North Fork Mountain Trail (part II)

The Guide that inspired

I wasn't the only one to consider that the North Fork Mountain Trail in Grant and Pendleton Counties, WV would make for a truly epic mountain bike ride. For one thing, it's been touted as an "epic" trail by the International Mountain Biking Association. Perhaps because of the popularity of the list of IMBA epics, the NFMT has become famous among mountain bike clubs, many of which take annual trips to ride the NFMT, often driving across several states to get there. I'd been aware of the trail for nearly a decade, and finally got to ride it this past Monday.

I first stumbled upon a description for the NFMT in 2003 in the Monongahela National Forest Hiking Guide while sitting fireside at the Cheat Mountain Club. Four years later I found a good weekend to hike the trail and spent two days with a group of backpackers walking along the North Fork Mountain ridge as the fall colors blew us away. I wrote about that trip in an archive here. While hiking the NFMT that October, our group encountered several groups of mountain bikers, who were all traveling the trail South to North. That's when I decided that I'd have to try the trail on my mountain bike as an epic someday.

The 2007 group ponders yet another vista

The trail is generally considered a hiking path, but there are no regulations in place prohibiting bikes on the NFMT. That scenario was in jeopardy last year when the mountain area where it lies was included in a federal bill for designation as wilderness, presumably to prevent the possibility of the ridge becoming a wind farm. The trail instantly gained increase notoriety among mountain bikers because restrictions on wilderness areas also prohibit mountain bikes. Even though a few groups formed to lobby against the bill, I figured that I might not have much time left.

When I got the chance to ride the NFMT this past Monday, I joined a few old friends and a few new ones (climbing guides at nearby Nelson Rocks Outdoor Center who were on their day off) for a go at the fabled path. It was epic indeed.

Laurels in bloom

For most of its 23 mile length, the NFMT is a high-elevation ridge ride. The length may seem short but because of the difficulty of the terrain, it's a full day excursion. In addition, the trail's linear route requires a 90 minute shuttle. Once the trail climbs for a few miles out of Judy Gap, a repeating pattern emerges. Rocky ascents into the sky are followed by a ride along a narrow knoll with steep cliffs and hillsides providing distant views to both the east and west. Then, gnarly descents into the mountain's saddles start the cycle over. Twice in this cycle, the trail loses substantial elevation and that spells two big climbs, and the rocks really never let up.

Being at the top of a mountain, the rocks on the NFMT fractured relatively recently and so they haven't eroded much. Rather, they are naturally more jagged than the round rocks found below. Those

One of many off-camber sections

jagged rocks make for difficult and technical slow going sections. The effort is easily trumped by the senses, though. Blossoming mountain laurels create dense tunnels of white and purple, and ripe blueberries interrupt the ride by attracting the taste buds. The views come one after another. Then, just when the difficult riding has seeped in and manifested itself as dizzying fatigue, the trail drops out of the sky. The final 3+ miles are exclusively downhill, and aside from a short technical section at the top, those miles are tight, fast, and a total freaking blast down to the northern trailhead at Smokehole Road.

As with any long ride, the ups and downs of the ride on Monday were paralleled naturally by lowlights and highlights. The tight, twisty road leading up to the trailhead caused at least one member of the team to lose his breakfast before we even began. Mechanical issues were ongoing

Blueberries!

as one drivetrain failed to cooperate and a crankarm refused to stay in place. The slippery, jagged rocks sent more than half of us over handlebars at least once each and caused two flats. Walking up the steep and technical ascents was the norm, especially late in the day. Despite all of this, the collective grin of the group was very wide throughout the 7 hour long excursion (yes, it took that long, and I wouldn't expect much less from other groups). And, it was well worth the 7+ hours spent driving as well.

Mountain Bikers: Ride the North Fork.

Climbing into the sky

Git r dun.