WILD APPALACHIA A journey through West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest

The landscape changes conspicuously as I leave West Virginia’s knobby Eastern Panhandle and steer toward the heart of the Mountain State. Along the road, cattle wade through chest-high grass in pastures nestled against thickly forested mountain slopes, and long-tailed cowbirds perch on wooden fence posts tufted with wildflowers. As I turn toward the eastern edge of the mammoth Monongahela National Forest, I crack the window for my hound dog Ruthie, and she thrusts her snout into the breeze, inhaling greedily.

It’s late May, and I’ve dipped out of work early to spend the weekend exploring the central portion of the Monongahela National Forest. The trip is a whirlwind reconnaissance mission, a chance to scope out a backpacking route to tackle in early fall, after the leaves begin to turn but before the highlands of West Virginia are smothered with snow.

Spread out over more than 920,000 acres, the Monongahela is the fourth-largest national