Dolly Sods Wilderness, WV

[ssgross]

Old logging rail-beds make for nice easy trails usually;

Some of them are nice in stretches. They are not maintained though - only by the passers through.
The quickest route to lion's head is nice and wide at the bottom, but is overgrown with roots and rhododendron up on the slopes as you head in. The upper stretches I was on hadn't been frequented enough through the winter to clean it up, and I found myself on hands and knees in a couple spots to get through the tangle.

The fall trip last October I did a night hike in to Blackbird Knob. My 3/4 moon vanished almost as soon as it came up. There are 2 stream crossings. First one went fine, second one the "trail" had shifted from the map at the crossing. I found myself in an overgrown boulder field on the other side on my hands and knees, in the dark, trying to regain it.

Ticks are indeed really bad right now. I find myself planning the next trip on the hike out, no matter how beat I am. It really is a special place.