Laurel Fork Special Management Area

July 4, 1997

I can heartily recommend the Laurel Fork area. We hiked the Locust Spring Run trail down to the Laurel Fork itself and then returned on the Buck Run trail. Locust Spring Run was full of downed trees and required many stream crossings over wet stones. It wasn't un-fun, but almost. It was FAR too much work for rookie backpackers who brought way too much stuff with them. We camped at the juncture of the Locust Spring Trail and the Laurel Fork Trail. There were two fire rings there, and we picked the smaller site. We were too tired to look much farther, but in hindsight, these sites were too exposed. They are just far enough from the creek though, and that is useful. They are full of coal shale, which is burnable (in a pinch, it makes stinky black smoke) and pointy, if you don't manage to get it all cleared out from beneath your groundcloth.

The Buck Run trail was far prettier, and though it included a goodly climb up Buck Knob, it was much easier than the other trail, providing what I expected, scenery wise and trail wise. From the bottom up, you follow a stream (Buck Run) with the attendent babbling brook noises, leave the stream and climb Buck Knob, arrive on top in a stand of spruces next to a meadow with two beaver ponds. After that, it joins a jeep track and eventually arrives at the Locust Spring Picnic area where one can fill up on yummy mountain spring water from the protected source. We filtered all the other water we took from the various runs, but it was clear and sparkling to begin with.

We didn't see too many (a few ducks, one beaver and one deer) critters on these hikes, but one of the ones we did see was a snake. You should have seen us sillies dancing around trying to scare the snake away from it's comfy spot under our tent. Since I didn't carry a field guide for snakes, I have no idea what kind of snake this was. Oh well, it was kind of dark anyway, and it still gave me the willies.

A word about that stand of spruces: It extended beyond what the eye could see, and the forest floor was spongy-soft with all the pine needles piled up on it. It looked really inviting for a nap, a night's sleep, or something else that involved being horizontal. And another thing: the trails we hiked aren't referred to by the link above. I don't know why, but I suspect these lie around a different point on the Laurel Fork in the Geo. Washington/Monongehela National Forest Area. The flora and fauna described are consistent with the trails we hiked, as are the pictures on that page. Here's another one that is definitely for the right area: PATC's Laurel Fork page

July 12, 1997

After our aborted attempt at Ramsey's Draft, we decided to come back here. This worked out really well. We drove to the Vance Run trail head, which involves driving on a rock road down several tight switchbacks. Do not attempt this during the spring (will be washed out and really muddy) or if there is snow. You'll never get your car out. At the end of the road, there's a fire ring, the jucture where another little stream feeds into the Vance Run, and a USGS marker.

It was a reasonable hike to start at 5:30pm. We didn't have any need to carry water since there was lots of it on these trails, and it was a slight downhill for much of the trail. This end of the Laurel Fork itself was full of Rhododendron thickets interspersed with Spruces and Oaks. The ground was soft from the sand and pine needles. The Rhododendrons were blooming and just beautiful. Despite all the stream crossings (one of which dumped me in the creek up to mid-calf), I really enjoyed the hike in and that particular site. That put us 2 miles or so in by 7:30 or so with plenty of time to make camp and cook dinner.

We found a delightful site along the Laurel Fork that already had a fire ring and stone benches built out of the rocks that were everywhere. We didn't even bother to put the rain fly on the tent, and the temperature and ventilation of the tent made it just like sleeping outside in 50' weather. I have to say that I enjoyed that a great deal. The trip out was more strenuous, being uphill, and much hotter since it was now 11am instead of 6pm. Still, it wasn't unpleasant, but not as much fun as the search for a campsite and the camping.

August 30, 1997

Since this area wasn't horribly crowded on the weekend of the 4th, we figured it would be OK for Labor Day. We left DC on Friday afternoon and made it to the Picnic Area right before dark. We poked around a bit and found that the picnic area itself was soft, hospitable and empty, so we put our tent up there. We had a flashlight dinner at a picnic table, and enjoyed the stars. Usually, we camp under a canopy of trees, so this was our first opportunity to do any sky gazing. I must pick up one of those wheels to bring with me the next time out. We decided to try out the REI half-dome tent since we were right by the car and all. It was a chilly night, and I discovered the limitations of the 40' pag. I wound up wearing a polar fleece zip-up with a hood so that the parts of me in contact with the tent wouldn't be so cold. Because of the drop in temperature, we had a lot of condensate on the inside of our tent and our bags were pretty wet. Also, the half-dome is just too damn short for us.

We got started before anyone appeared at the area in the morning. By the time we ate and packed, it was about 10am. We set off down the Buck Run Trail, exchanging the Half-Dome for the Slip Tent beforehand. See, the Slip is almost two pounds heavier, and we were hoping...

The Buck Run was as I remembered it, and my description above is sufficient. The trail itself seemed to have an awful lot of spiderwebs across it, which is kind of icky, but may indicate that no one had been down there before us that week. In fact, the rest of the hike also confirmed that. We saw no one from when we arrived on Friday until about 3pm on Saturday.

We arrived at the Laurel Fork about an hour and a half later. We didn't see much on the trail, and Tino lost patience with the switchbacks and we took a bit of a short cut, once the Run itself was in view. Also, I got bitten by a Robber Fly. I'm pretty sure that's what it was - the bite was painful and very swollen, so I looked up the bug when I returned to civilization. They aren't poison or anything, and they bite rarely, but OUCH.

Here's something interesting I found on the Forest service page:

WILDLIFE PRESERVE BATTLE NOW OVER A three-year battle between environmentalists and a natural gas company ended last week after the company agreed not to drill in Laurel Fork, a remote wildlife reserve in the George Washington National Forest (VA) that is home to several threatened or endangered plants and animals. Under the compromise reached by Thornwood Gas Co. and the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represented seven environmental groups, the law center will drop its opposition to the company's 31-mile gas pipeline and the company will transfer its exploration and drilling rights in the reserve to the Nature Conservancy. However, Thornwood will retain its subsurface mineral rights under the deal, thereby enabling the company to use expensive and highly complex techniques such as indirect drilling to access natural gas deposits deep below Laurel Fork from another location. Both sides said the deal should protect the 10,000-acre preserve indefinately since Thornwood owns the last remaining drilling rights there. The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch 8/6/96.