Dolly Sods Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Encore: Wildflowers, Paddle Makers, Turkey Calls — And More Inside Appalachia

This week, we’re airing an encore episode of Inside Appalachia. We’ll meet a man who makes wooden turkey calls. We’ll also meet people who make wooden paddles by hand and custom-decorate each one, and a man who repairs cuckoo clocks. Finally, we’ll travel to some of the most beautiful spots in Appalachia to find wildflowers, like Dolly Sods and the Canaan Valley of West Virginia.

This week, we’re airing an encore episode of Inside Appalachia.

We’ll meet a man who makes wooden turkey calls, but these aren’t just any turkey calls. Painter Brian Aliff doesn’t call himself an artist, but he intricately paints his turkey calls, which are now collectors’ items.

We’ll also meet people who make wooden paddles by hand and custom-decorate each one, and a man who repairs cuckoo clocks.

Finally, we’ll travel to some of the most beautiful spots in Appalachia to find wildflowers, like Dolly Sods and the Canaan Valley of West Virginia. And we wonder — are these areas becoming too popular?

These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Welder Keeps Old Clocks Ticking

When you need to check the time, where do you look? Most people turn to their phones or digital watches. These days, it seems like every electronic device has a clock function in addition to whatever it’s supposed to do, but it hasn’t always been this way. Not all that long ago, marking the passage of time was the job of one device — a clock.

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold spent some time with Carl Witt, a man in Fairview, West Virginia, who learned how to repair clocks after crossing paths with the late Charles Decker. Witt, a welder at the time, decided to retire and went on to start his own clock repair business — Curiosity Clockworks.

Dolly Sods Hosts Wildflower Pilgrimage

Dolly Sods is federally protected public land — full of rocky ridges, soggy bogs and beautiful views. It’s also the site of an annual nature walk called the West Virginia Wildflower Pilgrimage. The event attracts wildflower and birding experts from around the country and was most recently held in May of this year.

Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams made the pilgrimage in 2021 from his home in Floyd County, Virginia to Dolly Sods in West Virginia’s Canaan Valley.

Paddlers Design Their Own Gear

Appalachia has several huge rivers: the Gauley, the Youghiogheny and the New River, just to name a few. Whitewater paddling is popular in the region, but it wasn’t that long ago modern paddlers first started exploring these rivers, designing their own gear and even building their own paddles. Some of those DIY paddle makers are now master crafters and their work is in high demand.

As part of our Inside Appalachia Folkways Project, Clara Haizlett learned more.

Handmade Turkey Calls

Like many Appalachian traditions, turkey calls go way back. Historically, they’ve been used as a hunting tool, but one West Virginia artist has taken it to the next level. Brian Aliff makes hand-crafted, prize-winning decorative turkey calls. These pieces are functional and they’re becoming collector’s items, but it took a while for Aliff to think of himself as an artist.

Folkways Reporter Connie Kitts talks with Aliff on this week’s episode.

Increase In Tourism Puts Strain On Local Infrastructure

Tucker County, West Virginia, has seen a surge of new visitors from Washington, D.C. in the years since US Route 48, also known as Corridor H, opened. The growing number of visitors is good for business, but it’s also straining the resources of a county with just one stoplight and 7,000 year-round residents.

Mason Adams visited the towns of Thomas and Davis in Tucker County, West Virginia and has this story about managing growth and resources against the backdrop of expansive natural beauty.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Dinosaur Burps, The Chamber Brothers, and Wes Swing. Bill Lynch is our producer, but Roxy Todd originally produced this episode.

Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

West Virginia’s Dolly Sods Wilderness Seeking Volunteers For Unique Experience

Outdoor enthusiasts have a new way to help maintain West Virginia’s natural beauty for future generations.

Created in 2021 as a response to a large influx of visitors during the pandemic, the Dolly Sods Wilderness Stewards aim to assist the Monongahela National Forest with managing and protecting the wilderness character of Dolly Sods.

Stewards serve as a resource for visitors entering the backcountry to understand the unique nature of the wilderness, what to expect and how to prepare for the experience of a primitive area. Opportunities to help with other projects such as trail maintenance are available.

No specific background or experience is required to apply, and there is no minimum time commitment. Those who live far away or who can only occasionally volunteer their time are welcome.

The program is a partnership between the USDA Forest Service and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.

The next training for Trailhead Stewards is tentatively planned for late May.

For more information or to sign up, go to www.wvhighlands.org or https://bit.ly/3pBjiyV.

W.Va. Wildflower Pilgrimage Give Naturalists An Inside Look At Dolly Sods

The West Virginia Wildflower Pilgrimage gives naturalists from across Appalachia and Dolly Sods an inside look at the Canaan Valley and surrounding wildlands.

The pilgrimage plays out over two days each spring with bird and wildflower experts leading dozens of excursions across the region — but even among the numerous trips, Bill Beatty’s Dolly Sods wilderness hike stands alone.

“Okay, let’s do this!” Beatty shouted to the 17 people along for his hike. “We’re gonna head down towards the bog and get our feet wet.”

The trail runs along Alder Run Bog, through a red spruce forest, up and down rock fields, across a stand of 85-year-old red pine, and through expanses of rhododendron thickets and chokeberry meadows before cresting out on the Allegheny Front.

Beatty, a naturalist, writer and photographer, designed this route he calls the “Allegheny Vista Trail,” which became the first to win a “4” difficulty rating in the pilgrimage. A “4” means, “Extremely Difficult: Very rugged terrain, rocky trails. Must have sturdy hiking boots and be extremely fit. Must discuss with leaders.”

