After rounding up all my fellow Speedball's & having a hardy breakfeast at Bob Evan's alongside Rt. # 119 , our merry group headed south to the Buffalo Mountain trailhead to begin today's Great Adevnture! YAHOOOOOOOOO! Within thirty minutes we were unloading our quads atop the mountain near Williamson, WV at the Hatfield McCoy trailhead , BUT all was NOT well!
The SAD look & the shaking head from side to side of a fellow Speedball coming from the Ranger's office was NOT a good sign! The main trail to access Matewan, WV was CLOSED due to mud slides from the past week of HEAVY rains ! This same band of thunderstorms had left six feet of waters in the streets of Logan, WV about a week ago. MUD was everywhere in Logan, WV & cars filled with MUD littered the streets & the receding muddy waters had left high water marks on buildings on both sides of the river.
After a brief discussion , we headed south on Rt. # 52 towards Landgraff, WV.. Dan & Elisse Clark who own the Elkhorn Inn in Landgraff, WV joined our message board a few weeks ago & personally invited us to visit them & ride directly from their property to the local trails & the NEW Hatfield McCoy trail system during our June visit to WV. This was suppose to be Monday's Great Adventure , BUT circumstances dictated a SLIGHT change of plans! LOL! So we headed south to accept their generous invitation & to see IF these trails were worth the time & effort for FUTURE West Virginia Great Adventures?????
The first twenty miles of Rt. # 52 were STEEP & TWISTY & at times the narrow two lane road abruptly turned into a SINGLE as the right lane was GONE !!!! Washed away from last weeks floods! REAL SCAREY!!!! Once we reached the valley the road became less twisty & faster & about an hour & firty five minutes later we were in Landgraff, WV unloading our quads.
The Elkhorn Inn has plenty of room to park our rigs & unload our quads , so after introducing ourselves & chit chatting with Dan & Elisse & taking the guided tour of the Inn , we unload & get READY to ride!
After a few brief intstructions on do's & don't's we ease out onto the highway & then make a hard right across the RXR tracks & up a gravel road to begin today's Great Adventure! YEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
A few miles up the hill , at the end of the gravel road we find a dirty local tending to the ventilation shaft of a one man coal mine operation. Below the ventilation shaft we found this fesh coal coming dirctly out of the mountain VIA a conveyor belt.
After taking a few photos we make a left & head out across the mountain to see WHAT & IF there are any decent trails headed north ??????? We find a few decent trails , but they all come to a dead end near some major road project, so we head back towards the coal mine & the other side of the mountain.
As soon as we hit this new section of trails, we could sense THIS is WHAT we were looking for! YEAH BUDDY! The amount & depth of the locals old tracks said it all! The further we went away from the gravel road , the BETTER the trails got! Before too long , we saw a break in the deep dark canopy of the WV mountains & BEHOLD a HUGE limestone quarry & a trail that seemed to descend into it's very core. So DOWN we went to see WHAT & WHERE we could go from here??????????
Speedy brings up the rear & catches a cool photo of Tom & his new 700 Susuki 4x4 descending down a long STEEPLY rutted trail into the depths of a HUGE & DEEP limestone quarry.
As Speedy begins his own descent into the limestone quarry , I spot my fellow Speedballs already perched at the edge of this wonderous man made marvel & enjoying the view!
Speedy begins his own descent down the STEEP rutted trail into the quarry.
I marvel at the sight before me! The mountain has been gouged away & the trees roots dangle in the air in a vain search for water.