If you’re a teenager, I imagine your favorite activity is to sit with your parents on a quiet river bank, drink your glass of lemonade, and ponder the complexities of life. Probably the first question you ask is “How much water is flowing in this river?” You’ve come to the right place for an answer. The U.S. Geological Survey has been measuring streamflow on thousands of rivers and streams for many decades

from the The USGS Water Science School

Saturday we hiked Coopers Rock, which we hadn’t done since March (because of traveling and rain).

It was hot, and we could hear the cicadas, but interestingly they weren’t at the lower elevations, just the higher elevations.

Location: Coopers Rock
Trails: Rhododendron, Mont Chateau, Ridge, Rock City Trails
Distance: 4.1 miles
Elevation: 1459-2069 feet

Rhododendron Trail: 6.7% grade
Mont Chateau Trail: 1.4 % grade
Ridge Trail: 7.1% grade
Rock City Trail: 2.8% grade

New trees down up the creek from Mont Chateau trail

Lots of different flowers blooming in different areas: at Spruce Knob and Dolly Sods we saw trillium, which bloomed here a month ago.

Flax

Blueberries

Chokeberries

Irises with hot butterfly on flower action

We did two hikes at Dolly Sods: a short evening hike around sunset and then a longer hike the next morning. Both were along the Rocky Ridge Trail, but in opposite directions.

Location: Dolly Sods
Date: 2016-05-26
Trail: Rocky Ridge Trail
Distance: 1.8 miles
Elevation: 3940-4175 feet
Grade: 0.2%

Date: 2016-05-27
Trail: Rocky Ridge Trail
Distance: 4.9 miles
Elevation: 3965-4184 feet
Average Grade: 0.5%

Here is our sunset hike, and yes it WAS that gorgeous.

And here was our hike the next morning. Very different, but even more beautiful.

This wasn’t much of a hike, but it was beautiful.

Spruce Knob is the highest peak in WV, and as it’s in a rural area (what you see when you look out is forests and the occasional farm.

Location: Spruce Knob
Distance: .85 miles
Elevation: 4,827-4,859 ft
Grade: 0.2% (included two-story observation tower)

Location: Spruce Knob Lake
Distance: 1.19 miles
Elevation: 3,838-3,870 ft

We also stopped at Spruce Knob Lake.

To remember my cousin Ben, on his birthday we hike up to the top of Seneca Rocks. And because we’re doing it in memory of Ben, we go up without stopping. (Stopping is allowed on the way back down, as is resting once the summit has been reached.)

Location: Seneca Rocks
Trail: Seneca Rocks Trail
Distance: 3.9 miles
Elevation: 1393-2468 feet (11% grade)
Average Speed Hiking Up: 2.3 mph

Today as we were driving past the VFD, we saw they had all their hoses laid out in their driveway, and a little girl in a sun dress was leaping over the hoses, one at a time, all the way across the lot.

Last night at Sirriani’s Cafe (in Canaan Valley) we were seated near an elderly couple. (OK, we were seated near everyone–it’s a small place.)

When the couple went to pay, the waitress told them that a woman at another table had already paid for their meal. Just because.

And when they went to leave, since a pouring rain had started, the other employee got out a big umbrella and walked them to their car.

Dolly Sods is a fascinating place with a fascinating history. Despite the high elevation, it was initially farmed, until a fire wiped everything out. Then, during WWII, it was used as a test bombing range (nearby Seneca Rocks was used to train soldiers who might be fighting in the Alps).

Then it was allowed to go wild, and was eventually designated a national wilderness area.

And yes, there are signs about possible UXO at Dolly Sods.

When you hike there, you’d never know it was ever anything except a wilderness.

It’s an amazing and beautiful place.

Location: Dolly Sods Wilderness
Trail: Rocky Ridge Trail
Distance: 3.7 miles
Elevation: 3987-4192 feet

Saturday we did the “Walk Between the Parks” which is an 8+ mile hike between Blackwater Falls State Park and Canaan Valley State Park.

