hiking_wv_log_ottercreek2

Hiking

Otter Creek Wilderness Area

Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia

A family affair to remember

09/2001 - by Christopher Burk, Outdoor Travels

Overview

Day 1

Considering the world events during the first part of September, a weekend in the wilderness away from it all was exactly what my wife and I needed. We decided to hike Otter Creek for two reasons, it's relatively flat and we can get there in about 2 hours. Two very important factors to keep in mind considering we were hiking with our two children.

We left home about 10:30 Saturday morning, which put us at the northern terminus of the Otter Creek trail around 1:30. OK, it took us longer than two hours, but ask anyone who has entered Otter Creek Wilderness from the North and they'll tell you it's not the easiest trailhead to get to.

Our hike started out pretty exciting, at least for Grace and the kids. After a short downhill section we came to the large suspension bridge spanning the Dry Fork River. Adrian and I thought it was neat but Grace did not. The bridge is probably about 100 feet above the river, which by itself is not a big deal. However, the walkway is very open, creating the feeling that there isn't much between you and the rocks below. Grace was very happy to get to the other side.

After a short scramble across and down some large rocks, I thought we were set for some smooth sailing. Boy, was I wrong.

My original plan was fairly simple. I thought we would hike in about two miles to where Otter Creek trail crosses Otter Creek. There is a nice place to pitch the tent and the creek would offer entertainment for the kids. We probably would have made it if it weren't for two miscalculations. First, I divided the gear between Grace and myself based on the idea that I would also be carrying Calista. Unfortunately, Calista didn't want me to carry her; she wanted to be with Mom. Grace was fading fast with the extra weight. Second, although Adrian's backpack was still a little too big for him he insisted on bringing it. He lasted about 15 minutes with it before wanting to take it off. So, in true adventure racing style, Grace took Adrian's pack and I took Grace's.

Although we weren't exactly moving fast after shifting the packs around, at least we were moving.

As we trudged down the trail, we came across something I had never seen before; two large sticks stuck in the ground forming a large "X" across the trail. Usually, when a trail is closed there is actually a sign and something more substantial than a couple of sticks blocking the trail. After pondering the meaning for about second or two, we pressed on.

It was becoming obvious that we were not going to reach my desired camping spot so we started looking for an alternate one. We finally found one that had everything we needed. It was off the trail far enough, close enough to stream to get water for cooking and even had a couple of nice logs that would work as seats.

We had probably been in camp about ten minutes when I heard several people running down the trail. They were coming the opposite direction from which we hiked. My mind quickly flashed back to the large "X" across the trail and every wilderness horror movie I had ever seen. What if locals put it there trying to keep people out for some reason and when it didn't work they resorted to chasing unsuspecting hikers. Maybe a psychopathic killer was stalking hikers or a killer bear was on the rampage.

As I contemplated which way I was going to tell Grace and the kids to run, the answer materialized. There were three guys running down the trail and they were running because they were trying to ditch someone's dog that had been following them. Running certainly wasn't working. What did work was us. Once the dog saw us, he stopped following the three guys and decided to hang out with us instead.

There has been a long-going debate on whether dogs belong in the wilderness or not and if they do, should they be allowed to run free. I've seen the polls and read the articles. I, myself, never owned a dog, but I do understand that there are people who view their dog as a member of the family and want to bring them along. After all, if I can bring my children into the wilderness, they should be allowed to bring their dog. However, I do not let my children roam free, going anywhere they want and possibly spoiling other people's wilderness experience.

At first, having the dog around wasn't that big a deal. Calista was a little scared of him but that was about it. The dog became a nuisance when we started making dinner. He was into everything. I finally got to the point where I had to stand up in order to keep the food out of the dog's reach. Fortunately, the dog went over to check out some fishermen who had returned to their tents right before we actually started eating. Otherwise, Grace and I probably would have been eating one at a time while the other kept the dog away from the kids. We also would not have had a chance to make smores either since we put the chocolate on a rock near the fire to soften it up. The chocolate, not the rock.

With the dog gone, dinner cleaned up and the kids hopped up on chocolate and marshmallows we climbed into the Wal-mart family tent and called it a night. Or at least that's what we planned on doing.

I have no idea what time it was when the dog came back, but he scared the crap out of me. I have had raccoon, deer, bear and God knows what else come through my campsite while backpacking, but for the most part, the animals just pass right through. The dog did not. He came near the tent, walked away, came back, and went around the tent a couple times. I have no idea what he was doing. I guess he was looking for a nice place to lie down but I don't know why because he'd lie down for about ten minutes then get up again. After a while, I got use to it and fell back asleep.

Day 2

The dog was gone. I don't know where he went. I don't care where he went. For all I know he went back over to the fishermen. All I know is he was gone which was a good thing.

As the kids enjoyed breakfast, I started packing things up. Now that I knew that Grace was going to carry Calista, I packed things a little differently. I crammed everything I possibly could into my pack starting with the heavy stuff. After my pack was full, I carbinered Grace's to the back of mine.

With two packs strapped to the back of me and no dog in sight, we started our trek back to the car. Of course Adrian still wanted to carry his backpack but that was fine. Grace could take it from him whenever he had had enough. Which was about twenty minutes.

Today's hike was much better than yesterday's. Although I could not stand straight up with the packs on, at least they were steady. Yesterday I simply hooked one of Grace's shoulder straps over my backpack and the constantly shifting weight just about killed me. Having the heavier items closer to my back helped a great deal as well. The only issue I was fighting now was the pace.

As anyone who has hiked with me can tell you, I have a tendency to hike at a rather quick pace. I tried to slow it down because of Adrian but the slower pace required more work trying to steady my load. I resorted to hiking a slightly faster pace and stopping periodically for them to catch up. This lasted for a while until Grace finally suggested I go on ahead, drop the backpacks off at the car and then come back for them. The kids wanted to take a break anyway.

We found a nice spot where a small stream cut across the trail as a good place to split up. The stream would be a marker in case, for some bizarre reason, we missed each other when I came back. If I reached the steam, I would have known I missed them. I left them a water bottle and Adrian's backpack and set off for the car.

On my way out, I did come across a section where the trail split. One branch lead down to the creek while the other went straight through. Maybe the thought of possibly passing each other wasn't so bizarre after all. As fate would have it, that section of the trail was exactly where we did meet up when I came back. Fortunately, the surrounding foliage was fairly sparse so I could see them across the way.

The normal Outdoor Travels routine once getting back to the car and surviving another outing is to kick back and enjoy a couple of cold ones. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking ahead and the Aztek's cooler was empty. Besides, with kids, you have to change the routine a little bit. We took them to MacDonald's.