We started the hike at nine, so there was still a little fog when we reached the rocks.
It was a perfect morning for a hike.
Saturday we decided to take a scenic drive with occasional stops to hike.
Our first stop was Seneca Rocks. From the visitor center we could see how busy things were upon the rocks, so we walked around a bit and then headed off to our next destination.
We hit the Blackwater River trail at Canaan Valley much later than normal, so the light was different.
Not at all bad, but the things I normally look at were in the shade.
I was pleased to be able to see things I don’t normally.
It had been several years since we’d been to Freeland Boardwalk. The entire thing has been completely replaced and rerouted in areas.
Last we went to the Beall’s Trails area in Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge.
Just a short hike, but gorgeous, even though most trees were past peak.
I ended up flipping through my hiking books to find a trail near where we were going to be Saturday, which is how we ended up at the Shavers Fork Area, which is (I’m pretty sure) part of the Cheat River WMA.
Aside from our GPS disagreeing with the map, we found our way there and hiked the Crouch Ridge Trail.
It was lovely. We saw no other humans, the leaves were turning, and we there was even a tiny bit of snow falling from the sky!
I really do like hiking Otter Creek. I almost always find solitude there, and the entire hike is beside the creek, which is one of my favorite sounds.
I’ll be honest–all these pictures are simply ones I liked, rather than ones that show the landscape. These stills reflect how being there makes me feel.
It’s not quite been a year since I last posted about hiking, but close. I actually have been hiking, but didn’t feel up to writing about it, since I didn’t have much joy to share.
But yesterday was a gorgeous hike at Coopers Rock, and I wanted to share some pictures. Hopefully this means things are slowly (slowly) getting better.
We grabbed our snow shoes got to Coopers Rock where we saw lots of cross country skiers. Since they all seemed to be heading out the roadside trail, we went down Scotts Run trail, which had no ski tracks for and out and back.
It was stunningly beautiful.
There were a couple of trees down across the trail.
And disconcertingly, here you can see the tree lying over the tracks in the snow we’d made on our way out.
Why did so many trees and branches fall? Because under the layer of light fluffy snow, everything was covered in ice.
But that’s why everything was so shiny and bright and gorgeous. And having gotten there early, we got to see parts of the trail no one else had yet traveled upon.
The other thing that’s lovely about hiking in the snow is just how quiet and peaceful it is. For the most part, we all we really heard was the creek.
Because I kept stopping to take pictures, we were overtaken by a guy who was also out to enjoy the fresh snow.
When we reached the point where we generally turn back (after hanging out by the creek for a bit) we discovered he’d stopped briefly.
Thank you, random stranger, for leaving that. It made me happy.
The hike was just under four miles, but some of that is because I kept wandering off the trail, to hike through the fresh snow and avoid the wet bits of the trail.
Location: Coopers Rock State Forest
Trail: Scotts Run (partial, out-and-back)
Distance: 3.9 miles
Elevation: 1860-2253 ft (475′ change)
And just for fun, I’ve been recording creeks for awhile, now I’m putting them into one place.
I took four different videos yesterday. Feel free to click through and look at the rest.
For years now we’ve been meaning to hike to the High Falls of Cheat, but never managed to get there. So we decided to check another trail off our list last week.
High Falls of Cheat Trail
Distance: 7.6 miles (out and back)
Elevation: 2927-3701 feet (1469′ gain) ~10% grade on the mountain
See that ridge-line in the distance? That’s we we’re going up and over.
It was a bit chilly when we set out.
And even cooler along the ridge-line.
Down the other side of the mountain, and after a 2/3rds mile walk down the railroad tracks (which kinda sucked, to be honest), we came to the falls.
Location: Cacapon State Park
Distance: 4.2 miles
Elevation: 1079-2287 feet (1311′ gain), 20% grade on the uphill, 23% grade on the downhill
Trails: Ziller Loop, Ziller, and Central Trails
Up up up!
And now down!
Also, I managed to find the bog on the way back to the car. (“This looks like a shortcut!”)
We visited Tu-Endie-Wei several years ago, but somehow I failed to take any pictures. So we went down again so I could get some pictures for the hiking class I’m doing for OLLI.
We saw some other stuff too, including this really disconcerting mural.
But more importantly, we got more pictures at the Mothman statue.
