Since we had a long weekend and didn’t have to drive, we wanted to do a long hike on Friday.

There are so many places to choose from in the Canaan Valley area, but we eventually settled on Dolly Sods, and a trail we’d wanted to hike before, in the hopes that it being a Friday morning we wouldn’t see so many people.

We saw… fewer people than we would on a Saturday, but we still saw more people than I particularly wanted to on a hike in the wilderness.

Location: Dolly Sods Wilderness
Trails: Rocky Ridge, Blackbird Knob Trails
Distance: 7.6 miles
Elevation: 3757-4184 feet (1137 feet gain)

Blackbird Knob Trail

Yes, the trail really is that rocky and wet and muddy. So many people hike Dolly Sods that everything is very worn and never gets a chance to recover.

Despite the wilderness being busier than one would expect, views like this make the trip worth it.

Since it was raining off and on (and then on and on and on) we went to the main falls three different days to see the water levels. (Because of COURSE I needed to have points of comparisons.)

Saturday:

Sunday:

Monday:

I also took video, because of course I did.

On Saturday we also did the scramble down to the base of Elakala Falls.

We hadn’t been out to Pace Point in awhile, so we decided that’d be our easier hike after a long hike at Dolly Sods.

Location: Blackwater Falls State Park
Trails: Pendleton Trace, Dobbin House and Pase Point Trails
Distance: 2.9 miles
Elevation: 3009-3170 feet

Location: Blackwater Falls State Park
Trails: Lindy Point Trail, Canaan Loop Road
Distance: 1.4 miles
Elevation: 3139-3216 feet

The next day we decided to head out to Lindy Point (and the stream along Canaan Loop Road)

Here’s the stream that crosses Canaan Loop Road. I haven’t seen that much water there before.

We ended up having a multi-day debate as to whether you can see Lindy Point from Pase Point (and vice versa)

I say you can’t, Michael says you can.

We did two hikes at the Canaan Wildlife Refuge. A hike along the Beale Trail that’d we’d done before, but chose because it was easy, because it was raining.

The first hike was new to us, partway up Cabin Mountain. We considered hiking to the top of the trail, but were afraid it’d be dark on the way down, and I’d trip over everything.

Location: Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge
Trails: Middle Ridge and Sand Run Trails
Distance: 3.6 miles
Elevation: 3246-3571 feet (597 ft gain)

Is that… a bridge?

Yes! A completely useless bridge!

Michael: They need to mow this bridge.

All kidding aside, it was a nice, if rather steep hike, and I definitely want to hike up to the top of the Cabin Mountain Trial to see the view.

Location: Canaan Wildlife Refuge
Trail: Beall Trails
Distance: ~3 miles (I forgot to turn on the GPS until half a mile in)
Elevation: 3151-3375 feet

It’s raining. Where shall we hike? A bog of course!

At the Bog Overlook

Sunday we made it to my happy place.

Location: Coopers Rock
Trails: Rhododendron, Notmucha, Clay Run, Mont Chateau Trails
Distance: 4.6 miles
Elevation: 1511-2156 ft (851 feet rise)

It’s too hot to get excited, even though I do have some excellent books here. And some not so excellent books, as I had one DNF and two books I disliked.

I’m slowly re-reading Brother Cadfael, which is an historical mystery series set in the England – Wales border in the 1130s. I love these stories.

I finished Marie Brennan‘s Lady Trent series, which was utterly marvelous. You really need to check out these books–and give them to a fantasy-loving young person in your life.

Historical Fantasy

Within the Sanctuary of Wings (2017) Marie Brennan (9.5/10) (The Memoirs of Lady Trent)

I’m listening to the Raven Boys series, which I adore and which breaks my heart. I love this series, and Will Paton does a marvelous job with the narration. This is a YA series, but everyone should read it. Really.

I read one very good historical romance series, the Haverston Family series by Alissa Johnson. These are boinking books, but I do love her storytelling.

