[GaliWalker]

Spruce Knob, the highest point of West Virginia (4,863ft), had never been that interesting to me because it's a spot one can drive up to. I went the once to the treed summit, where a lookout tower provides a limited view across the tops of the trees, and then never returned. Seneca Creek on the other hand, which lies just a couple of thousand feet below the summit, is a hiking destination I've visited numerous times. Seneca Creek has multiple access points, one of which involves dropping down Spruce Knob's flanks from its summit via the Huckleberry Trail. I decided it was high time I made a return trip to Spruce Knob and then hiked down the Huckleberry Trail, which was one of the few in the area I had yet to tackle. Two birds with one stone and all that. After a 4hr drive from Pittsburgh, I reached Spruce Knob around 5:45am. The drive had featured an impressively intimidating section of thunderstorm activity. Thankfully, I'd left the worst of it behind, but distant thunder still rumbled, an ominous undercurrent to the soft early morning light. As I got out of the car to walk the 0.1mi distance to the Spruce Knob summit lookout tower, I glanced at the map at the trailhead: I noticed that the trail map described a 0.5mi loop, complete with three viewpoints, none of which I remembered. All of these lay further along from the lookout tower. It seemed that I'd only gone to the tower and back, on my previous visit. More enthusiastically that I'd expected, I walked over to the lookout, climbed up to the top, just to tick off the highpoint, and then continued along the trail. Almost immediately, I was treated to a nice view towards the west. The next viewpoint was even nicer; over 180° of mountain goodness, spoilt only a little bit by a radio tower a short distance away to the southwest. Lightning flashed amidst angry dark clouds towards the west, but the skies were clearer towards the east and filled with diffuse sunshine. After a bit, it started to drizzle, so I headed back to the parking lot, only taking a cursory look from the third and final west-facing viewpoint.

1

From the parking lot I picked up the Huckleberry Trail. This was an unexpectedly delight. A gorgeous mossy carpet lined the forest floor. The tread was sometimes rocky, but blissfully soft and smooth at others. After a couple of miles of hiking through dark spruce forest the terrain started to open up, as I made my way through beautiful meadows, filled with ferns and mountain laurel thickets. I did get soaked from the waist down though, because the brush was still wet from overnight rain, and the on-and-off drizzle I was hiking through wasn't making matters any better.

2

3

For the next 2.2mi I ever so gently dropped down the flanks of Spruce Knob. A final 0.5mi of steeper descent spat me onto the Lumberjack Trail. I took a right on this for a mostly level, somewhat muddy, 2mi, before beginning another descent, this time on the High Meadows Trail. A series of open meadows provided nice views of the Seneca Creek valley. It begun to rain in earnest during this stretch. With that and the damp brush of the lush green meadows, I was totally soaked by the time I reached Seneca Creek.

4

I just a few yards upstream of Seneca Creek Falls, so I made the obligatory stop to photograph it. It is such a pretty waterfall, even without a lot of water.

5

6

After my longish break at Seneca Creek Falls, it was time to regain all the elevation that I had lost. The rain had stopped and even the sun would intermittently break through the clouds. I began by meandering gently upwards alongside the beautiful Seneca Creek (on the Seneca Creek Trail), past several waterfalls. I crossed the creek three times, but the water level was low enough that I could do them in boots; my water shoes never left the pack. A final crossing of the creek, this time via the bridge at Judy Springs, and it was time to make more serious inroads into that elevation gain.

7

I toiled steeply up the Judy Springs Trail, and then a little less steeply up a short stretch of the Horton Trail. This brought me back to the Huckleberry Trail, right at the spot I'd left it earlier in the day for the Lumberjack Trail. The car was still 4.7mi away, but the brush alongside the trail was now dry, and the rain had (mostly) stopped, so the miles went by quickly. Total hike/photography stats: 17mi, 2400ft gain, 8.25hrs