Since it was on the way, we stopped at Cranberry Glades on our way home.

In addition to the boardwalk, we took a short hike along Charles Creek Trail.

I now need to go back and follow the entire trail, because there were random interpretive signs about a prison there prior to and during WWII.

And the fifth place we checked off our list: Calvin Price State Forest.

For those who are familiar with Coopers Rock–Calvin Price is completely different. Aside from the Allegheny, there are no maintained trails in the forest.

It also is adjacent to Watoga State Park (WATOGA! WATOGA! WATOGA!), so although there aren’t trails, you can access some parts from Watoga.

Because we’d had a long hike the day before, and because we were heading home, we only hiked about a mile into the forest, along the Allegheny Trail.

This is as far as we hiked in.

And as proof, the forest sign!

Our main hike for the trip was at Greenbrier State Forest, where we did the Kates Mountain Trail.

Location: Greenbrier State Forest
Trails: Old Road, Rocky Ridge, Holsapple, Youngs Nature, Mable Dowdy Nature Trails, and Kates Mountain Road
Distance: 10.2 miles
Elevation: 1689 – 3370 feet (1680 feet elevation gain)

Our hike started with two miles trail, that felt like it went straight up the mountain.

Pictures do not come close to showing precisely how steep this trail was, and I didn’t take many, because I was too tired to even pull out my cell phone for a quick snapshot.

Does this help? Probably not. Just take my word that it was REALLY steep, and I was very glad to be going UP that slope rather than down. (1)

Here is the view looking down towards the valley.

Look! Holsapple Trail!

Sadly, I can’t recommend hiking Holsapple trail, because it is being actively logged, which is not attractive, or pleasant to hike.

We found lots of random bits of wall, in the middle of the woods.

(1) Because of my ankle, I am very uncomfortable going down extremely steep slopes. It puts extra strain on my ankle and both hurts and makes me feel like I’m more likely to plummet down the hill.

I wander through cemeteries when I get a chance. I don’t quite know why, but they fascinate me, these markers of the dead, often fading quickly into illegibility.

This cemetery was particularly interesting, because Lewisburg is close to the VA border, and so families here might have been far more conflicted about the Civil War than those further north (or west).

I took a lot of pictures of the gravestones, but there were some that interested me the most.

This couple died within days of each other.

Thomas Creich Sr
Born in Another Country
Ireland
January 1766
Died December 2nd 1847

Born at Lexington VA
April 23, 1800
Died at Greenbrier Bridge
West Va.
April 22, 1888

These were taken in the “black” cemetery, where there were a LOT fewer headstones, but at least the cemetery was maintained.

Charlot Robeson (?)
Died
May 1, 1899
Aged 85 Yrs
At Rest

This one made me especially sad.

I took a lot more pictures, some of which I posted at Flickr (which you can see if you click through).

For the sake of completeness, I’ll mention that we also stopped and walked (about a mile and a half) on the Greenbrier Rail Trail at its southern terminus.

We plan to go back at a later point in time and bike–I especially would like to visit the Droop Mountain Tunnel–but for now, here’s another crossed off our list!

The second location we checked off our list was Moncove Lake State Park.

The skies cleared on our way there, so no dramatic fog on the water pictures. But it was still pretty. (But not much in the way of hiking.)

Location: Moncove Lake State Park
Trails: Devil’s Creek Trail
Distance: 1.72 miles
Elevation: 2470 – 2550 feet

Another checked off the list!

Plum Orchard Lake Wildlife Management Area is a lake, and so didn’t have much in the way of hiking.

Although it didn’t feel so on the drive, we were lucky to go when it was overcast and foggy. There might not have been any hiking, but it was gorgeous.

Busy day!

We went to the WV Botanic Garden this morning, and then this afternoon, we biked along the Mon River Rail Trail

Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, we went back to Kumbrabow State Forest. It was a lovely day for a hike, and (for the most part) a lovely location for a hike.

Location: Kumbrabow State Park
Trails: Mill Creek Falls, Potato Hole Trail, Clay Run
Distance: 0.5, 3.3, 2.0 miles
Elevation: 2287-2795, 3187-3881, 3273-3621 feet

We hiked to the top of the mountain, up Potato Hole trail (which follows Potato Hole creek). The trail was interesting, going through several types of land, ending with a disconcertingly barren mountaintop.

