Spruce Knob, WV - Highpoint #5

Name: Spruce Knob, WV
Height: 4,863'
Date: 5/22/09, and again on 5/23/09

I can't seem to get from point A to point B without hitting points Q, L, and V along the way. And thus while driving from Backbone Mt. to my campsite near Spruce Knob, I took a detour to see Blackwater Falls.

And then I took a further detour to see the petting zoo at Blackwater falls. It was fowl.

Once again I got on the road. I came down Route 33 in WV, and it turns out that the road from 33 to Spruce Lake Campground took me right over Spruce Knob, a switchbacking road that meandered its way up the mountain. It was getting late, and my options were get to camp, or stop at the highpoint and have to set up camp and cook dinner in the dark.

The allure of the highpoint was too strong.

You can hike up from the base of the mountain, or you can drive up like I did. From the highpoint parking lot the highpoint tower is a very, very short walk away. There is at least one trail that seems to take you along the summit...I think I'll come back one day and hike it.





The Spruce Knob HP Tower in the evening.













View from the top. You can see some rainstorms in the distance.




It was chilly at the top (duh) and there were a surprising number of people here, even as late as it was.

Anyway, we drove down the mountain to camp. I should mention at this point it was completely dark, and the road down the other half of the mountain was not paved and quite full of potholes. I'm pretty sure that I drove through them all.

We stopped back at Spruce Knob the next day, during the day. There is a little trail just beneath the tower that actually offers better views than from the tower, so if you go, you should take the time and walk this little beauty.

Backbone Mountain, MD - Highpoint #4

Name: Backbone Mountain, MD
Height: 3,360'
Date: 5/22/09

Continuing my Memorial Day trip, I left PA's Mt. Davis behind and headed south, through a variety of little backwater WV towns.

Somehow they knew I was coming

Near the highpoint, we saw a sign for "the smallest church in the lower 48 states", which was right next to the smallest mailing office.






The smallest church from the outside...












...and from the inside.











This is actually as exciting as you think it is.










And some people think the Post Office doesn't have a sense of humor...
(I almost captioned this one "Your tax dollars at work.")



Eventually I stopped screwing around at the worlds smallest tourist trap and actually went to the highpoint.

The more adventurous way to access Backbone Mountain is to hike up to it from West Virgina. There is a tiny parking area right off Route 219 near a sign indicating the trail up. The cheating way is how the locals do it - drive through a residential area on the Maryland side.

I did it the fun way, walking up a path very well marked with arrows on trees and small rock cairns (which I added rocks to on my way up). It was a very pleasant but steeper-than-it-looks wooded walk.
Once near the summit the path became very rocky, and someone had planted an obelisk up there which I initially mistook for the highpoint marker, and thus took some pictures at.



Gathering my bearings, my hiking partner spotted the next marker to the actual highpoint, and within moments we were at the actual highpoint for Backbone Mountain!

The mailbox you can see in the picture held a guestbook, which I signed and added a note that this was #4 for me, and it also had certificates for getting there! Since it was a very solid bit of exercise for my out-of-shape self to get there, getting a prize at the top was just awesome.

(If you're wondering where the slinky picture is, he was quite satisfied with his picture at the obelisk.)

At the highpoint we ran into three bikers - locals - who showed up with beers in hand. They had ridden up the cheaters path, and apparently only had about a 5 minute walk to get to the summit. But they seemed respectful of the place, so I guess it's OK since they're locals.






Due to the trees there wasn't much of a view.














So...which way to the High Point?







The hike back down was easier, of course, and we passed a grandmother-grandson highpointing pair on their way up. At the bottom we found another pair of hikers just getting started. A busy day for Backbone Mountain.

Back in the car it was off to our campsite near West Virginia's highpoint, Spruce Knob. Or so I thought...

Mt. Davis, PA - Highpoint #3

Name: Mt. Davis, PA
Height: 3,213'
Date: 5/23/09

This was the first highpoint on my highpointing trip over Memorial Day weekend 2009. The plan was to hit PA, MD, and WV over the whole weekend, but I ended up doing them all in the same day...I guess I just couldn't help myself.

Anyway, it was a quick 4 hour drive out to the Mount Davis Picnic Area, which was small but well maintained. There is a paved road you can walk to get to the highpoint tower, but I opted to take the High Point Trail and walk a bit through the woods since it was a beautiful sunny day.

30 minutes into what should have been a 15 minute hike, I realized I was lost. (Yes, I got lost in the Mount Davis Picnic Area. I may be further from taking on Denali than I thought.) So I backtracked, and upon closer inspection discovered that the trail sign was wrong, and some kind soul had cleaned off some sign dirt to point in the correct direction.

Going in the right direction I was at the highpoint in no time. The actual highpoint is atop a boulder, which of course I climbed up, and so did the slinky.



There is an observation tower at the highpoint which offered some great views, and also a little map built into the top (Slinky is sitting on Mt. Davis).

The Mt. Davis tower. You can see the gold USGS disk marking
the actual highpoint in the foreground.

You just can't take me anywhere.







Views from the top (looking North, East, South, and West):


There was a metal (bronze maybe?) map of the local area at the top of the tower, along with some fun facts (highpoint is fun and educational!).






View from the top looking down on the highpoint marker.

After this, it was off to Backbone Mountain, WV...