Our first brand new adventure with our freshest pack member, Bluebell, took us to West Virginia. We were continuing our journey back home to New York, but had a little more time left in our journey to explore another state, and we knew that WV had some beautiful spots to offer and we were executed to explore them.
We first headed to New River Gorge, a scenic and beautiful natural park that offered free campsites, a rushing river, and some lovely spring hiking. One venture down into our campsite at the Grandview Sandbar immediately made us recognize the vital significance of the iconic New River Gorge bridge. As we twisted and turned ourway in long, looping switchbacks down the steep side of the gorge to the New River that ran along the bottom, the realization of what a frustrating journey this crossing must have been pre-bridge hit home. You see, before the bridge took you zipping across the gorge in under a minute, drivers used to need to traverse their way down into the gorge, before crossing at one of the smaller bridges across the river, and backtracking their way up on the other side. And we could really soak up how long this 45 minute journey could be, as we had to make it several times from our riverside campsite up to the various hiking areas that make up the New River Gorge National Park!
Our first day there, we coasted into our site early to ensure we had a spot in what we knew would be a fairly popular free campsite. After setting up camp, we decided to take it easy and just check out the Canyon Rim visitor’s center…and so we began our journey back up the gorge and to the north. The visitor’s center paid off with some lovely views of the gorge, as well as a fun staircase boardwalk that gave a better angle of the bridge and a more inside view of the canyon. It was a pretty first stop, and the WiFi allowed me to download the park information on my NPS app, as our campsite had no service.
Now that we were prepared with park information, we were better able to plan our days in New River Gorge. The park is divided into a few different regions and we started our exploring in the most popular Grandview Area. This had a stunning, easy to access overlook that showed off a beautiful winding oxbow in the New River, and some of the rolling hills surrounding it. We took the short loop on the Tunnel Trail to see the natural rocks that created little cool tucked away corners of rock.
We decided to take the risk on the “challenging” Castle Rock trail, which offered an extremely cool up close look at a surface vein of coal, as well as showing off the stunning textures of the area’s rock and gave us our first views of the abundance of West Virginia rhododendron. The Castle Rock met up perfectly with our intended Grandview Rim trail, which didn’t really live up to its name, only offering the shortest peeks of the gorge as we meandered through the woods. It all culminated at the Turkey Spur overlook, where we took turns scaling the stairs so the pups didn’t have to drag themselves up all that. After we both soaked up the incredible 360 views, we couldn’t help but laugh at being able to see our campsite. It took us 45 minutes to drive there, but if we were better at scaling straight up mountains, we could have made it up a lot quicker!! We headed back on the Grandview Rim trail, which finished itself up in a stunning rhododendron tunnel. This area of NRG is great to check out if you only have one day, as it offers some great views of the river and gorge, as well as some of the rocks that make this park a destination for climbers.
Since we had a few more days in the area, we figured we could divide our time between exploring other areas of NRG and the cute local towns in the area. On our first stop to Canyon Rim trail, I stocked up on local brochures and maps, and they all really sold the fun and beauty of the local towns. After tiring of traversing up and down the gorge everyday, we relinquished our campsite and opted instead for a local Cracker Barrel in Beckley. We headed to the Tamarack Marketplace, a charming artisan mall that offered local handmade goods, as well as viewing windows into various workshops - like the woodworkers who crafted beautiful bowls or the glassblowing studio where an array of colorful vases were crafted. The Marketplace was wonderful to browse, and a great one-stop shop for a lot of cute local handmade souvenirs and craft beverages, like Kirkwood’s Dandelion Wine or Hawk Knob’s Elderberry Appalachian Hard Cider.
Now that we were at gorge surface level, it was easier to explore the other areas that made up the New River Gorge National Park. Next up was the Sandstone area, which was easily our favorite, although it didn’t really start that way. We headed out on a muggy afternoon up the Big Branch Trail, with the promise of spring wildflowers. When confronted with the choice, we opted to follow the trail counterclockwise, and began our trudge up the mountainside. The ground was fairly bare, the streams were dry, the day was muggy, and we were being attacked left and right by moths - which are truly a bug I’ve never been swarmed by and I started to wonder if the cryptid Mothman from the titular Prophecies was in fact real and out to get us. Our whining hit its peak at about the halfway point, and we decided there was no point in going anywhere but forward. It was about here that the trail began its loop back, and we were greatly rewarded for our investment. We came across a beautiful waterfall, and made our way across the stream to follow the trail alongside the water for the entire second half of the hike. Well, most of us made our way across the stream. Little Miss Bluebell, although formerly a full-time inhabitant of the woods, was not a fan of getting her paws wet and required assistance in her crossing.
