Welcome to Wild, Wonderful West Virginia: Summer is in full swing

Summary of today’s blog: life in 1890, Star Wars, spectacular hiking, Civil War, BEAR.

Saturday I worked alone and I gave 5 tours. I was nervous about them, but I think it was good because it forced me to know about the displays we currently have, which in turn showed me what were the museums weaknesses and strong points. Garrick, Zachary, and Mandy showed up in time to go on the last tour of the day. Whether they enjoyed it or not, they didn’t say, so I’m gonna assume it was awesome.

From there, I showed my weekend guests my trailer and then off to the thriving metropolis of Marlinton (hint: not a thriving metropolis) for dinner along the Greenbriar River. A siren went off in the middle of our meal. Our waiter told us that, although it was normally used to alert the town to evacuate due to the river flooding, today’s siren was because of a fire in town. Seriously. They use a siren in a tower in town to alert the fire department. I felt like I was in 1890.

The next day we set off for our 17 mile hike. Day one was a little over 7 miles, day two close to 10. The longest hike I had ever done was 14, and that seemed like a lot to me. So obviously I’m not the most experienced hiker. I mean, I don’t even have hiking boots. I hiked 17 miles in crappy tennis shoes. (Note: NEVER do this.) But I didn’t complain (too much) and the hike was unbelieving cool. The first day went into wilderness that looked like an Ewok village. (Mandy doesn’t know what that means because she’s never seen Star Wars: It’s a trap!) But seriously there were giant rocks covered in moss and tall pines that created a canopy that let in little sunlight and ferns along the forest floor and it was awesome. Towards the end of the day, the trail became super rugged and poorly maintained where we had to climb under, over, around, through fallen trees. But it was totally worth it. Our campsite was taken from a postcard. We could not have had a more perfect spot to stay for the night. Next to a water fall and swimming hole with butterflies fluttering above the water and the sun coming through the trees….I could go on and on and on about that campsite. Pictures cannot do it justice I’m sure. Also, towards the end of the evening, a deer wandered near our campsite and it was awesome.

After the best nights sleep I’ve ever had on a backpacking trip (that’s not saying much…) we hiked 10 miles on Memorial Day. To show my patriotism, I wore socks with American flags on them (Bethanne, you always point them out whenever I wear them and I feel weird about it, but on Memorial Day I was proud to wear them so suck it.) The beauty of the day’s hike rivaled that of the day before, but in a totally different way. This day’s hike followed the middle fork of the Williams River, and it seemed that around every bend there was a different picturesque scene of cascading waterfalls and fallen trees and streaming sunlight. The hike itself was rocky and we had to ford the river twice. (Note: inexperienced hiker = fording rivers barefoot. Again, NEVER do this) But all in all, the trip was (as Ryan Bertram would put it) spectacular. Just spectacular. It was my first backpacking trip without Josh Boling, which made me very sad. Other than that, spectacular.

After the three left, I had an immediate sense of being lonely. I closed the door to the trailer and felt pretty bummed out. But after a 3 hour nap (17 miles can really take a lot out of a person), Jay and Sue invited me to have ribs over at their house. So although I may feel like I’m alone over here in the trailer, I got some really great people across the street that keep an eye on me and invite me to hang out every couple days. So you can rest assured, Mom.

Tuesday was spent in recovery. The only time I left the trailer was to take my trash to the curb. But today I wanted to be productive and that I was. I visited Droop Mountain Battlefield, the site of the last significant Civil War battle in West Virginia. It was a couple of short trails and a lookout tower that shows the beautiful Little Levels valley, as well as a museum of the history of the Civil War in the area and confederate graves and confederate trenches. After Droop, I visited Beartown State Park. Just from the name, I was hoping that I would see a bear. I mean you can’t name a place Beartown and not have any bears, let alone a town of bears. And I was not disappointed. That’s right: I SAW A BEAR IN THE WILD. I’m flying down the road approaching the entrance to the park with my radio blasting and me just be-bopping along when I see a creature in the middle of the road. My first thought was that is a weird looking deer – it’s black and short and fat and not a freaking deer. Immediately I put my car in park, turn off the radio, put a clean pair of underwear on, and take a deep breath. As I approach the area that the bear was at, I see no sign of anything. He took off and did not look back. So I couldn’t get a picture or anything, but I promise I saw a bear. I mean I was at Beartown, so of course I saw a bear. Bear town State Park is actually a really cool area and reminds me a lot of home and the Thompson Ledges, which is great and all, but the only thing that matters is that I saw a wild bear.

Side note: I’ve added pictures of the past blogs for your enjoyment. I still haven’t figured out how to do the pictures how I want, so I’ve decided to deal with it and do it how blogspot wants me to do it. So if you’re curious or bored or love me in any way, you’ll check out the old posts and see some new pics! Hope everyone had a lovely Memorial weekend. It’s officially summer!