Spruce Knob

Photo by Jonathan D. King

This photo comes with a warning. This is the beginning of the road up to the top of the ridge below Spruce Knob. The road is ten miles long. Once, it was rock and dirt except for a short section of one-lane paved road. Now, the first section is two lane. It is nice, but it is very steep. It is a very good idea to put your vehicle in a lower gear when you begin to come back down the mountain. A family from Bridgeport did not. They came down the mountain just ahead of us and, when they reached the bottom, their brakes were on fire. If you do not want to come back down this way, I will show you another way at the end of the Spruce Knob Lake Page.

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.....Photo by Jonathan D. King

.....The way up the hill is steep and we climb fast. It was just a little muggy at the bottom of the hill, but, soon the air begins to cool. By the time we reach the the dirt road section, it is actually on the cool side. We come to a switchback where the road doubles back and we head back in the direction we came only we are still climbing. Then we switch back again. After the second switchback we begin to get glimpses of the vista to our left.

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..........Photo by Jonathan D. King

.....The road up the mountains begins a more gentle glimb as it asscends to the top ridge. To our left, we get views of the valley and the hollows below as well as of the mountains in the distance. Flowers of different kinds line the road and the openings we pass.

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...............Photo by Jonathan D. King

......Near the top of the ridge, we come to a rough overlook that gives us a view of the world below. To many of the folks who make this treck, this is a like looking a different world. To a hill dweller like my self, it is home...just a little higher than home. This would be a good place just to pause and relax and forget the stresses that you left at home. In these views, you are looking East toward the mountins of West Virginia's southern Eastern Panhandle and, past that, to Virginia. I guess you could call these mountains part of the Potomac Highlands.

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....................Photo by Jonathan D. King

.....Not much further on, we reach the top of the ridge and the road forks. The left fork leads to Spruce Knob Lake and to two ways that you can leave the mountain with out going down the steep way you came up. I will talk about these in th enext page.

.....The right fork leads to Spruce Knob. Ww are now up in the clouds and, as we travel toward the Knob, the road is misty. Just around the curve in the photo above, you will get a glimpse of the road up the knob. But. we missed getting a photo of that view. After a spactactular final climb to the top, we park in a spacious parking lot and get out where some of us needed to answer nature's call at the nice facilities.

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.........................Photo by Okey L. King

.....The top of Spruce is a walking place. Not only is there the short walk at the top of Spruce Knob, the parking lot is the beginning or terminis of a trail, perhaps trails, that lead along the mountintops for miles. It is the serious backpackers paradise.

.....On top of Spruce Knob, we begin our walk at the parking lot and walk to the outlook tower that gives you a vista out over the top of West Virginia. This is the highest point in West Virginia at 4,860.

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................................Photo by Okey L. King

.....There is a light cool wind that buffets us a little on top of the tower. But, I have been here when the wind was not so light, The children marvel at the onesided trees that stand against the wind that sometimes pounds the top of the mountain. Jonthan is wrapped up in taking photos and video but Mia is free to be in awe of her surroundings. For Jonthan, his world is wrapped up in what his camara lens is seeing. I have a few more photos on the top of the mountain because he was trying out the video feature of his camara.

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..........................Photo by Okey L. King

.....The top of the mountain is paved in rock. I used to poke around among these rocks in search of different flowers to photograph. But, I don't anymore. There was once a mith(?) about these high places like Spruce Knob, It was said that snakes did not live this high. But, one day, they sold the store to Magic Mart, I was in the sporting goods department of Aides Department Store. There on the counter was a photo showing a photo of an awesome rattlesnake. The placard by the photo of the snake said that it was more than seven feet long and weighed about 143 pounds. It was as thick as a mans upper leg. The placcard also said that it was killed at Spruce Knob. That ended my poking among the rocks. But the view of the mountain here is fantastic.

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.....................Photo by Okey L. King

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................Photo by Okey L. King

.....From the tower, a half-mile loop trail leads around the edge of the Knob offering a variety of views. As we look out from the mountain, we see a rain cloud coming our way. It is truning the sky in the distance purple. We can see that it is dropping its rain. But, the rain never reaches us.

Photo by Okey L. King

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.....Photo by Okey L. King

.....The four of us amble around the Knob on the trail taking our leisure. We are just drinking in the surroundings although we know that we have a ways to go before we get back home. As the trail swings back toward the parking lot, we enter the wood on top of the Knob. It is shady and a little damp and dank in places.

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..............................................Photo by Okey L. King

.....I was lagging behind the rest, when I looked to my left and saw Jonathan absorbed in taking some creatures photo. I wondered what interesting citizen of the mountain he had found. Would you believe that it was a slug?

photo by Okey L. King

.....We continue through the wood passing picnic table sites on the way. This is the lea side of the mountain. My deacon Woody Cox and I onced ate our lunch here. These tables have to be sturdy to last here on the mountain. We reach the parking lot and return to the car. This part of our trek trough the mountains is finished, but we have enjoyued ourselves. On the next page, we will share some more of what ever comes to mind. Just click on the great blue heron. Spruce Knob Lake