Dolly Sods Wilderness, WV

[ssgross]

There are plenty of blackbears in the sods. Never seen one though, but come across plenty of scat and prints. I always open carry on trails, especially when going out alone, more to protect against any two-legged animals than anything else. Usually I carry a repro SAA 45 colt. Fits in the same m7 holster and any passers bye's eyes are immediately drawn to it. Mountain lions have been long gone. There is a persistent argument about about whether there are any. Every few years a local will report seeing one. Forest service swears there aren't any. "Sightings" notwithstanding, everyone's best guess is that if there ever were any, they were wiped out on or before the end of the logging era. 1910-1930 there were many severe wildfires that cleaned out the whole area. These fires killed off all the native grasses in the high meadows on the northern end, and then washed out the rich soils to the point where the mosses took over and now it's all a large peat bog up there. It's like walking on a waterbed. Took my daughter there last summer. We found not less than a dozen turkey feathers in the one mile of bog we skirted around. Further north there are plenty of pools and ponds formed by beaver dams. Any trail on a map can vary half mile or more in reality from month to month as the beavers make lakes and ponds at the otherwise hop-over stream crossings. I have unfortunately not seen any ducks, geese or other waterfowl. Maybe they don't like the altitude of these otherwise perfect pools? (3500-4000ft)