By Rick Steelhammer
October 17, 2006
RIVERTON - With threatening rain clouds from the west providing an incentive to keep moving up the constantly switch-backing Corridor Trail at Nelson Rocks Preserve, it doesn't take long to gain enough elevation to take in sweeping views well worth the preserve's $5 trail fee.
To the east, the green pastures and hayfields of Germany Valley are back-dropped by the hulking expanse of North Fork Mountain, now nearing its peak of autumnal colors. To the west, the dark, evergreen-shrouded summit of Spruce Knob, the state's highest peak, can be seen just below the approaching squall line.
On either side of the trail, thin, 300-foot-tall light gray fins of Tuscarora quartzite sweep their way through Nelson Gap to the top of the River Knobs, a series of rocky promontories overlooking the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River and the farm country surrounding it.
Below, the preserve's 245-foot-long suspension footbridge, resembling a prop in an Indiana Jones movie, crosses between the fins and dangles 150 feet over Corridor Trail. It is open only to harnessed climbers clipped securely to the bridge's cable while making their way along the preserve's via ferrata climbing route. The via ferrata, Italian for "iron way," makes use of stainless steel rungs, ladders and other permanent safety equipment. Climbers attach themselves to a steel cable for the entire length of the climb. It is one of only two via ferrata routes operating in the U.S.
The mile-long Corridor Trail climbs more than 1,000 feet as it crisscrosses its way through a floor-to-summit boulder field that covers the ground between the sheer walls of west fin and east fin.
While the uphill climb requires a fair amount of lung capacity and thigh strength, "It's much easier going up than coming down," according to Lavone Hammett, who, with her husband, Stuart, bought the tract of Pendleton County land encompassing the preserve in 1997.
Lurching down the steep talus slope trail "makes your knees start gelling," she said. "We recommend hiking up the Corridor Trail, then walking down Pierson's Trail."
Pierson's Trail may be nearly twice as long as Corridor, but it's half as steep and relatively boulder-free. Corridor and Pierson's, which together make a three-mile circuit up and down the mountain, are the longest of five trails included in the Nelson Rocks trail system.
At the top of the east fin, Corridor Trail pauses at an overlook site, then continues uphill to the summit of west fin, where some mild boulder scrambling is involved to reach a rocky viewpoint shaded by stunted, wind-gnarled pines.
Trail signs clearly mark the way to Pierson's Trail for
the comparatively rapid descent.
"There are still a few rough spots, but we've done a lot of work this year to upgrade the trails," said Hammett. The $5 fee charged to hikers using the trails helps pay for maintenance.
Hikers are urged to wear loose clothes, wear hiking boots or running shoes, and carry drinking water.
More than 400 million years ago, Nelson Rocks, Seneca Rocks, Champe Rocks and other big rock formations in the North Fork Valley were part of the seabed, according to the preserve's Web site. When the Appalachian Mountains took shape more than 200 million years ago, a folding of the Earth's crust forced the thick layer of former seabed into enormous, miles-wide arches.
The River Knobs formation where Nelson Rocks is located traces the western wall of one arch where the thick rock layer was turned from horizontal seabed to near-vertical mountain slope. Over time, the softer rock covering the arch was worn away by erosion, gradually exposing the dome of the arch. The tough quartzite on the western wall of the arch resisted erosion, leaving soaring fins - narrow vertical plates of exposed rock clearly visible to travelers on W.Va. 55 and U.S. 33 passing through the North Fork Valley.
The rock formations have long attracted recreational climbers, including Stuart Hammett, a former Washington, D.C.-area attorney, who began climbing in the area in the early 1990s.
Hammett and his wife bought a 140-acre section of Nelson Rocks in 1997 as a private recreation area for serious rock climbers. But in recent years, as the preserve gained popularity and the number of users more than tripled, a series of nonfatal but injury-producing accidents involving roped climbers prompted the couple last year to close the preserve to rock climbing by the general public. Certain qualified climbing groups and professionally guided parties are allowed to use the property on a case-by-case basis, while the preserve completes a risk assessment of its public climbing program.
Although more than 5,000 climbers have safely traversed the via ferrata route since it opened in 2002, a Virginia woman last month apparently unclipped herself from both ends of a harness lanyard attached to the route's safety cable and accidentally fell to her death while attempting to bypass a tree.
The via ferrata route remains open, by appointment only at this time of year, by calling 567-3169.
The preserve's trails are open year round, during daylight hours. Day passes and trail maps are available on a self-serve basis at the preserve's entrance station.
To contact staff writer Rick Steelhammer use e-mail or call 348- 5169.