TR: Sleepy Creek
Oct 1, 2014 21:32:33 GMT -5
Post by AegisIII on Oct 1, 2014 21:32:33 GMT -5
Photos
Back in June, I headed back to Sleepy Creek for a few reasons, including "because it's there." I wanted hike a few trails I'd not done yet, see if a trail shown on the next-to-latest PATC map actually existed, see if the "fifth crossing" of the Meadow Branch is feasible for a Devil's Nose loop skipping most of the rough creekside "trail," and to explore the creekside trail upstream of the Whites Gap Trail, to see if I could find the mythical "eighth crossing".
I started at the Eagles Nest parking area at the end of Audubon Lane. From there I headed north on the Tuscarora Trail, passing a couple of switchbacks, and then, about a quarter mile from the start, found the obvious woods road crossing the trail. I took it downhill, on the crumbly red shale treadway. A few blowdowns, but none were in any sense obstacles. The trail bottomed out at a small hollow which had obviously flash flooded a few days prior. I figured out I needed to turn downstream, and then turn right a short distance later on the less obvious continuation of the woods road. The trail soon became obvious again after I started back downhill, following a small stream on its way to the Meadow Branch.
As I was finishing the descent, I realized I could see the creek sooner than I had expected. There was heavy rain a few days prior, but I had thought that the water level would be back mostly to normal. Wrong. At the bank of the "fifth crossing" I had to figure out if I wanted to cross, or just turn around. While high and sediment filled, it was not fast moving, so I decided I could do a shoes-on ford in the thigh high creek. I was able to make it crossing slowly. On the other side I found a fallen tree to sit down on and dry my shoes as best as possible.
After getting my footwear back on, I did the short bushwhack from the "upper" fifth crossing to the trail which continues from the nearby "lower" crossing. I followed the faint woods road, which stays in the lowlands, without once losing it. I then crossed a small side stream and reached a junction of two woods roads. Here I turned right, and started uphill, immediately crossing the stream again. A short distance away, the woods road reached the end of an old logging road, and the climb up Sleepy Creek Mountain started in earnest. Some mountain laurel still out on display, plus a couple of nice rock outcrops. Eventually I reached the top and the junction with the Sleepy Creek Mountain Trail, here a jeep trail. I also thus showed that the fifth crossing route is feasible for a Devil's Nose loop.
The Sleepy Creek Mountain walk is fairly easy. Mainly level, double track. No views. Some rock outcrops beside the trail, a couple of clearings. Some wild flower displays. Bad part is some poison ivy lining the trail in places, plus some mud pit sections (it is a jeep trail, after all). The trail then drops into Whites Gap, where I turn onto the Whites Gap Trail. The beginning is an old logging road, overgrown in a couple of spots. It gets better by the time the old Tuscarora Trail leaves it. A bit past there, it leaves the logging road to take an old woods road the rest of the way down. Obviously scoured from the recent rains. Past the giant coal pit, and a couple of trail sections which bypass the woods road. Follows a stream for a bit, before it reaches the trail/trace along the Meadow Branch.
I turned upstream, leaving the Whites Gap Trail. The trail starts off reasonably ok, a well defined woods road, dry. Then it quickly got boggy and ill-defined, a fair number of blowdowns. I thus had to bushwhack my way around the trees and bogs, and then detour off those detours, until it was far from clear where the trail was. After a few hundred feet, I decided this wasn't a good idea, at least for the time, and turned around to the Whites Gap Trail. Thus in this trip I was unable to find the eighth crossing.
So I took the Whites Gap Trail to the seventh crossing, finding the least muddy way to cross, drying shoes on the other side and removing ticks. Took a couple of side trips to the coal piles and mines. Met a small group checking out the area. One had bad luck, falling into a stinging nettles field while shirtless. We all took the Tuscarora Trail south, as it wound around a hill off of a jeep road. At the jeep road, we split, myself heading back north to look for the supposed trail. Found an old pickup truck on the gully, but no trail (as expected). I then continued on the TT north until I reached the Whites Knob Trail.
The Whites Knob Trail is a fine old rock-lined woods road, working its way up to the ridge of Third Hill Mountain. There are a couple of spots where the blazed trail leaves the woods road, mainly to get around blowdowns. At the top I reach the Third Hill Mountain Trail, a jeep trail. I take it north to a sharp bend and mud hole. There I turn onto the faint trace of a woods road, or perhaps a drainage channel. It should take me to Dug Road on the east slope of the mountain. Instead I reach a small steeply sloped clearing with a view of Fairview Mountain, and no good way ahead. So I head back uphill the short distance, and continue on the jeep trail to where the TT merges with it.
From there, I continued on the TT, off of the jeep trail to the Eagles Nest overviews and some good mountain laurel displays. The vistas were not at their best, due to leaves framing in the view. After the overlooks, it was just a short walk back to the parking area.