From this point on, the Big Branch Trail was incredible. The cool babbling water was our companion for the entire descent, and it showed off a few times with cascading waterfalls. The rich forest soil was dotted with beautiful spring wildflowers; we even came across an incredible field of bluebells, where we coerced Bluebell into taking a photoshoot with her namesake. The colors were vivid and stunning, from deep red trilliums to wispy yellow trout lilies to pink veined springbeauties to white and silly looking Dutchman’s breeches - we were truly given the promised display of spring wildflowers. Besides being generally stunning, I love taking a hike that’s all work in the first half, and rewards in the second. It’s a great reminder in life to keep on going, you never know what you’re going to find around the next bend.
After finishing our hike, the weather was shifting a little, so we made a few quick stops to see Brooks Falls and the upper vista of Sandstone Falls, both tumbling falls in the middle of New River, before heading back to our parking spot for the night. Since we were still in the southern half of the NRG area, we decided to check out the towns in the southeast, starting with Lewisburg. We meandered around the downtown, which had a few cute shops, but felt rather closed and quiet, so we headed to the outskirts for an afternoon at Hawk Knob Cider & Mead. We were the only guests at the time, and had a wonderful chat with the taproom manager Chris, who gave us an excellent and detailed rundown of what ciders they offered. After hearing all about them, I couldn’t help but order a flight of 8 so we could try them all! And I was glad that I did, since they were all pretty amazing. It was hard to pick a favorite, the Spruce Juniper had delicious piney notes, while the Ambrosia had a warm, beachy, coconut taste. We opted for a bottle of Traditional, which had a wild ferment that was described as tasting like blue cheese - and I was fascinated to find that it absolutely did but in an incredible way. As we sipped, we heard Chris strumming away on his guitar inside, and after complimenting his sound, he treated us to a lovely little outdoor concert, telling us how he honored his Appalachian heritage with his songs. It was one of those perfect afternoons - warm sun, beautiful music, tasty drinks, good company. West Virginia was already showing us what a gorgeous and special place it is, with so much to offer.
We finished up our time in the area with a great run on the Greenbrier River Trail, which started in Lewisburg and spanned another 77 miles, following the beautiful Greenbrier River. This section had lovely views of the river, as well as some trickling waterfalls along the other side. It was shady and gorgeous and made me already miss exploring new and wonderful places through running. While there is safety in routine, a long run was always a lot easier when there was something new to see and experience and get lost in along the way.
I was pretty excited we had made it to this area, because in our journeys last year, my friend had pointed me towards Lost World Caverns, and I was jazzed we could finally make a visit. This self-guided loop through the cave was extraordinary, showing off an abundance of cave formations in the short half-mile loop. We saw a large mass of flowstone, tumbling down the walls, aptly titled the Ice Cream Wall, since the veins of dripping calcium carbonate look like melting ice cream on a hot summer day. At the farthest end of the loop hung the massive, 30 ton stalactite, The Snowy Chandelier, shimmering delicately in the darker end of the cave. My favorite, though, was the towering War Club, a 28-foot stalagmite made up of layers of rock that looked like stacks of mushrooms. The War Club also had a claim to fame in the 1970s, when a champion stalagmite sitter, Bob Addis, broke the Guiness World Record with a 16 day perch atop the towering formation. Lost World Caverns was definitely worth the visit, I couldn’t believe how densely backed this short jaunt was with stunning formations, each unique and carrying their own beauty and wonder.
Although there were seemingly a lot more interesting things to see in the small towns that dotted southern West Virginia, it was time to start journeying more northward. There was one more section at the northern end of New River Gorge to explore, and the surrounding town was also worth a stop. So we headed up to Fayetteville, where we first tackled the very popular, Endless Wall trail. While it was a nice trail with some nice views, we really didn’t understand the hype. It was a nice walk along the gorge and, with a short walk along the road, made for a decent loop hike. There was one other in the area, and we decided to give that a try to give the Fayetteville trails a shot at redemption. So we headed out on the in-and-out Long Point trail, which started with an easy stroll along a boardwalk, leading to an easy stroll in the woods. Near the end, the trail meandered through a narrow rhododendron tunnel that spilled us out on a rocky ledge. At the terminus of the ledge, the trees cleared away for absolutely stunning views of the gorge and the New River Gorge bridge, a truly perfect view of it all. If you check out only one trail here, let it be this one, since it shows off all the highlights of New River Gorge National Park.