Historical Mystery

Brother Cadfael
Monk’s Hood (1980) Ellis Peters
Saint Peter’s Fair (1981) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Leper of Saint Giles (1981) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Virgin in the Ice (1982) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983) Ellis Peters (8.5/10)
The Devil’s Novice (1983) Ellis Peters (8.5/10)

Historical Romance

Haverston Family
Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (8.5/10)
An Unexpected Gentleman (2011) Alissa Johnson (8/10)
Practically Wicked (2016) Alissa Johnson (8.5/10)
The Duchess Deal: Girl Meets Duke (2017) Tessa Dare (7/10)
Widdershins (2012) Jordan L. Hawk (7/10)
Lord of Secrets (2013) Alyssa Everett (6.5/10)
The Viscount and the Vicar’s Daughter (2018) Mimi Matthews (6.5/10)
Dreaming of You (1994) Lisa Kleypas (5.5/10)
Silent Revenge (2012) Laura Landon (4/10)
Six Impossible Things: DNF (2017) Elizabeth Boyle

Audio Books

Raven Boys
The Raven Boys, Audio Edition (2012) Maggie Stiefvater narrated by Will Patton (9.5/10)
The Dream Thieves, Audio Edition (2013) Maggie Stiefvater narrated by Will Patton (10/10)
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Audio Version (2014) Maggie Stiefvater narrated by Will Patton (10/10)
The Devil You Know, Audio Edition (2006/2007) Mike Carey narrated by Michael Kramer (8/10) (Felix Castor)
Something from the Nightside, Audio Book (2003/2008) Simon R. Green narrated by Marc Vietor (7.5/10) (Nightside)
A Deeper Sleep, Audio Version (2007) Dana Stabenow narrated by Bernadette Dunne (8.5/10) (Kate Shugak)
Silence Fallen, Audio Edition (2017) Patricia Briggs narrated by Lorelei King and George Newbern (7/10) (Mercy Thompson)

And now: the stats!

More reading time than expected, because it was hot, and because Michael’s work was crazy busy, so we didn’t get much hiking in this month.

Lots of ebooks this week, five of which I also own as e-books and/or paper books. And a lot of re-reads, partially due to the audio books, and partially because I needed something I knew I’d like to wind down at the end of the day.

eBook : 16
Audio : 7
Multiple Formats : 5
Re-read : 14

Genre-wise, this is an odd and oddly even split.

Fantasy : 8
Mystery : 8
Romance : 8
YA : 4

Sorry guys, women are still leading the pack of authors I’m in the mood to read.

Male : 2
Female : 14
Male Pseudonym : 6

And those are the books of August!

Textile Mills

Factories

Fields

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

Chimney Sweeps

Mining

Come all of you good workers,
Good news to you I’ll tell
Of how the good old union
Has come in here to dwell.

My daddy was a miner
And I’m a miner’s son,
And I’ll stick with the union
‘Til every battle’s won.

They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there;
You’ll either be a union man,
Or a thug for J. H. Blair.

Oh workers can you stand it?
Oh tell me how you can.
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?

Just a reminder what we’re celebrating today.

Forecasts around the state were calling for a possibility of rain and thunderstorms, so we headed south to New River Gorge. It’s been awhile since we were at the Grandview area, and I’ve wanted to hike the Glade Creek trail.

On the way, after looking at the maps, I decided we should take the Little Laurel trail up the Grandview proper.

Here’s the sandbar area. We saw kayakers and rafters go by but mostly it was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon.

Location: New River Gorge
Trails: Little Laurel, Grandview Rim Trails
Distance: 7.2 miles
Elevation: 1305-2596 ft (1466 ft rise)

Little Laurel Trail
2.5 miles
1480-2539 feet
It took us just over an hour to hike up.

The maps we had said the Little Laurel trail was 2 miles. According to my GPS, from one sign to the other the trail was 2 1/2 miles and 1000 feet elevation rise.

Start HERE. At the BOTTOM. At Glade Creek Road near sandbar area.

This is NOT readily accessible from the main portion of the Grandview area. It’s a 2 1/2 mile hike from one area to the other, but it’s an 22 mile drive and that 34 minutes is almost certainly a lie.

Here’s the drive:

Here’s the hike. (View both in Satellite mode to see the comparison more easily.)

Here’s the top. If you’re starting here… Don’t. Unless you like the second half of your hike to be 100% uphill.

I’m not quite sure what this tree is doing, but I am impressed.

And here’s why you want to hike or drive here.