Pocahontas County High Point Trip Report

USGS BM Thorny (4,840+ ft)

Date: November 13, 2000
Author: Mike Schwartz

For "Thorny" I followed Fred Lobdell's and Ron Tagliapietra's reports. To reach the maintenance road they describe, as you approach the last (easternmost) large building on the ridge, "Snowcrest," follow the paved road to its end above the building, circle around the parking lot and follow it right and downhill as it deteriorates into a dirt road, then bear left at a T-intersection with the maintenance road. This is passable to a gate marked "hike and bike only." Bushwhack from there a short distance to ill-defined high ground. BM Thorny is presumably buried under the spruce debris. There is no Data Sheet for BM Thorny, and I suspect the USGS included it on the 1995 topo revision without actually recovering the marker.

1 area 3/4 mile southeast of Mace Knob (4,840+ ft)

Drive back 3.1 miles to the 5-way intersection and hike up the road. If the underbrush has died off, bushwhack straight up the hill at the point where you see yellow-sheathed guy wires along the road, to save distance. I wandered about on top for quite a while, visiting a couple of relative high points on the ridge, but never found any markers other than some surveyor's tape.

Accommodations note: Non-camping lodgings in this area are sparse. The Inn at Snowshoe, on WV 66 between US 219 and the ski resort access road, is very nice and quite reasonable during non-ski season.