Nice weather this weekend

As I look outside at 8 inches of snow & 22 degree temps it is suppose to be
69 and sunny this Saturday in Williamson / Delbarton WV.
Anyone riding this weekend?
If the weather does what thay say I may make it for the day Saturday .

Was just there over New Years or I would join you.

Buffalo Mtn trails were in nice shape at New Years,
always a good time riding into Williamson for lunch.

Enjoy - Be Safe - Take pictures to share.

I looked at the weather was supposed to go the following weekend but the weather looks too good. I'm going to pack it up Friday and head west

Be safe ~ Take pics

I'm thinking strongly about riding Buffalo Mtn Saturday.
Packing the van tonight.
Forcast high 71 with 30% chance of rain.
maybe also staying overnight at either @ mother in laws or at the Colonial in Man if they have rooms avail or anywhere really if someone wants to split a room.

Have a good ride. If you don't already know the burning coal trail is closed. It is now a UDT trail

Take a few pictures, so we can see how much fun you had

Ed

Punisher,
Weren't you recently at BM?
Your avatar looked fresh...you must use good paint!

Avatar was touched up this summer , its been there since 04 when I covered that orange satanic star on the keystone up with it.

LOL! Still looked good over new years.
We've seen it many times, but it for sure had faded.

Postponed till the 18th. Wouldn't come together as hard as I tried

Mr.Ed wrote:

Have a good ride. If you don't already know the burning coal trail is closed. It is now a UDT trail

Take a few pictures, so we can see how much fun you had

Ed

It was closed last summer when I was there , I didn't go down it because the ranger was cutting single track trail & downed trees in the vicinity .
Pictures are always a must have . Camera is broken so the camera in the phone will have to do.

Didn't realize it has been closed that long

Have fun this weekend

The " Lone Wolf " Ride on Buffalo Mtn.

This picture I took last Thursday morning of a single wolf in the field by my house inspired the title of the following days ride . After a hard 1/2 day of work Friday I spent the afternoon loading the van and trailer for the upcoming 224 mile journey to the Buffalo Mtn trailhead.
With the flu virus & some other issues sidelining all other possible riding companions
all that was left of this ride was just me , hence the title
After a Harriowing 4 1/2 hr journey though a LOT of thick fog, melting snow and rain I arrived at the trailhead about 8:30 am and immediately noticed a lot of heavy equipment blocking 95% of the main trail . Also posted on the bulletin board were trail closures ! Did I just drive all this way for nothing ? I thought

Turns out my fears were injustified as there was just enough of an opening to get by but the main trail straight up the hill is "temporarily closed " after the intersection .
There was no work activity going on so I decided to see what was going on .
After slogging through some very wet and thick mud going uphill in 4x4 ,
Turns out that future cellphone reception in the area is going to improve quite a bit :p

I decided to spend much of the ride exploring trails that used to be and some areas that needed looking into for my own personal pleasure.
I proceeded to see what has become of trail 47 ( the Burning Mine trail & immediately was met at one end by a lot of fallen trees blocking the way so I decided to turn around & proceed to the other end.

Along the way I had to slow my pace considerably as several deer at a time , several times , sprang up
from their resting spots along the trail and slowly moved in different directions, then decided to watch as I passed by .

Along the way I see the "Cheech & Chong " vents to the underground mine fires are still smokin'


After arriving at the other end of trail 47 @ the mine opening guarded by my avatar



I proceeded up the hill & down the trail a ways . It is passable with a lot of downed tree limbs attacking the tires & underside of the P-700 . Unprepared to deal with all the wood - no chainsaw - I decided this adventure can continue on the next trip & decided to turn around in the name of self preservation.
It was too early into the rode on such a beautiful day to damage the P-700 riding alone .
I decide to investigate some single trac trails & just wander through all of the soft mud , wet & slippery hill climbs/ descents & freshly refilled sheetholes to see where I would end up next....

Water , water everywhere !!! I love it ! NOOOOO DUST !
Late fall ,Winter & Spring are my favorite times to ride! Wet , muddy trails with good visibility .
Water running down theside of all of the mountains


Water on the trails ,




Full Sheetholes






Warm January weather - 65 to 72 degrees - make for a nice ride all the way to the top of the 26/27/90 reclaim where I ended up next .

Reclaim on top of the world

Overlook into Kentucky


WV and Virginia Mtns in the Background


Trails continue -


along with the story -and the possibility of some DANGER



TO BE CONTINUED ........................