Mason Adams joined several hikers during the West Virginia Wildflower Pilgrimage at Dolly Sods Wilderness.

The Dolly Sods wilderness hike remains the only one during the pilgrimage in which participants are required to come up and speak with the leader ahead of time. Beatty needs to know they’ll be able to complete the hike.

“You know, people’d come up to me and say, ‘We walk in the mall three days a week, five miles,’” Beatty said. “And I used to let them go on. But now if someone says that, to me, I say, ‘This isn’t even close to what you experience in the mall.’”

That doesn’t dissuade experienced hikers like Margot Cavalier, who came down from Pittsburgh after first experiencing the wildflower pilgrimage in 2019. The 2020 pilgrimage was canceled due to the pandemic.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been hiking up by Dolly Sods, and I’m anxious to go with a bunch of people who know what they’re looking at,” Cavalier said. “I’m beginning to know what I’m looking at, but it’ll be great to go with some pros.”

Beatty was joined by Conley McMullen, a botany professor at James Madison University in western Virginia, and Martin Tingley, a U.S. Forest Service biologist who really knows his birds, mosses and lichens.
McMullen and Beatty quickly established a storytelling banter, in which McMullen inserted dry puns and quick-witted lines into Beatty’s trail stories. At one point, Beatty stopped to point out a flowering bluet, noting that the plant has 28 common names within West Virginia. One hiker asked for the perennial’s family.

“Rubiaceae,” said McMullen.

“Madder family,” Beatty added.

“It does matter,” rejoined McMullen to a rise of chuckles that gave way to laughter.

Beatty led the group across Dolly Sods, lecturing on the way about the ancient red spruce timbered by earlier generations and replaced in one area by red pine. While winding his way through dense thickets of rhododendron and mountain laurel, Beatty noted the hike largely followed paths that were probably cut by hunters years ago.

After tromping across a bog and up through forests, the trail emerged into a summit covered with chokeberry. Even Beatty got turned around.

A group of hikers pose for a photo at Dolly Sods.

At the end, the group emerged on the Allegheny Front, gazing down at a valley below. That’s when one of the hikers noticed a rainbow down in the valley. It appeared faint at first, but became more vibrant as the sky changed. Members of the excursion hustled over to get a look before it disappeared, gasping in awe and whooping in delight.

The experience, and especially the unforgettable rainbow ending, left the hike’s participants worn out — but also exhilarated.

“That was phenomenal, wasn’t it?” said a delighted Cavalier. “That fog-bow at the end of it? I can’t believe it. It was just fantastic. I just turned 68 and it kind of makes me feel like you know what? While I can do this, I got to push myself.

“It’s wonderful to be out here. You just feel so alive, you know?”

October 14, 1943: U.S. Army Begins Transforming Parts of Dolly Sods

On October 14, 1943, the U.S. Army began transforming parts of Dolly Sods into an artillery range. Troops from across the eastern United States were trained at what the Army named the “West Virginia Maneuver Area” in preparation for combat in World War II. Dolly Sods—a rugged and stunningly beautiful mountainous area located at the intersection of Grant, Randolph, and Tucker counties—was chosen because it resembled the European landscape. It also was virtually unpopulated and allowed clear sight lines for artillery training. At the same time, the Army conducted a rock-climbing school at nearby Seneca Rocks in Pendleton County and taught pack mule techniques and mountaineering skills.

The training at Dolly Sods ended several weeks after D-Day in 1944. Remnants of the Army munitions can still be found at Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. Although most of the ordinance was cleared out in 1997, some unexploded rounds can still be found to this day. Hikers, campers, and picnickers at Dolly Sods are warned about the potential dangers of unexploded ordnance, a startling reminder of the artillery training from seven decades before.

Land Gift More than Doubles Size of West Virginia Preserve

A land donation will more than double the size of the Bear Rocks Preserve in West Virginia.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that near 2 square miles of land along the Allegheny Front, the eastern rim of the Dolly Sods plateau, has been donated to the Nature Conservancy of West Virginia. The gift was made possible through donations from the Ann C. and Robert O. Orders Jr. Family Foundation and Maryland resident Dan Montgomery.

The 1,143-acre tract will be added to the existing 477-acre Bear Rocks Preserve.

The conservancy’s state director, Thomas Minney, called the Allegheny Front property “a biologically important gem” that’s crucial to the state’s “ability to support and promote tourism, provide drinking water and clean air to the eastern United States.”

Where's the best place to leaf peep this weekend?

State foresters recommend heading to the high country this weekend to see foliage at its peak. Perennial foliage hotspots, including Dolly Sods, Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley are reportedly either at peak or expected to peak over the next few days. In Pocahontas County, favorite foliage spots like Cheat Mountain, Snowshoe and the headwaters of the Greenbrier River are getting close to peak. The Highland Scenic Highway has good but scattered color.

The Silver Lake area of Preston County is approximately 60 percent peak and another recommended destination this weekend.

Pendleton County’s Spruce Knob is between 50 percent and 75 percent peak. A variety of yellow, orange and red hues are reportedly well worth the trip. The Allegheny Front and North Mountain also are must-see destinations.

Foresters in Morgan County report an abundance of color along the Cacapon River. The recommended drive is State Route 9 from Berkeley Springs toward Paw Paw, with a stop at the Panorama Overlook. The overlook includes views of three states, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as the Potomac and Cacapon Rivers.