It was a gorgeous day for a hike in Canaan. And also for wandering around Davis, after eating ice cream.

Location: Canaan Mountain Backcountry
Trail: Table Rock Trail
Distance: 2.3 miles
Elevation: 3385-3500 feet
Temperature: 72 F

Most of our hiking was with small people this weekend, so they were short, easy hikes.

We did do one hike for ourselves–I’ve wanted for awhile to scramble down to the falls that are visible across the gorge from Pendleton Point. So, we did.

The Canaan Valley SP hike is one I highly recommend for small people. It’s short, it’s relatively flat, and it’s gorgeous.

Location: Canaan Valley State Park
Trail: Blackwater River Trail
Distance: 0.9 miles
Elevation: 3252-3337 feet

Here’s the hike we did for me.

Location: Blackwater Falls
Trail: Elekala Falls and off trail
Distance: 0.9 miles
Elevation: 3031-3219 feet

Here are the main falls, the ones directly below the lodge.

The next set of falls:

Next falls down:

Hey look! Pendleton Point!

And finally the section of falls visible from Pendleton Point:

The scramble wasn’t awful, but the rhododendron is thick, which always makes things difficult.

I wouldn’t mind going down when it was a little drier, just so I could explore a little more. (This is me: I refuse to clamber along falls when there is a fast flow of water. Because I’m not a complete idiot.)

Where on earth did the summer go? Jeesh.

Favorite reads of the month were actually a lot of newly published books. (Although there was plenty of re-reading.)

Cold Reign by Faith Hunter is the latest Jane Yellowrock book, and I do love that series. The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch, which is the latest novella in the Rivers of London series. Which I also love. Which means I also loved Rivers of London Volume 3: Black Mould by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, which is the comic series. And finally Where the Dead Lie by C.S. Harris, which is the latest in the Sebastian St Cyr series.

Historical Mystery

Some Danger Involved (2004) Will Thomas
Sebastian St Cyr
Where the Dead Lie (2017) C.S. Harris

Supernatural Fantasy

Rivers of London
The Furthest Station (2017) Ben Aaronovitch
Jane Yellowrock
Cold Reign (2017) Faith Hunter

Supernatural Romance

Hidden Legacy
Burn for Me (2014) Ilona Andrews
White Hot (2017) Ilona Andrews
Wildfire: A Hidden Legacy Novel (2017) Ilona Andrews
The Edge
On the Edge (2009) Ilona Andrews
Bayou Moon (2010) Ilona Andrews
Fate’s Edge (2011) Ilona Andrews

Comics

Rivers of London Volume 3: Black Mould (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan
Princeless Vol. 1: Short Stories Collection
Princeless: Make Yourself

So I mostly read eBooks this month, although two of the comics were in paper format. And there were six re-reads, because I’m in one of those funks where I don’t know what I want to read.

Genre-wise, a bit more variety this month.

Fantasy : 10
Romance : 6
Comic : 3
Mystery : 2
YA : 2

The romance was all supernatural romance, and all Ilona Andrews. Which is perfectly fine.

Male didn’t pull ahead that much, but female authors didn’t particularly catch up, since half of what I read was Ilona Andrews, which is a jointly written series.

Male : 3
Female : 2
Anthology : 2
Joint : 6

And those are the books of July. My favorite books were the latest additions to series, so I don’t recommend starting there. But there are plenty of books out there, and you can always start those series I love!

I didn’t get solo pictures of each kid, because my time was short and there were various schedule issues. But these are some of the pictures that I loved.

And that was MY past weekend.