the cold on Matt's face here, but the photog/hiker euphoria is there too...

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Okay... I guess I have that same goofy grin on too... Two lunatics thinking warm thoughts.

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Hoofed it back to the main trail, and started the plodding forward to the car at the higher trail terminus.

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Much of the walk was following our noses down the ridge line - we more of less followed the trail between blazes, but there was enough of a blanket that hiking the last mile was more of best effort to stay on the trail.

My neck of the woods isn't as dramatic as the Rockies or Sierras - but I'm happy that I can apply a smaller amount of risk to still get some fine memories and shots in return. For those folks in the Washington DC area - 2 1/2 hours of listening to the tires hum on RT55 is a small price to pay to check out the Potomac Highlands - be careful, it's addictive out there. :thumb

Thanks for coming along!
--Kres

Comments

  • CuongCuong Registered Users Posts: 1,508 Major grins
    edited December 8, 2009
    kres wrote:
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    Wonderful storytelling and images. This one is my favorite even though the rest are just as beautiful. One suggestion, number your images to make it easier for viewers to refer to particular ones without having to include the actual photos.

    Cuong
    "She Was a Little Taste of Heaven – And a One-Way Ticket to Hell!" - Max Phillips
  • TangoTango Registered Users Posts: 4,592 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2009
    so very cool...! great thread!

    ya know, now that I think about it... there hasn't been a donut I didnt like either....ne_nau.gif
    Aaron Nelson
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited December 13, 2009
    Winter in W Virginia can be quite lovely, as your pictures demonstrate.thumb.gif
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • bike21bike21 Registered Users Posts: 836 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2009
    Nicely done! Makes me want to go home and get outside! I am currently sitting in a cafe in Charleston, WV where it is certainly not snowing but raining a lot. Your photos make me want to stick around and go explore!
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