Dolly Sods, WV. Colors and mist.

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September 25 is a great time to see the blue berry bushes change scarlet red. The valley was in the low 70's and Dolly Sods was in the low 50's. Where the air masses met, it formed unique stream of clouds that only formed at the cliffs edge. Before man logged this area, it had 23 feet in diameter red spruce trees. The moss was up to 20 feet thick. Once the trees were cut, the moss dried up and caught fire from the shay locomotives exhaust. What was left was fields full of boulders and a wild harsh environment. Oh, the stories I could tell. There is still quiet beauty here.
The influx of people at this time of year was a little unnerving. Traffic was crazy. I use to have this place to myself. The cliff area and west is owned by Nature Conservancy. The road and east is right of way and private land. West of the road is Dolly Sods Wilderness. Dolly sods Wilderness is trying to buy a much greater area, which would make it illegal to fly in this area in the future.
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Wow, John, that was very nice. What spectacular scenery, and you caught it in wonderful light. Nice work!
Honestly, you can almost point your camera with your eyes closed and get a good shot. The rocks, twisted trees and the colors of the blue berries bushes makes for a fun time. I was surprised by the clouds at the cliffs. It was sunny in the valley. It's the largest plateau east of the Mississippi, at10 miles long. It is also a swampland on top in many places. Yeah, I love this place. It's where I use to take my scouts backpacking a lot. I collect most of my chuga near here. Lol
 
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Very interesting and photogenic site.
Probably high too. These rocks look like they've been constructed as LEGO cubes by some kids.
 
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Wow how beautiful! Man destroyed, but God restored with a beautify that cannot be described. Thank you for wonderful and smooth drone footage accompanied by beautiful music. Let us not take any of the beauty for granted!
 
Wow how beautiful! Man destroyed, but God restored with a beautify that cannot be described. Thank you for wonderful and smooth drone footage accompanied by beautiful music. Let us not take any of the beauty for granted!
I totally agree with you. When I stand in the middle of it all, I sense such awe. The rocks are so weather worn, with deep bowls of water in them. There is life dependent on and in that water. I've tried to capture a good picture of the rock, water and reflections, but never got one to my satisfaction. The harshness of the area is reflected in the twisted character of the trees. The senses are stimulated by sight, smell and touch. The area has lots of beaver pond and bear are very abundant.
 
What a view, people on the ground don’t know what they’re missing. Only from the air. Can see why it was so popular. Traffic jam
Was expecting the wipers to turn on at the end. Very Nice
Which bird?
 
Had to watch it again. Hard to believe that was ever a hardwood forest. Wonder if it had blueberries back then. I would imagine the crowds have left by now. All yours, again. Brrrrr ?Wonder what it looks like in white.
 
What a view, people on the ground don’t know what they’re missing. Only from the air. Can see why it was so popular. Traffic jam
Was expecting the wipers to turn on at the end. Very Nice
Which bird?
Thank you. It's one of those places you love to show people. It's mainly crowded when the blueberries bushes turn red.
The road became single lane with cars parked on both sides of the road. One car tried to back out of my way and dropped off a rock ledge on the side of the road. Trying to get down that road with cars coming from the other way was a nightmare. That was the first time I've seen it that way. Popularity will ruin that place. You would be surprised how swampy it is up there. There are 3 x 5 ft. ant hills on the east slopes also. There have been deaths to exposure there.
 
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Had to watch it again. Hard to believe that was ever a hardwood forest. Wonder if it had blueberries back then. I would imagine the crowds have left by now. All yours, again. Brrrrr ?Wonder what it looks like in white.
It is the eastern divide and the wind become fearlessly strong. I saw a white wall coming and when it hit, the steadily blowing wind took my breath away. I turned away from it and found shelter in the crevices of the rocks from the snow. It hurt to be in it. It was a total white out. It didn't let up. I had to get to my car with no visibility except at my feet. The paths between the blueberry bushes kept me on track to the parking lot. When i drove down to the valley and looked back, the mountain went up into the clouds. In the valley it was calm, light rain about 50 deg. It was hard for anyone to imagine what was going on up there.
 
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P4 standard is my main drone. Almost nothing grows under a red spruce forest. The sun is mostly blocked and there isn't the undergrowth like most forests. It leave a very open area to walk through. Moss and saprophytes are very abundant. There is a shamrock looking flower that grow over the moss covered logs. I backpack through an area with my scouts that looked just like that. Too far for me to walk today, but I would love to spend time taking pictures there.
 
September 25 is a great time to see the blue berry bushes change scarlet red. The valley was in the low 70's and Dolly Sods was in the low 50's. Where the air masses met, it formed unique stream of clouds that only formed at the cliffs edge. Before man logged this area, it had 23 feet in diameter red spruce trees. The moss was up to 20 feet thick. Once the trees were cut, the moss dried up and caught fire from the shay locomotives exhaust. What was left was fields full of boulders and a wild harsh environment. Oh, the stories I could tell. There is still quiet beauty here.
The influx of people at this time of year was a little unnerving. Traffic was crazy. I use to have this place to myself. The cliff area and west is owned by Nature Conservancy. The road and east is right of way and private land. West of the road is Dolly Sods Wilderness. Dolly sods Wilderness is trying to buy a much greater area, which would make it illegal to fly in this area in the future.
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Thanks for sharing that video, makes me realize how long it's been since going up there. It's crazy, though, how many people were there - way, way too many for me! I can remember a wildfire we had up at Bear Rocks many years ago (before drones) and how many days we spent on it, how many times we walked in to check on it - would have been great to have a drone back then...
 
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Thanks for sharing that video, makes me realize how long it's been since going up there. It's crazy, though, how many people were there - way, way too many for me! I can remember a wildfire we had up at Bear Rocks many years ago (before drones) and how many days we spent on it, how many times we walked in to check on it - would have been great to have a drone back then...
Between Bear rocks and stack rocks? What area? The wind must have made it ruff fighting a fire?
 
I'm not familiar with Stack Rocks, but this fire was at least 25 years ago, NNW of the sharp turn in the road and just past Bear Rocks Trail. Look for the large circle, which is probably used now as a trail. Firefighters accessed from the parking lot just before the road drops over the hill down into Grant County. I will attach a shot from Google Earth that shows the evidence of man - more specifically, the remains of the dozer line used to contain the fire. The fire went down deep into the peat, and the only way (at the time) to contain the fire was to construct a line around it to mineral soil. Sadly, the area has never recovered.
 

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I'm not familiar with Stack Rocks, but this fire was at least 25 years ago, NNW of the sharp turn in the road and just past Bear Rocks Trail. Look for the large circle, which is probably used now as a trail. Firefighters accessed from the parking lot just before the road drops over the hill down into Grant County. I will attach a shot from Google Earth that shows the evidence of man - more specifically, the remains of the dozer line used to contain the fire. The fire went down deep into the peat, and the only way (at the time) to contain the fire was to construct a line around it to mineral soil. Sadly, the area has never recovered.
I saw that while flying and wondered about it. What caused the fire?
 

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