Keith P. Tomlinson
The Allegheny Highlands harbor many secrets. Comprising
the highest elevations in both the James and Potomac River basins, it's a place
of subtle contrast and northerly climes. Perhaps no place embodies this
remarkable region better than West Virginias Dolly Sods. The "Sods"
as it's known among wilderness enthusiast, is a rich mix of northerly hardwood
forests and dense stands of red spruce among a random mosaic of shrubby
blueberry plains and sphagnum bogs. Buffeted by rocky ridges on the east and
west it forms a discreet sky island, biologically more akin to New Hampshire
than Virginia. Vast expansive views spread across boggy hollows and steep
ravines. For committed backpackers, a winter trip to the Sods is a rite of
passage.
Indeed winter is severe, temperatures can fall to 5
degrees or lower on many nights. Single snowstorms of ten inches or more
routinely pummel the area. Camping at the edge of a vast open shrub-land you
could be in northern Michigan. Its a winter wonderland of gnarled red oaks with
bonsai-like crowns and red spruce growing in the trademark "flag
pole"...branches pruned by consistent winds howling in from the west. In
winter, the curiosity about this intrepid place is woven by snow squalls,
frozen waterfalls and panicles of ice dancing on ones tent. But severe winter
weather is just one aspect of the Dolly Sods, each season enlightens the senses.
The peak fall color change in the ever-undulating
Appalachians arrives early at Dolly Sods.
Mid October is replete in orange, red and yellow hues. During this time,
one of West Virginias great ethnobotanic rituals commences. Locals and tourist
alike wade through the seemingly endless, waist high shrubs collecting the
sweet fruits of wild blueberries. Ebbing baskets of the small deep blue fruits
bear testament to the areas rich biodiversity. In the adjacent valley towns,
the wild fruits make a culinary splash.
Forest route 92 runs along the Sods eastern margin, it
transects flat boulder fields rambling from one forest edge to another. Upon
close inspection the whitish rocks have a nearly concrete appearance with
thousands of small pebbles embedded in the surface. Know to geologists as
Potsville Conglomerate, this fascinating rock also forms many outcrops along
Dolly Sods eastern escarpment draining into the Potomac basin. The best place
to visit these cliffs is Bear Rocks. Located at the north eastern end of the
Sods, Bear Rocks sports a commanding view of the myriad ridges to the east.
Flagpole spruce creep out to the most exposed locations often sheltering roots
in deep cracks with shallow acidic soil.
In the middle of Dolly Sods a vast valley dissects the
plateau, revealing long views to the south towards Spruce Knob, West Virginias
highest mountain. Here, the head waters
of Red creek eventually coalesce into a highland river cascading into a swift
running, steep watercourse. Along Red Creek towering eastern hemlocks form a
deep shade habitat where cinnamon fern colonies weave along an emerald stream
bank. Red Creek’s swift cool, oxygen rich waters provide excellent habitat for
native brook trout. Numerous deep "holes" invite swimmers and anglers
alike. In winter, crossing Red Creek can prove to be both challenging and
potentially dangerous.
Once the severe winter abates, Dolly Sods hosts a
relatively late spring wildflower bloom. Many highland species dot the
landscape. Among these, painted trillium stands out. It's often nodding, three
petaled flower displays a cranberry colored center reaching toward the larger
white margin. In similar habitats gaywings are true beauties; at first glance
they look like an orchid. In fact, they are members of the milkwort family,
wholly unrelated to orchids. Requiring very specific soils, pink lady slippers
can be found in handsome clumps with their puffy, bulbous flowers. Later in the
season, large flowering trilliums of pure white decorate the hardwood forest floor
before leaves begin to mature. Sharp-lobed hepatica mingles along the stream
bank, hosting small brilliant blue flowers.
A northern curiosity, cotton grass (actually a sedge) grows in wet areas
and sprouts a delicate tuft of silky white hair. They are easy to spot waving
in the breeze above bogs. When summer arrives milkweeds are abundant and Turks
cap lilies grow on the forest edge. Native roses and raspberries show variable hues of pink and red blooms.
Throughout Dolly Sods tiny ecosystems of moss and lichens
lend an elfin woodland affect to the forest. Dome shaped mounds of star and
plume moss provide an important seed nursery for trees and shrubs. Intermixed
in the moss mounds are many lichens, some leaf-like, others like tinny green
flakes. A solitary liverwort frond stands out for it's relatively large
stature...maybe a quarter inch wide.
Rain deer moss (a type of lichen) forms demur tendril-like fingers to
create a tiny ghostly, pale green shrub. Most interesting perhaps, are the
British soldier lichens. Like miniature trees the "soldiers"
frequently exhibit a stunningly bright red cap of spores, some curiously
trumpet shaped. Often attending the mounds of moss are clubmoss, the most
primitive vascular plant in the forest. Not a moss at all, but a fern ally.
Club mosses are indeed club-like or like perfect minute pine trees. Fox tail is
likely the most wide spread clubmoss at Dolly Sods. The average life cycle for
clubmoss is twenty years. Spores require highly specific soil conditions, rich
in fungus and undisturbed by human activity. One such species is shining
clubmoss that prefers damp soils and deep shade.
Part of the beauty of Dolly Sods is accessibility. Superb
fly fishing is easily reached by meandering up Red Creek from the village of
Laneville. Even mid-sized RVs can negotiate the steep dirt roads to the top.
Red Creek campground has eleven basic RV sites and walk-in tent sites. A
crystal clear spring yields superb naturally refrigerated water. Just steps
away one can hike the Blackbird Knob trail into the back county. A mile to the
south of the campground a short looping nature trial interprets the areas
unique environment. If you look closely in the bog area small reddish rosettes
of the carnivorous sundew can be seen peeking from the carpet of sphagnum moss.
During the spring this is an excellent location to spy numerous warbles
migrating north along the spine of the Appalachians.
Dolly Sod embodies a rare environment in the southeast. A
place where northerly hermit thrushes sing all summer and August nights can
feel like early October. The combination
of altitude, topography and climate has nurtured this Adirondack-like setting.
Few people realize the Allegheny Front of West Virginia is the highest landform
encountered by the massive weather systems formed over the Great Plains as they
churn eastward toward the mid-Atlantic. The resulting encounter breeds weather
extremes and corresponding ecosystems. It’s a wilderness in which to discover
the intertwined secrets of the ancestral Appalachians. Whether you’re a
seasoned backpacker, birder, blueberry picker or fly fisherman the Sods is
worth exploring again and again.
From the Botanic Garden Traveler Team
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