Here’s the view from the top.

Here’s the tower you can climb for a better view.

The rustic cabins (as in, outhouses) are near the Mill Falls creek.

The Clay Run Trail itself was nice, but it emptied onto the Fire Road Trail, which you took to an overlook.

Which is being–logged? widened? uglified?

Here’s the view from the overlook. Feel free to skip the fire trail now you’ve seen the view.

But the trail itself was quite lovely

And had a marvelous bridge over the creek.

GPS Maps of the Hike

I have several bathrobes, which I wear all the time.

This is partially because I like bathrobes (I have three–a heavy terrycloth robe for winter, and two waffle cotton robes for summer) and partially because we shower in the basement, and it’s a trek to make in the winter.

The softest robe has been causing problems for the past couple months–the overlap has been getting smaller and smaller, and it’s a bit to small to contain… me.

This, of course, made me feel badly about myself.

Until I realized that the loops for the tie were no longer at my waist, but are now just underneath my armpits.

The damned thing has been slowly shrinking, but I was convinced that the change was in me.

Nevermind that all my other clothes fit fine, and I’m still wearing the smaller jeans (I have jeans in two sizes; 10 and 12. I’ve been wearing the 10s) but I was somehow convinced that I was getting bigger.

Brains are stupid.

Also, I’m totally getting another robe to replace this one.

Berkeley Springs was cool and sunny on Saturday, which is quite nice for our quick stroll.

The root tree of the graft broke through, so this tree and white and pink flowers, both of which were pretty.

We had a fair amount of yucky weather, and the plant fornication is bothering my sinuses, so I did quite a bit of reading in March.

My favorite book of the month was probably Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older. He’s now on my must-buy list. I also very much liked Banquet of Lies by Michelle Dienr, which caused me to make brioche and apple galette after reading about them being made. And I read When Falcons Fall by C.S. Harris within almost days of it being released, which is usual for her, but in generally I tend to get around to new releases.

So here’s what I read:

Historical Fantasy, YA
Thirteenth Child (2009) Patricia C. Wrede (9/10)
Across the Great Barrier (2011) Patricia C. Wrede (8.5/10)

Urban Fantasy, YA
Shadowshaper (2015) Daniel José Older (9.5/10)

Historical Mystery
When Falcons Fall (2016) C.S. Harris (8.5/10)
The Emperor’s Conspiracy (2012) Michelle Diener (7/10)
Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (9/10)
A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (8.5/10)
A Soupçon of Poison (2015) Ashley Gardener (8.5/10)
In a Treacherous Court (2011) Michelle Diener (8/10)
Dark Angel (1994) Tracy Grant (8.5/10)

Historical Romance
Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand (2012) Carla Kelly (7/10)
Unraveled (2011) Courtney Milan (8.5/10)
Unclaimed (2011) Courtney Milan (8/10)
Unlocked (2011) Courtney Milan (unrated)
Unveiled (2011) Courtney Milan (8/10)
Talk Sweetly to Me (2014) Courtney Milan (7/10)
Proof by Seduction (2010) Courtney Milan (unrated)

Audible
Blood Trade Audible version (2013) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam (8/10)

Mystery
The Waters of Eternal Youth (2016) Donna Leon (7/10)

And here’s how the stats came out:

Out of 19 books, 18 were ebooks and one was an audible book.I have five re-reads (one of which was, of course, the audible book; I have to read a book the first time–the audio version is too slow. But I love listening because it forces me to slow down, and catch things I missed the first time around).

Genre-wise, I read a lot of historical romances, and almost as many historical mysteries.

Fantasy : 4
Mystery : 8
Romance : 11
YA : 3

And gender-wise, I read 18 female authors and one single male author.

Now that the weather has changed? Don’t expect me to read nearly as much.

Saturday we went to Berkeley Springs to check out the flowers, and then on to Cacapon. The hike we choose is rather strenuous, but it was lovely all the same.

Location: Cacapon State Park
Trails: Ziler Loop, Central, Laurel Trails
Distance: 6.5 miles
Elevation: 975 – 2260 feet

There is no clearing or tower from which you can see the whole valley clearly, but you can often see the trees (perhaps not as well once the trees leaf out).

The back down was at time quite exciting.

There were several areas with a lot of downed trees.

Elevation Chart:

Cacapon-2016-04-02