Back in June, I headed back to Sleepy Creek for a few reasons, including "because it's there." I wanted hike a few trails I'd not done yet, see if a trail shown on the next-to-latest PATC map actually existed, see if the "fifth crossing" of the Meadow Branch is feasible for a Devil's Nose loop skipping most of the rough creekside "trail," and to explore the creekside trail upstream of the Whites Gap Trail, to see if I could find the mythical "eighth crossing".
I started at the Eagles Nest parking area at the end of Audubon Lane. From there I headed north on the Tuscarora Trail, passing a couple of switchbacks, and then, about a quarter mile from the start, found the obvious woods road crossing the trail. I took it downhill, on the crumbly red shale treadway. A few blowdowns, but none were in any sense obstacles. The trail bottomed out at a small hollow which had obviously flash flooded a few days prior. I figured out I needed to turn downstream, and then turn right a short distance later on the less obvious continuation of the woods road. The trail soon became obvious again after I started back downhill, following a small stream on its way to the Meadow Branch.
As I was finishing the descent, I realized I could see the creek sooner than I had expected. There was heavy rain a few days prior, but I had thought that the water level would be back mostly to normal. Wrong. At the bank of the "fifth crossing" I had to figure out if I wanted to cross, or just turn around. While high and sediment filled, it was not fast moving, so I decided I could do a shoes-on ford in the thigh high creek. I was able to make it crossing slowly. On the other side I found a fallen tree to sit down on and dry my shoes as best as possible.
After getting my footwear back on, I did the short bushwhack from the "upper" fifth crossing to the trail which continues from the nearby "lower" crossing. I followed the faint woods road, which stays in the lowlands, without once losing it. I then crossed a small side stream and reached a junction of two woods roads. Here I turned right, and started uphill, immediately crossing the stream again. A short distance away, the woods road reached the end of an old logging road, and the climb up Sleepy Creek Mountain started in earnest. Some mountain laurel still out on display, plus a couple of nice rock outcrops. Eventually I reached the top and the junction with the Sleepy Creek Mountain Trail, here a jeep trail. I also thus showed that the fifth crossing route is feasible for a Devil's Nose loop.
The Sleepy Creek Mountain walk is fairly easy. Mainly level, double track. No views. Some rock outcrops beside the trail, a couple of clearings. Some wild flower displays. Bad part is some poison ivy lining the trail in places, plus some mud pit sections (it is a jeep trail, after all). The trail then drops into Whites Gap, where I turn onto the Whites Gap Trail. The beginning is an old logging road, overgrown in a couple of spots. It gets better by the time the old Tuscarora Trail leaves it. A bit past there, it leaves the logging road to take an old woods road the rest of the way down. Obviously scoured from the recent rains. Past the giant coal pit, and a couple of trail sections which bypass the woods road. Follows a stream for a bit, before it reaches the trail/trace along the Meadow Branch.
I turned upstream, leaving the Whites Gap Trail. The trail starts off reasonably ok, a well defined woods road, dry. Then it quickly got boggy and ill-defined, a fair number of blowdowns. I thus had to bushwhack my way around the trees and bogs, and then detour off those detours, until it was far from clear where the trail was. After a few hundred feet, I decided this wasn't a good idea, at least for the time, and turned around to the Whites Gap Trail. Thus in this trip I was unable to find the eighth crossing.
So I took the Whites Gap Trail to the seventh crossing, finding the least muddy way to cross, drying shoes on the other side and removing ticks. Took a couple of side trips to the coal piles and mines. Met a small group checking out the area. One had bad luck, falling into a stinging nettles field while shirtless. We all took the Tuscarora Trail south, as it wound around a hill off of a jeep road. At the jeep road, we split, myself heading back north to look for the supposed trail. Found an old pickup truck on the gully, but no trail (as expected). I then continued on the TT north until I reached the Whites Knob Trail.
The Whites Knob Trail is a fine old rock-lined woods road, working its way up to the ridge of Third Hill Mountain. There are a couple of spots where the blazed trail leaves the woods road, mainly to get around blowdowns. At the top I reach the Third Hill Mountain Trail, a jeep trail. I take it north to a sharp bend and mud hole. There I turn onto the faint trace of a woods road, or perhaps a drainage channel. It should take me to Dug Road on the east slope of the mountain. Instead I reach a small steeply sloped clearing with a view of Fairview Mountain, and no good way ahead. So I head back uphill the short distance, and continue on the jeep trail to where the TT merges with it.
From there, I continued on the TT, off of the jeep trail to the Eagles Nest overviews and some good mountain laurel displays. The vistas were not at their best, due to leaves framing in the view. After the overlooks, it was just a short walk back to the parking area.