At this point, Bluebell had flopped herself onto her back in protest at least twice, and we decided it was time to give these pups a rest after a few full days of hiking and exploring. We headed into town, where we found a shady spot at Bridge Brew Works for some cold beers. The dogs flopped, we sipped, and reflected on the highlights of our visit to New River Gorge. While we enjoyed the area and a lot of our hiking, I do wish we had been able to tour some of the spots that showed off West Virginia's coal mining history. It always feels like a shame to miss something important to a state’s culture and identity while we’re traveling through. But the absolutely stunning final views of the Long Point Trail definitely made me feel like we had made the most of exploring the National Park, and that’s always my favorite kind of traveling anyway.
We took a quick jaunt through the charming downtown of Fayetteville, before calling it a day and making our way north to Summersville for our next day’s adventures. The weather was starting to shift towards cool, foreshadowing some snowy days ahead, so we opted to just see Summersville Lake from a scenic vista before getting some chores done. Our real reason for heading towards Summersville was Kirkwood Winery. We’d seen their beautifully labeled wines in a few spots throughout southern WV, and I was intrigued to sample a few flavors without fully committing to some bottles. The winery was quiet when we arrived, and the man running the room was pleasant and helpful company while we tried an assortment of their wines. My absolute favorite was the rhubarb wine, which showed off some of the tart flavors of rhubarb but balanced nicely with the sweet wine. We tried some dandelion wine, which was fun and mild, and enjoyed the sharp earthy flavors of their ginseng wine. Since it was prime ramp season in WV, and we had already very much enjoyed some ramp flavors in a local loaf of bread, we knew we had to try their ramp wine. With a hesitant sip, we were both pleasantly surprised at how not-that-weird it tasted! Might not be the best for sipping, but we bought a small bottle with plans to use it in a nice springy risotto. All the flavored wines we tasted were delicious and different, and I was glad we had managed to make a stop to try a bunch of them instead of being limited to just one bottle!
Armed with some tasty wine, we said our goodbyes to southern West Virginia, and headed north to Monongahela National Forest. The forest was quiet and peaceful, with trickling streams that followed the forest road and green foliage starting to thicken in the April warmth. Our first stop was Falls of Hills Creek, a nice hike into the woods for a triple waterfall viewing experience. The first waterfall appeared at the end of a gentle, switchback trail, though the falls themself were angled oddly and hard to see from the viewing platform. Here, the trail began its descent with a few long staircases that dropped us deeper into the woods, alongside the babbling Hill Creek. We followed that for a bit until reaching the middle falls, where we got our first view from an upper viewing platform. After this, the trail dropped straight down along the fall, and as a result the staircase was a metal grate one instead of wood - and our pups generally don’t like the feel of that on their paws so we weren’t sure if we should continue. We decided to give it a shot and take it slow, figuring that Reese was the most delicate and he could always get a ride on the dad-o-vator if he was really unhappy. We made it down without a hitch, and enjoyed the lower views of the middle falls, which was definitely our best waterfall view yet! That is, until we reached the stunning and towering third waterfall, dropping 63 feet, it was intoxicating to watch the thundering water drop and come crashing down into the rocks below. I was entranced by this one, enjoying the smooth flow of water and the bubbles it produced, and the pups enjoyed flopping in the sun and taking a break for a bit. I had to pry myself away, and we backtracked our way up, and this time, Reese requested a carry up the stairs.
It was a great start to Monongahela, and so we headed towards a nearby campsite at Summit Lake for the evening. It was a cool and windy night, and we awoke the next morning to a large boom as a branch came thundering down onto our roof. Thankfully, our solar panels escaped unscathed, but the dicey weather made us feel like we should head out from underneath all these swaying trees. We were also running low on water and were fully out of our cooking propane, so we were really having quite the day already. We made a pit stop at Summit Lake, and noted it would be a great place to return and explore when it wasn’t windy, rainy, and getting colder by the minute. We optimistically headed toward the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center, hoping the weather would clear and allow us a short hike through the notable Cranberry Wilderness. That hope was quickly deflated, as we headed up the mountain into the cold, cloudy skies. At least the Nature Center was a cute stop, filled with the nicest park rangers imaginable! One kind woman gave me an abundance of information on the area, and even let us fill up on water before we headed out. At this point, the snow was picking up, poor Craig was frozen from filling up our water tanks, we were out of propane and couldn’t even make tea - it was time to get off the mountain. We slowly inched our way down as the snow picked up, and made it into a nearby town where we were able to fill up both our propane tanks and even get some hot chocolate for our troubles.
