#hiking #westvirginia #backpacking

Filmed Jan 13-14, 2024.
Total Miles Traveled: 20

Trip Summary:

I was seeking snow and cold temperatures once again for my annual backpacking trip that falls near my birthday in January. I scouted out weather forecasts across the Eastern US for weeks in advance before finally deciding on the Spruce Knob- Seneca Rocks Recreation Area in West Virginia.

With this being the start of a new decade, I wanted the start of my 30th year to be filled with an indelible experience and challenge. What I did not expect was to be met with more snow than I ever have on the trail east of the Rocky Mountains, which became one of the most grueling physical and mental challenges, to date.

This trip was filled with brash decisions on my part. They started with my deference not to get gas in Elkins before the 38 mile route to Seneca Creek Trailhead. My “Empty” light came on 3 miles shy of the trailhead, meaning I would have over 40 miles to travel with no cell signal and risk being stranded in a remote area in the single digits. Secondly, I likely had no business driving Forest Road 112 in the middle of the night with the current snowpack. I almost got stuck multiple times, and drove near sheer drop offs that would have left me severely injured or dead if my truck had slid off. Thirdly, I used a tent I had little previous experience with, resulting in almost an hour elapsing to get it pitched and tensioned with an incoming front of heavy winds and harsh temperatures, leaving me bitterly cold and desperate to get inside and out of my wet clothes. Once I got inside my tent, I quickly found out that I had a leak in my winter sleeping pad, causing me to effectively sleep on the snowy ground for most of the night. And lastly, I 100% should have had snowshoes or cross-country skis to traverse this level of snowfall. My body was not prepared for the strenuous nature of 20 non-stop miles of post holing through deep snow.

If there is a lesson to be learned from this birthday battle on the top of this arctic mountain, it is that you are always capable of more than your mind or body tries to convince you of. Also, there will never be an objectively “perfect” experience in life. There will always be some kind of hiccup or lesson to be learned, even in the midst of experiencing joy and fun. I’m thankful I got to experience such beautiful and harsh conditions and am excited to grow my winter backpacking skills for the next frigid adventure!

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About Spruce Knob:

At 4,863 feet above sea level, Spruce Knob is West Virginia's highest peak, and the highest mountain within the Allegheny Mountains that span four states. In fact, it is the highest point in the eastern United States between the Adirondacks of New York and Mount Rogers in southern Virginia. The summit of Spruce Knob has a definite alpine feel, much more so than most other mountains of the southern Appalachians. The upper few hundred feet are covered in a dense spruce forest, a relic boreal forest environment similar to those found in northern New England and Canada.

Spruce Knob's climate can be classified as cold continental or highland in nature.Winters are cold and snowy, with an average of around 180 inches of annual snowfall, leaving the summit access road often impassable between October and April. Blizzard conditions can develop in minutes, which I quickly became privy to, behind cold frontal passages with upslope snowfall continuing from northwest winds, making travel on the mountain dangerous during the colder months. This mountain receives high winds year-round. Evidence of this is found from the deformed red spruce trees barraged by constant exposure to strong westerly winds that are scattered across its rocky ridges.
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Trail Route:

I parked my truck at the Seneca Creek Backcountry Trailhead near Forest Service Rd 112, where I walked the Seneca Creek Trail for nearly 4 miles before reaching the Judy Springs Trail intersection. I loaded up on drinking water there, and then took the Huckleberry Trail up the exposed side of Spruce Mountain, where the winter front started coming in. I made it to the top of the ridge and camped at a developed campsite around 3 miles shy of the Observation Tower. The next day, I took the Huckleberry Trail and then 0.5 miles on the Whispering Pines Trail to the Observation Tower where I soaked in the frigid summit views, and then returned to the intersection of Forest Rd 104. I took this road back down to Forest Rd 112, where I looped back around to my truck. My phone measured around 20 miles total in distance and between 1,400-1600ft of climbing.

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