Glad you got out for a nice days ride

Punisher really enjoyed the ride report. You sure had an excellent weekend.

Very nice!! Thanks for posting

After taking a break & enjoying the view I proceeded to take the black trail 90 down untill I heard gunshots from someone poaching deer coming from close by . Not having a bulletproof vest in the toolbox today I decided to turn around and go in the other direction towards the active strip mine .
The switchbacks were slick & greasy & I almost went over when the brakes locked but did not slow me down . Time to use the KEBC engine brake & travel at a slower rate of speed .
I descended the trail next to the active strip mine

& decided I wanted a closer look & also to try & loop back to the 5 point intersection @ the old mine entrance . All was going well ...




Untill I encountered this shiny new lock attached to this bright yellow gate :sad:



Not even the DD method of piling up rocks on the side was going to get me around that gate.
This meant a change in plans / change of direction to get down the trail towards Matewan.

After backtracking around to the main trail heading toward Matewan I encountered a lot more tree branch damage . The trail has been relocated in places over the years higher up the mountain & made wider than it was in the past . The wind and ice damage seems to be more severe than the lower lying wet trail used to suffer. The branches are all mangled & whitish , It looked like an endless pile of deer antlers everywhere .



The old truck is still hanging in there on what used to be HM trail Bearing at one time or another the trail# 21 , 13, 16, 23,possibly also called 22.
Now a closed trail for the past several years , i found one post still currently sporting an old HM Trail 23 marker from 2004 era.



It is still fully passable with a few fallen trees & some full sheetholes. This section also contains the base/ beginning for either end of the old challenging black trail 98 that Zigzagged all the way up & back down the Mtn . This used to be a must do trail up untill 2005/6 when it was shut down & shortened .For awhile there was no bypass trail 21/23/13/16 whatever it was numbered at the time . It was closed & you had to climb the black trail . Now the bottom 2/3 of trail 98 have been eliminated & trail 17 installed way up on the mountain for those who wish to bypass 98.
Also the old nasty pipeline hillclimb is still there & marked as a no entry.
It used to be very steep, narrow and challenging . You prayed nobody was coming in the other direction. We used to send one person up to block traffic & also spot/ assist the others in the group as they came up that climb.
According to their magazine article , a lot of the riders in the 2004 or 2005 ATV rider ride rode the road back to Matewan from the Delbarton trailhead rather than backtrack over the hill & climb that thing .



Even the first trail bypass/re-route of that climb has been abandoned for an even easier & wider path . It is still marked on the back side of the no entry with 16/30 designation .





This all ends in the current 16/30/97 junction area

Now for the possible Danger!
While riding on trail 30 I could smell underground coal fire burning, no biggie since you can smell it anywhere . Then all of the sudden I came across a fresh landslide . While assessing it from the other side of it while on the trail it decided to slide a bit more , yikes !




I retreated a bit from it & took a break . Almost 2pm, been exploring / puttering around all day at this point , time to make trail for Matewan.
I encountered this dude running on the trail & just stopping , I could have made him flat if I wasn't paying attention .


Came to this point & looked , Not Me , lol



Time to move on , Finally got to the 23/30 junction on the other side did my civic duty to warn others of the Danger ahead

No sooner than I start down the hill toward trail 35 & some more Danger , a large tree has fallen across the trail on the downhill slope.


I removed the mirror from my handle bars & made it easily under the tree !
On to trail 35 ! Full sheetholes filled with clear undisturbed water ! Blasted through them & up & down the hills all the way to trail 39 :p
Have not seen another soul all day & the trails are totally undisturbed!

Trail 39 is one of my favorite trails, it's fast at the beginning then narrows to an old pipeline trail running along the spine of the mountain , then goes down back to the bottom . There are some challenging spots when its wet so I recommend running it from the top down toward town. This day it was totally dry & actually held the only dust I saw all day.

Some spots like this one can bite so be careful!





Continued on untill I reached Matewan.

After entering Matewan i rode across the floodwall/ bridge into Kentucky for gas at the RC Country Store .While pumping gas I heard on their piped in music the temps ranging from 66 to 72 degrees outside for January 12.



I then proceeded to ride back across into WV / Matewan & take a quick stroll through town .
I saluted Danger Dave's Comrades ( The Firemen) who were hanging out outside enjoying the nice day , they waved back as I rolled by.







No time to eat, also heard rain on the way so I decided to bust arse back with few stops
Looking back down on town as I headed away on trail 21