BackWoods Drifter

I love to go to the mountains looking for and digging ramps (wild leek). Over the past week or so I have made numerous trips hiking into the woods to check on the progress of ramp growth. Ramps are one of the first plants to make an appearance in spring followed closely by mayapple. So [...]

Okay no more making post promises that for whatever reason I can’t keep… uh… I promise. I have been able to do very little hiking or four wheeling this Fall but was finally able to get out in the mountains for a while yesterday. I have been wanting to go pretty bad because the foliage [...]

New trails, new fossil hunting grounds, and new ginseng hollows. Those are the things I brought home with me from trail riding today. It was a beautiful day to be in the mountains. I started out this morning for an all day trip to the woods. I didn’t really go with intentions of exploring trails [...]

(Monotropa uniflora – Ghost Flower, Corpse Plant, Indian Pipe) In my recent trips to the mountains, along with the mushrooms, the Ghost Plant has caught my attention. (more photos here) The fact this plant is white spiked my curiosity. Even I can remember the school lessons on the process of photosynthesis. Plants using photosynthesis for [...]

A ginsenger or ‘senger (pronounced: sang-r) is someone that harvests the ginseng root. I’m a ginsenger and will likely hunt the plant until I can no longer traverse the mountains. Root gathering in general has been a part of West Virginia’s history for as long as folks have been living in the mountains. I was [...]