BW400 Scouting Trip Report (Sep 19)

[garry]

I went out on a final scouting trip for the Blackwater 400 Adventure ride that "R Doug" and I are organizing next weekend (Sept 26/27). My goal was to find a better way from northern WV into PA for the return leg. Plus I wanted to pre-ride some sections and ensure that I could follow the route northbound since Doug had some trouble when he tried it.

Of course that meant I had to had to head south to Terra Alta, WV, so I might as well take some interesting roads to get there. It was a beautiful day today. No humidity, sunshine and a high of about 72. Just perfect for a day of dual-sport riding. I took a bunch of photos. Consider them teasers to get people to come on the ride.

A typical section of Ferguson Hollow Rd:


Nice overlook from Ferguson Hollow:


Another nice view, this time from T724:


Trails along the pipeline that crosses T724. Need to explore those some day...


Gettamy Rd:


A few miles of paved back roads took me to route 40 and the Summit Hotel:


The view from Brethren Summit Rd:


More nic vistas, this time from Skyline Rd near the PA/WV border:




Back on dirt roads in WV. I think this is Mt Grove Rd:


Lake O' Woods:


The start of CR-2/3 aka Greenvile-Sandsprings Rd. Yes, this is a public WV road...


It's quite slow going, being very bumpy and rocky. It always looks easier in the photos...


Big nasty mud hole. I took the escape route to the left:


Yet another mud hole with alternate routes in the woods:


Nice little pond in the park on Darnell Hollow Rd:


Working my down the ridge on Darnell Hollow:


Ate lunch at Ruby and Ketchy's near Cheat Lake. Then headed to Morgantown on paved roads.

Here is a view of I-68 crossing Cheat Lake:


Nice view on the way to the Cheat Canyon:


On Mt Nebo-Bull Run Rd on the way down to the canyon:


The view from the bridge at the bottom. The water was really clear. I think R Doug told me that people jump off the bridge into the river...


The road climbing out of the canyon:


Nice views once on top again:

[garry]

At this point in the ride, I'm on route 26 in Albright. Rather than take route 7 to Terra Alta, I decide to take "Old Terra Alta Pike". It starts out as a nice dirt road heading up the mountain. Then my GPS has me take a right to stay on it and it become more of a jeep trail. I go past a rusty old gate and press on. The area this road runs through is very scenic when viewed from route 7. I come across a little creek crossing with a funky exit. I manage to hit a rock, the bike bounces in the rut I want to avoid and forward progress stops. Sigh. Several minutes of pushing, cursing and clutch slipping gets me up the bank.. I know it doesn't look like much in the photo. Just a bad line and 50/50 tires.


The road slowly deteriorates as it crosses the creek several more times. Eventually I find myself following a faint trail along creek and come to a downed tree. It appears people have thrashed across it. The GPS shows I'm still on the "road", but since I'm riding solo, discretion becomes the better part of valor and I turn around. I have more important things to do than film an epic in the middle of nowhere, where I'm inaccessible by four-wheeled vehicles. If I was with someone for backup and I knew what the trail was like further on, I would have continued.

One of the several creek crossings on the way back out:


So I backtracked back out to route 7 and rode into Terra Alta. Then I took Brandonville Pile northbound for a bit. Great scenery today:


Now I was on the return leg of the BW400 to make sure the route is obvious when running it in this direction. The view from Greggs Knob Rd:




I think the next three photos are all from Laurel Glen Rd:







Now on to Orr-Cuzzart Rd. This is where (I think) Doug had navigational issues:





I decided to explore Bruce Reckart Rd as a possible addition to the BW400 route. Started out very nice with great views to the left and right plus well-maintained dirt.






Then the road suddenly disappeared and turned into a grown over jeep trail. Singletrack in places.




I followed the purple line on the zumo and the faint trail until I ended up in a hay field near a farm. That took me to the rest of the road, plus several of the farmer's large grumpy dogs. I put the hammer down and continued scouting roads.

The next bunch of road up to I-68 were mostly paved, but very nice as back roads go. Once north of 68, the roads were mostly dirt up to route 40, so my goal for the day was accomplished. I found a much nicer way back to PA. Once back on home turf I didn't stop for many photos even though it was still a great day. I did remember to snap a photo of this covered bridge:


The always pretty Cranberry Lake:


Approaching route 653 near Scullton:


Almost done! One last long downhill on Brown Rd:


Looking back on Brown Rd:


That put me in Normalville at 4:30pm. I had been on the road since 8:15am. The GPS claims I managed a whopping 28.3 MPH moving average on the dual-sport portion of the ride (175 miles). I will have to take that into account when guesstimating times for next weeks ride. I hope the weather is as nice next weekend as it was today because the views were just off the hook. Ended up with about 250 miles total for the day which is a long day on the DRZ.

[R Doug]

I'm really looking forward to next weekend now.  Great report.  

Regarding the bridge over Cheat River, that's the takeout point for the whitewater rafters.  If you can believe it, the "school buses" they use to pick up the rafters travel from Rt. 26 to that point and back all day long.  

If the gnarliest section will be CR-2/3, I think I'll be fine on the Adventure.  I've taken the KLR and DR up and down that road with no issues (well, except one time when I tried to cross a wet log in the mud at a bad angle).  

I've always wanted to run the "Old Terra Alta Pike."  I once entered it from the Terra Alta side and ran into a locked gate about 1/2 mile in with a "No Trespassing" sign.  I'm guessing if you pressed onward, you would have come across a similar gate.  There is a working farm at the top of the hill just off Rt. 7 which this road goes through.