Looked at the weather Friday and discovered the Eastern Panhandle was out only option without a high chance of rain.

So off to Cacapon State Park we went.

Location: Cacapon State Park
Trail: Overlook Trail (partial)
Distance: 5.9 miles
Elevation: 2100-2289 feet

At Cacapon we drove up the mountain and did the Overlook trail. Unfortunately, we didn’t hike anywhere near as long as I had hoped, because my ankle was bothering me. But it was still lovely to be in the woods.

This is from the overlook.

You’re hiking along the ridgeline for a bit, but there is never a clearing to get a good view of the valley below.

We also stopped just outside of Berkeley Springs, at the top of the mountain where you have this lovely view of the Potomac.

It was rain all over the state Saturday, so since the orchard people haven’t been at the Morgantown Farmers Market, we decided to find a WV orchard and get our peaches from there.

It was a scenic drive, with a stop at Berkeley Springs and the Pawpaw Tunnel.

I realized we’d never been to Berkeley Springs during the summer when the pool was open–there were a lot of people in the area.

But it was lovely, and I was mostly able to avoid people.

And the Pawpaw tunnel.

This was our first decent hike since I broke my foot, and although it wasn’t steep, and I was extremely cautious on rocky terrain, it was a good hike.

Also: I can’t believe we hadn’t hiked here before. We did an out-and-back on part of the Otter Creek Trail, and it was my favorite kind of trail–along the creek almost the entire way (we were never out of the sound of rushing water).

Otter Creek Wilderness
Otter Creek Trail (partial out-and-back)
Distance: 8.0 miles
Elevation: 1809-2093 feet (446 ft gain)

This year.

Jeesh.

So what did I read this month? It was mostly re-reads, and the new books I read were, sadly, really not my thing.

So one new-to-me book that I really enjoyed was The Weight of It All by N.R. Walker, which is a M/M romance set in Australia about Harry, who gets dumped by his long term boyfriend for being too old and too fat. Harry sets out initially to try to change himself to get his ex back, but quickly decides the weight he needs to lose was that of his ex and trying to be what other people want him to be other than who he really is.

It’s lovely.

Other than that, the re-reads were excellent.

Fantasy

The Story of the Stone (1988) Barry Hughart (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox) 8.5/10
Discworld, City Watch
Guards! Guards! (1989) Terry Pratchett 9.5/10
Men at Arms (1993) Terry Pratchett 9/10
Feet of Clay (1996) Terry Pratchett 9/10
Jingo (1997) Terry Pratchett (Discworld) 7.5/10

Romance

Teach Me (2019) Olivia Dade (There’s Something About Marysburg) 7.5/10
Take a Hint, Dani Brown (2020) Talia Hibbert (The Brown Sisters)

Romance, LGBT
A Lancaster Story
Kneading You (2019) C.S. Poe  8/10
Joy (2017) C.S. Poe  8/10,
Color of You (2017) C.S. Poe  7.5/10
The Weight of It All (2016) N.R. Walker 8/10
Knit Tight (2016) Annabeth Albert (Portland Heat) 7/10

Romance, Historical

Haverston Family
Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson 8.5/10
An Unexpected Gentleman (2011) Alissa Johnson 8/10
Providence
Tempting Fate (2009) Alissa Johnson 8/10
McAlistair’s Fortune (2009) Alissa Johnson  8/10
Destined To Last (2010) Alissa Johnson  8.5/10
Daring and the Duke (2020) Sarah MacLean (The Bareknuckle Bastards)

And the stats!

All ebooks and mostly re-reads, as previously noted.

eBook: 18
Total: 18
Multiple Formats: 5
Re-read: 13

Oddly, I didn’t read a single mystery this month. I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Fantasy: 5
Romance: 13
Boinking: 10
Historical: 7

Mostly female authors, but rereading Discworld is giving male authors a showing.

Male: 4
Female: 10
Initials: 1

Only one female centered book this month, and not a lot of racial diversity; I classified the Discworld books as white, because in some of the books he pretty blatantly parallels white western society and our reactions to “the other”.

Male: 7
Female: 1
Ensemble: 9
White: 12
Minority: 4
Minority 2ndary: 1
Straight: 9
LGBTQ: 6
LGBTQ 2ndary: 2

And that’s July. Did you read anything particularly good recently?