After a late breakfast, we started looking into the weather for the next few days and realized that it unfortunately made the most sense to cut our time in Monongahela short. It was predicted to be cold and snowy, and we didn’t want to press our luck taking Charlotte up and down snowy mountain roads. Besides, Monongahela had so much to offer, it was definitely worth a return trip all on its own. So we found the closest Walmart in Elkins, WV and made our way there, where we ended up shutting ourselves in for the entirety of the next day as the cold and snow surrounded us. Since our primary heat source is in the bed, that’s where we spent most of our day, cuddled up together, watching Monk. We’d spent so long managing to dodge any real winter weather, only to get hit by it in mid-April! I guess the mountains will do that to you.
After an entire day holed up to avoid the snow, we awoke to what would end up being a truly perfect Charlotte adventure day. The morning was cold and clear, the sharp, cool air perfect for waking you up and making you feel invigorated, with just enough bright sun to keep you warm. The birds were chirping and I knew it was going to be a fine day.
We started it off with some donuts, a newfound love of ours since traveling around in Charlotte, and the ones at Byrd’s in Elkins did not disappoint. We feasted on snickerdoodle and blueberry lemon donuts as we made our way towards West Virginia’s High Point, Spruce Knob. As we meandered through the mountains, we realized we were passing through Seneca Rocks, and decided to stop for a quick detour when we saw the beautiful visitor’s center along the road. It was unfortunately closed, as we were there in the off-season, but when we saw the trail nearby was a short jaunt up the rocks for an up close look, we knew we couldn’t pass it up. That’s the best part of bus life. Even though I can be an overly meticulous planner, I love the ability we have to see something cool and decide to stop and appreciate it. It’s such a privilege, only living by our own schedule (well, that and the needs and demands of Reese, Winston, and now Bluebell).
The trail started at the base of the beautiful towering Seneca Rocks, offering beautiful views of these rocky giants standing guard over the meadows. It then switch-backed gently up the mountain, culminating in beautiful views of the valley below. Although there were a few desire paths cut further up into the rocks, warnings posted all around spoke of the danger of falling, and it wasn’t worth the risk - I doubt the views could be much better or more calming than the green spaces below us, nestled halfway between them and the perfect, cool blue sky. After making our way back down, we lunched under the shadow of the rocks before continuing our way to Spruce Knob.
Although it’s not an insubstantial state high point, coming in at 4,863 ft, the majority of the journey to the summit is done by road, which takes you looping around the mountain until it finally hones in on the top. There’s a nice half mile loop through the trees to get some delightful views, as well as to collect the USGS marker, if that’s your thing. We frolicked through the trees, which were dusted with snow, and splashed through the slush beneath them as the pines slowly melted and greeted us with wintery kisses. The air was cool and fresh, and the sky was blue and bright, and it was a truly perfect day to be on a mountain. We made our way to a lookout tower and to three different stunning vistas, but as we realized our loop was coming to an end, the USGS marker was nowhere to be found. As we started the loop over again, we came across a man we saw on our first loop and we all realized we were hunting for the same treasure. He told us how he was on a high point mission, having crushed 6 in his first week on the job with 3 more on the horizon. He had seen the marker glimmering in a puddle, but try as he might, he wasn’t able to get the water out of the way to take a good picture. So Craig, in his wonderful problem-solving glory, dug his boots in and made some pretty solid drainage trenches and we watched the water drain away to reveal our prize. Our first official high point with Bluebell! It was much harder to take a picture with all three pups, but I think we managed it fine enough!
It wouldn’t be a perfect Charlotte day if we didn’t encounter at least one adversity. Our trek up the mountain was smooth sailing, but our path down took us another direction, and it was full of bumps and potholes and muddy spots. As we inched our way down, the occasional direct hit would send our produce basket flying and Winston cowering in an attempt to hide himself near the pedals (less than ideal). It took me corralling them all into a puppy cuddle puddle to survive the journey, but, as always, we made it.
