Here’s our walk, Saturday between noon and two.

Saturday morning, between 9:30 AM and 10:30 AM.

15 1/2 to 17 1/2 inches of snow around the house.

Friday evening:

This was our second visit to Babcock in the past month–since we’d had a little snow, I thought it was worth another visit.

It was lovely.

In addition to viewing the grist mill (which is nice) you should take the opportunity to hike around. Even a short hike down the road towards the cabins can get you some beautiful scenery.

A handful of WV State Parks are having a $50/night in January special, so we took this opportunity to spend some more time at Twin Falls State Park.

Location: Twin Falls State Park
Trails: Huckleberry, Cliffside, and Falls Trails
Distance: 1.5, 3.0, 2.3 miles
Elevation: 2155-2449, 2005-2317, 1836-2006 feet

Twin Falls has a Pioneer Farm, which is run as a farm from the 17 and 1800s would have been. The Huckleberry Trail passes alone part of the fence of the Pioneer Farm.

We only saw chickens at work when we hiked by.

The Cliffside Trail is very flat and wide until you reach where it branches off to view the cliffs. Then you actually get some real hiking (and elevation, and scrambling)…

Bet the view is lovely on a fall day–or a clear day. :)

Twin Falls is named for the two falls in the park (Duh).

The Marsh Fork Falls

and the Black Fork Falls

Both have a scramble to get down to the base, and both were muddy and messy, but it was a very nice view. (I really wanted to explore on the other side of the Black Fork Falls, but I decided it wasn’t possible life-flight interesting over there.)

If you go off the main trail, you can reach the point where the Black Fork and Marsh Fork meet, which is a very pretty area, that would be lovely to explore in the summer.

And if you pay attention (and are again willing to scramble) you can view the remains of the foundation of an old mill.

It was a lovely trip.

We hiked EVERY DAY this year!

Sadly, we go back to work tomorrow, so this trend will end abruptly.

But it was good while it lasted!

Location: Coopers Rock State Forest
Trails: Advanced Ski and Mont Chateau Trails
Distance: 6.4 miles
Elevation: 1406 – 2323 feet

I am sorry to report that, aside from being the fastest way down to the Mont Chateau trail when the gate is closed, the Advanced Ski Trail doesn’t have much to offer.

It was–kinda boring. Or as boring as a hike in the forest can get. All the things I took pictures of were on the Mont Chateau Trail.

But, it was still time on the woods, which makes it a good day.

We have had a LOT of rain recently. Luckily, although there was some minor flooding in the southern part of the state last week, we’ve managed to escape the terrible flooding that many areas have seen.

But we still have a lot of water.

Here’s how Valley Falls looked Friday:

(Here’s how it normally looks)

And today we went to Babcock, where there was also a lot of water, even though it hasn’t rained for a couple days.

(Here is Babcock in the fall of 2012)

Saturday was gorgeous, so we made (another) trip to New River Gorge.

Location: New River Gorge
Trails: Kaymoor Miner’s, Kaymoor, Craig Branch, Butcher Branch, Long Point, Fayetteville Trails
Distance: 9.8 miles
Elevation: 1355 – 2005 feet

Woke up this morning to blue skies and cool weather, so we jumped in the car (after layering up) and headed out to Coopers Rock.

It was beautiful.

Location: Coopers Rock State Forest
Trails: Rhododendron, Mont Chateau, Ridge, Rock City, & Eagle Trails
Distance: 5.1 miles
Elevation: 1391 – 2347 feet

University Avenue reopened today–at least partially.

It’s still a construction zone, it’s a rough asphalt job, and the sidewalk is supposed to be closed. But you can drive down University again.

Here’s what we saw:

First view coming around the corner:

Sidewalk closed! (I ignored this.)

Here’s where you can see the drop.

Panorama of Beverly & University.

Some new, nice wide sidewalk!

Oooh! Metal barriers to separate the pedestrians from the traffic! And they’re not ugly!

The garage is open! (At least the upper floors are.)

Many more pictures if you click through to Flickr.

Cran-Apple Crisp for Two
(Minus the Cranberries, which I Forgot)

(Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours)

Serves 2 generously, or 4 if you want to be more healthy.

Topping
1.8 oz flour
1.9 oz light brown sugar
.875 oz oats
.75 oz coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger
4 tbsp cold butter

Fruit
2 medium or 3 small apples
1/2 cup cranberries
2.3 oz sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 tbsp flour

Preheat the oven to 375 F

Mix the ingredients for the topping in a food process, or cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or your fingers.

Core and slice the apples (I don’t peel apples for desserts), mix with the sugar, cranberries, and spices.

Put the fruit mixture in the bottom of a small, square pan, or a small loaf pan, or a small round pan–whatever will hold it and is oven-safe.

Ready to go into the oven:

Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Awaiting ice cream:

Top with vanilla ice cream.

Our primary destination on Saturday was Harpers Ferry.

There is a lot here to do:
Hiking the WV portion of the Appalachian Trail (and visiting the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters)
Hiking the old B & O Canal
See the site of John Brown’s Raid (and all attendant historical stuff)
Wandering Harpers Ferry
Enjoying the Shenandoah and Potamic rivers
Hiking the Maryland Heights trail

Location: Harpers Ferry Historic District
Distance: 5.1 miles
Elevation: 229 – 590 feet (yes, that’s the lowest point we’ve hiked in ages)

I remain fascinated by the remains of this church.

I also took a couple pictures of the burned buildings–there is a Go-Fund-Me site for those wanting to donate to the rebuilding of the historic buildings.

Saturday we went to the Eastern Panhandle, where the leaves were just reaching their peak colors.

As is our habit when were anywhere near that area and have the time, we stopped at Berkeley Springs on our way home.

Since we were at Canaan, we decided to go back to the Canaan Mountain Wilderness and hike back out Table Rock Trail, assuming correctly it would be a nice view.

If you are thinking about taking this hike, there are two things to note: 1) it takes 30 – 45 minutes to drive out the gravel Canaan Loop road if don’t have a 4-wheel drive (it’s rumored to be unpassable past the Table Rock Trail) and 2) it is muddy–even after a dry spell there were muddy patches. After a rain, it’s nigh near swampy.

Location: Canaan Wilderness
Trail: Table Rock Trail
Distance: 2.3 miles
Elevation: 3031 – 3511 feet