Dolly Sods Wilderness.
Beautiful shots of one of my favorite places. I especially like the sunrise shot at Bear Rocks. A small point; to the best of my knowledge, the Sods border the Canaan Valley but, I believe, it is not specifically a part of the Wilderness. Roads in the valley are paved where, as I recall, those in Dolly Sods will jar your insides loose.
The highest altitude in the park is 4,123 feet.
Great set of shots. In Pa. and hope to visit soon. Any of the shots processed in HDR as the colors are so vibrant?
"It's actually 4,200 feet "
Not in all places around the wilderness area.
Beautiful images. Glad you corrected the altitude question. At 25,000 you be in a plane.
vicksart
Loc: Novato, CA -earthquake country
Very fine photographs William. Thanks for sharing.
Lovely pictures. In fact, quite wonderful. But 25,000 ft in the Monangahela? Dream on.
camerapapi wrote:
Located in the Monongahelia National Forest in Eastern West Virginia, at an altitude of over 25,000 feet, a rocky terrain that comprises over 17,000 acres with 47 miles of hiking trails surrounded by a vegetation of grassy meadows and red spruce is magnificent Dolly Sods. High plateaus and the rocky formation is to be kept in mind by photographers especially for those who wish to photograph some of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever witness in this USA.
Many of the areas I visited were dangerous to hike and a fall from such an altitude could easily cost your life. I was there several times during my stay in the mountains and I never saw any signs warning the hiker or a ranger that could give us orientation or warnings about that place. Fortunately I was with a young Vietnamese-American guide who knows the place well and photograph there often.
These images were made using my Nikon D7000 armed with the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 Nikon D lens. I took also with me the Nikon 12-24 f4 AF-S but when I used it it was set to 24mm. All images made from a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod with a RRS ball head that the guide let me borrow from him.
I posted some of these images about 4 years ago when I originally visited this beautiful place. The second and third images were made in Canaan Valley, a part of Dolly Sods not that far from the mountains where the beautiful sunrises can be seen and photographed.
The water fall was photographed if memory does not fail toward the west side of Dolly Sods. I used a polarizer with a small lens aperture to slow down the shutter (polarizers require a 2 stops filter factor) and to eliminate reflections on the wet rocks.
This is a very beautiful and photogenic National Forest. If you have an opportunity to visit Dolly Sods I promise you will be rewarded with spectacular vistas and beautiful sunrises.
Located in the Monongahelia National Forest in Eas... (
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Great images; I have been there also but not sure if you are aware of some of the relevant history of Dolly Sods. During WWII it was used as a training site for Army Air Force Bomber Pilots and Bombardiers. The "plateaus" of the area were once traditional mountaintops that were flattened by thousands of live bombing runs. Their are warning signs around the park to be aware of the possibility of unexploded weaponry still in the area and emergency #'s to call for anything looking suspicious. Pat
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