We made our way to a dispersed camping area in Gandy Creek, which was a lot more tent friendly than RV friendly. As we made our way down the road, I began to fear that we weren’t going to find an available spot, but as luck would have it, we rounded the bend to a beautiful RV spot near the river. We set ourselves up for the night, chopping wood and bringing out dog beds and toys for them all to enjoy. I love when we have tucked away spaces where we can let the dogs run wild, it’s great for them to have fun and for us all to work on training. The babbling sounds of the creek provided beautiful music for our evening, as we played fetch and relaxed by the fire. Craig was even able to get in one more cold water dip, after finding an easy path to the creek through the rhododendrons that surrounded us. We roasted veggie dogs over the fire, and followed them up with s’mores and I played some guitar and we sang campfire songs until evening. It was a perfect camping night, and we topped it all off by listening to some spooky Magnus Archives in the dark while nibbling our assortment of local chocolate moonshine truffles. It was the perfect camp spot to have a perfect evening to cap off a perfect day, an encapsulation of all the joy and freedom and beauty and nature that living in Charlotte has allowed us to enjoy.
The next morning we had a slow morning, still riding the high of our beautiful day and the sounds of this beautiful place. But the weather was shifting towards rainy, and we still had a bit to go to make it through West Virginia. We begrudgingly packed up camp and made our way along the Gandy Creek and then cruised northward to Black Water Falls State Park. Thankfully the jaunt down to the falls was a quick one, made simple with boardwalks and staircases, as the rain had picked up and showed no signs of reprieve. But the waterfall was thundering and gorgeous and worth the trek through the rain to see.
At this point, our time on the road was coming to a close. We had a few more days ahead of us before we had to be back in New York for some appointments, and we had to figure out how we wanted to enjoy that time. Since a major highlight of bus life has been the flexibility to visit family as often as we want, we decided stopping in Maryland to see my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins was a perfect end to this stretch. But there was one more spot in West Virginia I had been itching to see first.
Before making our way to family in Maryland, we headed up to Harper’s Ferry. As a long time lover of the Appalachian Trail (and hope one day to be a thru-hiker), this town has been on my to visit list for awhile, as it’s home to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and it’s the mental mid-point of the thru-hike. We stopped at the headquarters, but it was closed for the time being, so we got some local information from the volunteers in the booth outside. They gave us some great suggestions for hikes, but since the day was rather warm and we knew Bluebell tended towards lazy, we decided just to explore the town.
We took the long and meandering road up to the official Visitor’s Center, and considered taking the hike downtown, but as we drove and drove and drove, we realized that it was going to be quite the trip and we obviously couldn’t rely on the free shuttle with our pack of dogs. The Visitor’s Center didn’t have much information, so we headed back to our parking spot near the outskirts of town and walked from there. The town was narrow and charming, like it had been frozen in time, and it was crowded with tourists soaking up the first of the warm spring days. We did a little exploring, with Bluebell wanting to go as fast as possible until she unceremoniously crashed in the shade of a bridge and required a recharge flop period. It was an interesting place - it seemed like all of the storefronts were just historical recreations that were partially closed due to COVID. It was still a lovely place to stroll, both around the town and the surrounding Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. As we headed up the hill back to Charlotte, we made a stop at the super cool historic candy shop that had candies grouped by the years they were first brought to market.
At this point Bluebell had flopped down again and fully required to be carted around by dad, so we headed back to Charlotte and began our journey towards family.
Our first few months of 2022 travels on Charlotte took us on some unexpected journeys. We enjoyed fleeing the cold winter months in New York to the warmth of Florida. While we soaked up the sun, we encountered our series of bus problems that made us rethink our spring plans. It was a frustrating experience, but one that showed us how tough and resilient we can be when faced with challenges. This detour made us spend more time soaking up The Gulf Coast, as we slowly made our way through Alabama and Mississippi, and we even managed a quick visit to New Orleans. Spending more time exploring the northern areas of Louisiana and Mississippi allowed us to find some fun hidden gems, and it all culminated in Alabama, where we were blown away by the natural beauty and our fated timing led us to Bluebell. Finishing it all up with this jaunt through West Virginia was a beautiful end to our trip, even though it gave us a show of some of that winter weather we were striving to avoid.
While we’re not sure what our future with Charlotte holds, we’ve had an incredible and life changing time in our full time travels over the past 2 years. Although we might not have any long term trips on the horizon, we know our beautiful tiny home will always be available to us to seek out and create adventures to us, wherever we can squeeze them in.
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