Martin County Highpoint Trip Report
three areas (1,600+ ft)
Date: May 5, 2007
Author: Ken Oeser
These are remote on small KY roads, so we chose US119 east from Pikeville as our approach.
Be aware that there is now a new US119. Follow US119 east from US23
in Pikeville about 13 miles to the Sidney exit. From Sidney, go north on KY468
about 3.5 miles and turn left onto Rockhouse Fork Road. Follow this road west,
crossing under a railroad overpass after a few hundred feet, about 1.5 miles,
then turn right (west) onto Elkins Fork Road. Drive west-northwest about 2 miles,
passing a large business/home complex just before the road turns to
gravel and goes uphill to the right. About 0.5 mile after the road turns to gravel,
park off the side of the road near a gated coal company road on the right.
We followed this road northeast up the hollow until it ended at a gas
pumping station or monitor, then had to bushwhack up the ridge to the top of the
main ridge. Fred opted out of the hike at this point.
I bushwhacked uphill about 300 vertical feet to the ridge, then east to the
westernmost of the three 1600 foot contours. From here it is 1.6 miles north-
northeast to the other two points as the crow flies but I'm not a crow so I had
to head southeast, east, and then north. Luckily, there is a logging road just
east of and below the summit of point 1, so I followed that southeast to a
saddle where power lines cross the ridge from south to north. Following this
power line cut from the approach road and hollow is undoubtedly the way to go
for these points. From here, I dropped about 30 feet to an old strip-mine road
and followed it around the next ridge top to a saddle with a road that crosses
the ridge from southeast to north up the Hobbs Fork valley. The active coal
operation was visible far below to the southeast. From here I followed the
ridge mainly north another 1.4 miles to the northern two contours. I found a
grassy road on the left side of the ridge after a major saddle that helped my
speed and I made to the second spot after an hour on the ridge. The last half
mile is the toughest, with no trail, many briars (ask Fred about my legs and
wearing shorts yet again), and some uphill travel, only to go back down and up
to the final ridge. The last two spots are close together and the first, spot
elevation 1606, seems to be higher than the northern second contour. Both of
these contours are small. However, the southern spot, although larger,
is pretty flat on top, so there is no way to tell which may be higher.
It took another hour following my route along the ridge to the power line cut
but I missed part of my grassy road and took a lower contour road and
intersected the coal road about 200 feet below the power line saddle and walked
up the power line cut and back down the other side to the approach hollow and road.
There is an old coal mine in this hollow on the southeast side. The mine
entrances are caged and blocked up but I noted that someone has dug an entrance
into one of the caged areas and knocked some blocks out to access the mine.
Another possible route would be to hike up the power line cut, get the southern area,
then return to and descend north on the power line cut to the coal road,
and hike north on that for a mile and a half, then hike east up a ridge to the
northern points. The road walk would be easy and the elevation gain might be close.