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.

The WV Tourism site claimed that Valley Falls State Park would be good to visit for leaf color, so we took an extra scenic route and made a quick stop at Valle Falls Saturday morning.

The color was a little disappointing, but the drive along 310 was quite lovely.

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.

Despite the forecast of cloudy and rain, we headed to Canaan on Saturday.

Since the area is pretty much at peak leaf color, this was an excellent choice.

We (of course) walked the Blackwater River Trail.

I discovered my smaller tripod was, in fact, in the trunk, so I hauled it out and took a bunch of pictures.

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You can clearly see here where the woods end and the river / bog area begins.

Despite the skies being gray (and getting some rain, it was absolutely gorgeous color.

Although I wasn’t certain how good the light would be, we decided to stop at Canaan. I’m so very glad we did.

I didn’t even try to go near the main falls, but instead spent time around Pendleton Point, including some wandering around Pendleton Creek.

We took the scenic route up to Spruce Knob (well, the even more scenic route, that’s mostly gravel, instead of the normal scenic route that is actually paved and almost the width of two lanes).

It was a beautiful day and a everything was so very pretty.

Driving along Seneca Creek is so beautiful.

Decent amount of color!

We finally stopped to explore the creek where it has deeply undercut the hillside.

This Saturday was a lot of scenic driving and a little bit of hiking.

Tiny bit of color at Seneca Rocks.

More color visible from Spruce Knob on a gorgeous day.

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.