It’s not advertised well enough, so you should look into it yourself. There are two more over the summer, and one October 1st, that I think we may do ourselves. They drive you from one park to the other, and provide a picnic lunch halfway

We’d been keeping an eye on the weather all week, and the forecast not only remained suspect, but it rained every day prior to Saturday.

But we were GOING to do this hike, rain or not, so we went down the night before, and packed for rain and mud.

Mud and water we go, rain, we did NOT. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike.

There were 28 of us, and two guides–one to lead and one at the back of the line, to look for stragglers and anyone in need (other than blisters, there were no problems).

The hike is supposedly 8 miles, by my GPS said 9.0 (and my cell phone GPS said 9.3) but we did avoid a super muddy area, which may well have added an extra mile.

Location: Blackwater Falls State Park, Canaan Valley State Park, and Canaan Mountain Backcountry
Trails: Davis, Plantation, Fire Trail #6 (Allegheny Trail), Allegheny Trail, Middle Grade Trails
Distance: 9.0 miles
Elevation: 3135- 3694 feet

No pictures, because as nice as a hike as it was, there weren’t breath-taking views. Just the beauty of being in the wilderness.

It’s been a rainy weekend, so I took a break from organizing and gardening (since it was only sprinkling, it seemed silly not to garden) and decided to write up the books of April.

Unfortunately, Bad Things (too much death this year) have continued to happen, so I’ve been drowning my sorrows in books. Which is definitely healthier than drowning my sorrows in alcohol.

The best books of the month were Half-Resurrection Blues, Audible version by Daniel José Older, read by Daniel José Older (8.5/10) and Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs (8/10). I do enjoy the Mercy Thompson series very much, and since was another good addition to the series. I’d already read Half-Resurrection Blues, but we needed something to listen to while in the car, and we devoured the story in just a few listens. Which is pretty good for us.

I read a couple of new mystery series, once of which is fine, since it’s inexpensive, the other I definitely recommend, because it’s a time period I haven’t much read, and that’s the Susanna Horenbout and John Parker. In retrospect, I should have rated them higher than I did, but I’ll probably re-read them some time in the future, and will amend that then.

I read 15 books this month, which is pretty good considering that we went hiking most weekends.

Supernatural Fantasy

Alpha & Omega
Alpha & Omega (2007) Patricia Briggs (8/10)
Cry Wolf (2008) Patricia Briggs (8/10)

Mercy Thompson
Fire Touched (2016) Patricia Briggs (8/10)

Baba Yaga
Wickedly Ever After (2016) Deborah Blake (7/10)

Jane Yellowrock
Blood in Her Veins (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)

Jinn and Juice (2014) Nicole Peeler (5/10)

Historical Fantasy

The Far West (2012) Patricia C. Wrede (8.5/10)

Audio Book (Supernatural Fantasy)

Bone Street Rumba
Half-Resurrection Blues, Audible version (2015) Daniel José Older, read by Daniel José Older (8.5/10)

Historical Mystery

Akitada
Three Tales of Love and Murder (2012) I.J. Parker (7/10)

Susanna Horenbout and John Parker
Dangerous Sanctuary (2012) Michelle Diener (7/10)
Keeper of the King’s Secrets (2012) Michelle Diener (7.5/10)

Captain Lacey
A Regimental Murder (2004/2001) Ashley Gardner (7/10)
The Glass House (2004/2011) Ashley Gardner (7/10)
The Sudbury School Murders(2005/2011) Ashley Gardner (7/10)
A Body in Berkeley Square(2005/2011) Ashley Gardner (7/10)

Here’s how the stats came out:

I read 15 ebooks and listened to one audio books–no paper books at all this month.

Genre-wise it broke down into a split between fantasy and mystery. It’s possible I’m shifting out of the historical kick I’ve been on for months.

Fantasy: 8
Mystery: 7
Romance: 1
YA: 1

Gender-wise, I only read one male author, Daniel Jose Older. That’s 86% female authors for the year so far. I’m sure that percentage will eventually drop, but not any time soon if I continue this Patricia Briggs re-reading binge.

And that’s the books of April.