The eastern panhandle and the southern part of the state are the last areas to lose their leaves. As the eastern panhandle is an easier drive, that’s where we tend to head mid-November.
It was a gray day, and a past peak, although there were still trees that had some leaves.
Harpers Ferry is another place fascinating place to wander around. There is a ton of history there–and not just John Brown’s raid.
There is also some amazing beautify.
Two of my favorite spots there are ruins.
The old water-power ruins.
Wandering around old ruins (and especially finding hidden ruins in the woods) is a reminder of the impermanence of humanity. That of these man-made structures, the only things that are left are the stones our fore-bearers mortared together in an attempt to constrain nature.
And the old church.
I managed to forget to share the pictures from last week’s drive to Berkeley Springs. Neither of us wanted a long drive, but we wanted to a chance to see some leaf color, so off we went.
We went first to Cacapon SP, where a recent storm had taken down a lot of trees, so the road going up to the mountain top was closed, which was disappointing, since I’d hoped to see how the entire valley looked.
But it was still pretty.
Some nice color at the lower elevations.
Then we went to Berkeley Springs, which I always find lovely to walk around.
Beautiful!
We saw some interesting things on our drive yesterday.
One was so unexpected that I might have squealed, slammed on the brakes, and all but done a U-Turn in the road.
Michael’s Favorite Sign
This just delighted me. It’s like someone let me name a road.
We opted to starve to death, but stopping was briefly was considered.
The other places we stopped (right in the middle of our day) was Babcock State Park.
There was a decent amount of color there, although nowhere near peak.
So! Adorable!
We stopped at several state parks on Friday, two of which have some lovely river views.
We were a tad bit late for good light at Carnifex Ferry, but none-the-less it’s a lovely view of the Gauley River.
There was a bit of color, but nowhere near as much as there should have been for mid-October.
We stopped by Hawk’s Nest earlier in the day, and saw a different portion of the New River.
We also went down into the New River Gorge. They were getting ready for Bridge Day, and there wasn’t very much color, even if it was a lovely view.
I taught in Charleston on Friday, so we decided to take the super scenic route home, and ended up on a road we hadn’t taken before, and got to visit two new neat places!
Kanawha Falls
Cathedral Falls
There are people in this picture, for perspective.
Saturday was supposed to rain, plus my aunt was coming in, so we did our hiking on Friday, which turned out to be a perfect choice.
Checked what the leaf color was supposed to be, so headed back down to the Canaan / Blackwater Falls area.
Canaan Valley State Park: Blackwater River Trail
Blackwater Falls
Table Rock
You’ll have to forgive me that these are not actually flower pictures, but rather pictures that happen to contain colorful leaves.
A burden I’m sure, but you’ll have to live with it.
We went to Canaan Valley State Park, the Blackwater Canyon, and Blackwater Falls State Park. We didn’t do any serious hiking, because I wanted to see what fall color there was. (Not a whole lot, but there was some.)
Blackwater River Rail Trail
Douglas Falls
Pendleton Creek
Blackwater River Trail (Canaan)
Not a lot of flowers to be found at Spruce Knob and Seneca Rocks, but these were pretty.
On the 7th of September we headed south towards Spruce Knob and decided to hike at Seneca Creek Backcountry, which I love but don’t hike enough.
I really have no sense of self-preservation. I was startled by a falling leaf and by a butterfly, but noticed the noise of a rattlesnake only when Michael started freaking out behind me. Seriously, he’s hyperventilating and I’m all, “What? What?”
But leaves? Those will totally startle me.
Location: Seneca Creek Backcountry
Trail: Horton Trail
Distance: 5.2 miles
Elevation: 2955-4154 feet (1229 feet gain)
Aside from the hike being straight up the ridge, it was a lovely day and I really do need to hike there more often.
Location: Cranberry Wilderness
Trail: Blue Knob Trail
Distance: 2.0 miles
Elevation: 3742-4161 feet (423 feet gain)
Oh look! If I stand on this log and peer carefully, I can see the Highland Scenic Highway!
If you remember way back into the spring, beavers had flooded the boardwalk over the winter. Last visit the walk was dry, but still not repaired.
Now, they’ve fixed this section of boardwalk (but others are problematic) but the pond is almost gone.
Also, please enjoy these views:
Late September is when the earliest leaves change color in areas like Cranberry Glades and Dolly Sods and Canaan Valley. Since I love Cranberry Glades best that’s where we went.
Not much in the way of leaf color, but a beautiful day nevertheless.
Went south yesterday for the Jackson’s Mill Jubilee. As noted in previous years, there are fewer crafters each time we visit. But lots of live music–and I saw quite a few younger musicians alongside the old bearded dudes.
Since we were wasting time waiting for the start of the game so we could go home, I spent lots of time wandering around the mill.
I love that place So. Much.
As I mentioned previously, the monitor on my Asus laptop died, so although we did take a lovely hike a couple weeks ago at the Cranberry Wilderness, I did not manage to write about it or post any pictures.
This weekend Michael was still recovering from the start of school (couple weeks of 10-12 hours days. Ugh.) so we didn’t want to go far, so the Blackwater Falls / Canaan Valley area it was.
I remembered that it’d been a couple years since I’d taken any pictures of Douglas Falls, so that’s where we headed, and then continued out the defunct rail trail (it’s private property, so the trail is not maintained for 5 1/2 miles, but it was perfectly fine to hike).
The fun part was our argument as to whether Michael has seen Pace Point or not. I’m pretty sure he didn’t. We did definitely see Lindy Point though. (We’ve argued for years as to whether you can see Lindy Point from Pase Point. I say definitely not.)
Location: Blackwater Canyon Rail Trail
Distance: 6.2 miles (partial, out and back)
Elevation: 2755-2918 feet (410 feet gain)
Definitely Lindy Point, as seen from across the river.
This is what Michael says is Pase Point. I say NOPE.
The old coke ovens along the trail are AMAZING.
It’s actually a lovely trail.
Douglas Falls
Lovely!
