Adventures in "Wild & Wonderful" West Virginia

I've been imagining there to be lots of natural beauty in West Virginia so I have been wanting to go for a while.  This weekend I finally got a 2 day, 1 night trip in.  I wouldn't say that I was disappointed, but I was very surprised at how much of a boonie WV was.  I don't think I saw a single stop light while I was there, nor a grocery store.  There are scattering of houses here and there, but miles of nothing in between in the mountainous State.  I always wondered what people who live in the stix do for a living.  It's still a mystery to me.  In any case, I'm not here to dwell on how people in WV survive, but am going to share with you some of the sites we saw on our trip.

Blackwater Falls

Our first stop Friday morning was at Blackwater Falls State Park in Davis, WV.  It didn't take us long to notice several "bear" signs here and there, and sure enough, first group of people we encounter warns us about a bear and 2 cubs "right over there."  Fantastic.  I wasn't particularly keen to get a good look, so we mosied on down to the falls.  They were nice falls, but they were too easy to access by a short walk down a set of steps.  Given that it's no Niagara, I probably would have appreciated the falls more if I had to hike to get there.  Afterward, we wanted to check out Elakala falls, but were a bit disappointed when it wasn't much of one you can view from the trail.  We continued on the trail though to loop back to our car.  That's when I noticed some ferns ruffling more than it should from the wind.  I scared the heck out of Brad when I pointed it out and we both started making more noise in hopes of scaring it off.  We didn't see anything tho so we kept on walking - and then we heard it - and I saw it!  My first bear encounter on a hike.  Unfortunately all I got to see was its big black hairy butt as it was running off.

Seneca Rocks

Seneca Rocks is what you see here.  Apparently a hot spot for climbers, hikers can enjoy a short 1.5 mile climb up to an observation deck just to the East of the jagged rocks.  At the top of the trail there is a stop sign warning hikers of the dangers of going further.  The ridge line is only 10 feet wide, and without proper equipment you could topple off the side easily.  Must admit I was tempted to go past, but the sign did its job.

Camping (in a Tipee) at Yokum's Vacationland

I figured if you're going some place like WV camping is the way to go.  As I searched for camp grounds I came across the website for Yokum's Vacationland.  Yeah, sounds like a cheesy tourist trap of a place, but they had tipees!!  Brad & I were excited about the idea, but the reality of it was a bit of a disappointment.  The tipee wasn't made out of leather with dirt or rug floor like I imagined.  Instead, it was a modern tipee with tiled floors, electricity, light, and fan.  It was roomy though, so it wouldn't be a bad place to stay if you had the right bedding - i.e. a sleeping mat to put under your sleeping bag.  The tiles made for a very cold and hard place to sleep.  As if that wasn't bad enough, there were inconsiderate people blasting crap music all night long.  Some song about "if God walked on earth he'd be a hillbilly."  My attempt at asking them to turn it down did little good so as I struggled to sleep in these conditions, all I could think was how much I'd like to go slash their tires or key the rude [ expletive ]'s truck.  On a positive note, we built a camp fire and roasted marshmallows, and that was fun.

Spruce Knob

The highest point in West Virginia is Spruce Knob, at 1,482m.  I had very little expectations for this place, but was pleasantly surprised.  The terrain reminded me somewhat of the Swiss alps, but without the snow and on a much smaller scale.  There were also butterflies everywhere, and flowers.  You can actually drive up to the top and get a panoramic view from the observation tower.  There is a hike in the area, but we opted for a short walk around. Btw, to get here, you have to go on Rt 112, which is WV's version of Bolivia's death road.  It's about the width of a one lane road but it's 2-ways, and off to one side is a cliff edge - though there are trees that might catch you if you go off the edge, unlike in Bolivia.  The road eventually turns into a gravel road for rest of the way around.

Seneca Creek Trail

The hike we ended up choosing was along the Seneca Creek Trail. I was hoping to see more water, but the creek was a bit dried up and you didn't see much of it for most of the trail. We did a loopty-loop by going up Swallow something trail to Allegheny Mountain trail, and back down to Seneca Creek via Tom Lick trail. I guess the nice thing about WV is that you can avoid the crowds. We only saw a few people the whole 4 hours. Some of the trails also made you feel like you were going off the beaten path. WV is definitely the way to go to get away from people.

***

That about sums up our WV experience. We didn't dare stay another night in that camp ground and tipee, although we planned to initially. We were glad to be back in civilization (Virginia) and in our comfortable beds that night. There were times when I wished I could get away from the hustle bustle of the DC metropolis, but after our weekend in WV I realized I could not live in BFE. Definitely need to find some middle ground I think. Anyways, as enjoyable as the trip was and as beautiful as WV is, it was also one of those trips that make you appreciate what you have. How lucky am I to have Safeway and Home Depot in 5 minutes drive? Or at all....

Logistics tip: Fill up your gas tank in Virginia - it's about 20 cents cheaper by the gallon than in WV.