Saturday we headed back to the Canaan area–mostly because it’s a relatively short drive with a ton of wilderness.

We went back up to Canaan Loop road and did a loop of Fire trails and the Plantation trail.

I did slide into a puddle, but not this one.

Luckily, although a little water got into my boots, my feet stayed dry.

These are actually from two weeks ago. I was just to lazy to post them.

We’d decided to hike around the Blackwater Canyon. Nothing strenuous, but I knew there would be some pretty views and that we would be unlike to see other people.

When they tell you the road isn’t suitable for passenger vehicles, they really do mean it.

We parked before the road completely degraded and walked to the Allegheny / Canyon Rim Trail.

Just past the Canyon Rim Trail, if you watch the side of the road you’ll find a short trail out to the overlook, where you can see into the Blackwater Canyon.

You can hear the creek running below, but even with the leaves fallen could not catch sight of it.

Between the overlook and Canyon Rim Trailhead you can look for another side trail to a waterfall.

This is a scramble and not recommended for all users.

But it is lovely.

The canyon rim trail itself has several creek crossings at the start, but is then wooded / rhododendron thickets.

It was chilly, but a gorgeous (and easy) hike.

Forgot to post these pictures from the first weekend we had our car back.

We went to Davis and decided to take the Blackwater River Trail at Canaan, and a trail we hadn’t walked before at Blackwater Falls.

Canaan Valley Start Park, Blackwater River Trail

Blackwater Falls State Park, River Road Trail, Yellow Birch Trail

On the hope that there was still some color (there wasn’t) we headed south to New River Gorge.

We’d considered hiking Endless Wall trail–and then saw cars parked alongside the road. So after regrouping we headed to Nuttallburg, which we hadn’t done before.

Nuttallburg is an abandoned mining town, and was full of lots of abandoned equipment.

An accident led us to seek a detour which led us to drive past Stauffer’s Marsh Preserve. Since we were mostly wandering, we decided to stop.

Stauffer’s Marsh Preserve is a small preserve, but it was a nice walk.

They day was overcast and gray, which is why we didn’t have any specific hiking plans, so little color came out in the pictures.

With rain forecast across the state, we decided to head to the Eastern panhandle to hit an orchard, and then see where we ended up.

An accident that stopped traffic led us to seek an alternate route, and that led us to visit two new places.

We literally did a three-point turn in the road upon seeing the sign for Sleepy Creek Lake after we ended up driving through the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area.

We had no idea what to expect, and were quite shocked to discover that Sleepy Creek WMA is huge (22,928 acres). Despite the sky being overcast, it was a gorgeous drive.

Since it’s hunting season, we didn’t even attempt a hike (since we had no safety gear) but did walk across the dam.

Saturday’s hike was somewhat decided on-the-fly. We knew we were going to stop at Valley Falls, but not sure where we wanted to go from there.

We’d discussed Cathedral, as well as the Davis / Canaan area, but decided that hiking the Otter Creek trail would be gorgeous if the leaf color was good.

It was and it was.

Wednesday we took the afternoon often and headed out to Coopers Rock to see the leaves and for a midweek hike.

We walked to the overlook, then hiked the Rhododendron and Mont Chateau trails (my favorites).

A fair amount of color, but it was really dry.

At the Overlook.

Even middle of the day on a Wednesday there were quite a few people there.

Normally this spot is inaccessible unless you’re willing to get wet up to your knees, and you still have to be careful because the water rushes through this spot. Instead there was a still pool and just a trickle of water.

Since the weather wasn’t great, we headed over to the Canaan Wildlife Refuge and Beale Trails, because I wanted to get down to the river.

First you walk through fields before you head down the hills, through the woods, to the river.

Despite the gentle rain, it was a lovely walk.

Looking for somewhere close but also unlikely to be busy, we went back to Otter Creek Wilderness.

This time we drove in on the west side, through Fernow Experimental Forest.

Because my ankle is still a little iffy, we decided to hike to the top of the mountain and then go back down and wander to the bog.

Location: Otter Creek Wilderness
Trails: Moore Run, McGowan Mountain Trails (partial)
Distance: 4.3 miles
Elevation: 3443-3990 feet

Supposedly there had once been an overlook at the top of the mountain, but there was absolutely no view left.

Despite that, it was a very pretty hike, and for an up-the-mountain trail it was pretty easy.

Look! I found the bog!

I have hiked in a bog before, and it is not fun. So we turned around and headed back. Because I don’t enjoy stepping in muddy water up to my knees.

It was a lovely day and a beautiful hike, even if it was shorted then I’d wanted.

Assuming that everyone who could be, would be outdoors over the weekend, we decided for a scenic drive on Monday, with the hope that most people would be packing up and going home, so perhaps we could find some places that weren’t too crowded.

Our primary destination was Gaudineer Scenic Area, because it’s a place we hadn’t visited before. The secondary objective was a drive around Smoke Hole Canyon.

Location: Gaudineer Scenic Area
Trails: Gaudineer Knob; Old Growth Trail
Distance: 0.5 miles; 0.7 miles
Elevation: 4500 feet; 4093-4186 feet

Gaudineer Knob had a somewhat narrow overlook, but the forest itself was beautiful.

Also lots of adorable mushrooms.

A little bit down the mountain was the old growth forest.

Not very many large trees there, but it was still a very pretty short hike.

Then we headed north to Smoke Hole Canyon, where we stopped briefly at Eagle Rocks, which we hadn’t visited before.

Saturday, in our bid to Avoid Humans, we headed to the Cranberry Wilderness, where we rarely see people on our hikes.

Location: Cranberry Wilderness
Trail: Cow Pasture Trail (partial)
Distance: 5.5 miles
Elevation: 3409-3650 feet

We did see a couple people, but could easily keep our distance.

We also drove up the Highland Scenic Highway, and stopped at the overlooks.

Look how many people you don’t see!

We decided to take a long holiday weekend, and get into the woods for some much needed downtime.

Friday was mostly rain, so it was more a series of short walks than a hike, but we did do my favorite trail.

Location: Canaan Valley State Park
Trail: Blackwater River Trail
Distance: 0.9 miles
Elevation: 3208-3260 feet

Then we mostly drove around and took short walks when it wasn’t raining.

Of course we stopped by Blackwater Falls, where the river was running quite high

Here’s the stream crossing at Canaan Loop Road just past Lindy Point.

I’m not sure what kind of vehicle could have driven across on this day, but it was comforting to watch and listen to the water.