This West Virginia adventure afforded us the opportunity to enjoy the scenery and summits of the four tallest peaks in the state. Three such summits occur in the Snowshoe area. We set off on our adventure on a Saturday morning, and it also happened to be the weekend the Mountain Bike World Cup was happening. We ran with excitement up the road toward the trailhead as spectators on wheels zoomed past us. There were certainly more bikes than cars on this day.
We enjoyed the scenery of fluffy clouds and sunny skies. The views outward and upward during the uphills were simply gorgeous. The top of the mountain is covered extensively with pine trees that dig their roots into fresh mountain soil blanketed with soft, supple green moss at the base of each bark-laden torso. There is talk of this forest being enchanted, and it certainly looked the part with twisty tree roots and all of their hand-holding among the abundant moss. Bright smiling orange mushrooms had popped through the mossy floor to give the appearance of a land fit for a fairy. The downhill road run out of the forest to the base of the mountain gave way once again to sweeping views of layers of blue ridge mountains.
Traveling close enough to Bald Knob so that we could run it was an adventure in itself. Locals warned us of the intensity of the back gravel roads of Snowshoe, the deep stream crossings, the bears, and the remote nature of the area in which it would be hard to be rescued “if something did happen.” Luckily, however, teams would not have to deploy snowmobiles for rescue in July. One worker was trying to be helpful, posing what she thought was a realistic admonition, “You’ll never get to the top by sunset.” We smiled and thanked her and then, driving away, laughed at our inability to convey our determination and confidence to the rangers and employees of Snowshoe. We had, after all, headlamps, water, snacks, and a 2-wheel drive vehicle.
The Honda came to a screeching halt at the stream crossing. It was only 2 feet deep when we had been warned that it would be 3-4, but clearly our starting point would not officially be closer than this. We parked. We ran. We crossed the stream. Running up the road, we took our first left when we should have gone straight, and we retraced our steps after about a mile. The gravel turned to squishy grass, soft mud, and deep ruts. We crossed the train tracks and heard a train whistle shortly thereafter, then made it to the sign on the Cass Scenic Railroad where passengers get to take a break and stretch their legs. We ran up the hill and climbed the steep ladder up the observation tower to behold a gorgeous 360 degree view above the pines. Mountains polka-dotted with cloud shadows greeted us as the wind blew through the propped open tower windows. We enjoyed the view and a snack for a moment, and climbed back down, taking off downhill. We ran out of water but enjoyed running along the tracks and retracing our steps was easy on the 4 mile gradual downhill. We crossed the deep stream to finish our longest section of the day.
Refueling as we drove to Spruce Knob, the sun was beginning to set. Our run on this final stretch would start at the top, and go down the mountain slightly and back up. There are ways to truly ascend Spruce Knob on trail, but it requires parking in the backcountry and doing a one-way 10-12 mile hike gaining over 4,000 feet. It sounded like fun, sure, but it was not ideal when doing high points in one day.
The view from the roadside near the summit was absolutely gorgeous; cars with license plates from all over were parked to enjoy the view of a colorful summer sunset. We descended and ascended once more, finishing the fourth mountain of the day. We were taken aback at one of the most astounding sunsets we had ever seen against the backdrop of layers of indigo mountains. Purple wildflowers spotted the mountainside and waved hello as the sun turned the sky the most brilliant fire red and waved goodbye. We reciprocated the wave and called it a day.