The Newest National Park: New River Gorge National Park and Preserve: Part One

 Our next stop on our trip to the Maritimes was Battle Run Corps of Engineers Campground near Summersville, West Virginia.. If you are following us on a map, you will see that we are not traveling very far in a day. From Stony Fork Campground we traveled 111 miles to get to Battle Run. We learned early in our travels that there is no need to rush from place to place. We chose Battle Run because it is the closest Corps of Engineer Campground to New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The only problem with some Corps campgrounds are the check-in times. This time was posted as 5 p.m.! Luckily for us, the sites are first come first serve until their official opening date later in May. We were able to get into a site around noon. We nabbed a great waterfront site.

While sitting at our table in Sol, we could watch the fishermen on the lake.

After getting settled, it was off to the post office to get a couple of packages. One was shipped USPS and one UPS. We thought the UPS package would be refused, but since we called ahead, they held it for us....only catch was we had to pay the postage that would have been charged if it had been sent USPS. Oh, well, it was something we needed so we paid the extra (even though USPS wouldn't accept it for mailing)! There was rain in the forecast for the afternoon so we drove around the area to get our bearings. North of town we found a tourist information center so we stopped for some brochures to plan the next week's adventures.

Checking the weather for our first full day in the area, we found there was a good chance of rain. We  decided that we would visit Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park which was only 3 miles from the campground. They had  a 2 mile loop trail around the perimeter of the park. It definitely looked like rain so we took our rain gear. At the beginning of Patterson Loop Trail, there were several overlooks where we could view the Gauley River.

 

 And yes, it did start raining after we viewed the last overlook. However, that didn't stop us and we continued on the trail.

After our hike, we went back to the campground. The rain cleared up and we drove to the winery north of town. Once off the main highway, we found ourselves on a very narrow two lane road that looked like a one lane road. Thank heavens it was a short drive to the winery. I tasted several wines and ended up with a cooking wine made from ramps (they taste like garlic and onion).

After we returned to the campground, we walked around the campsites in between rain showers.

The next day we went to another local hike--Long Point Trail--which overlooks Summersville Lake. It was a 3.9 mile trail that wound through the forest and ended up on rock outcroppings overlooking the lake.

Just before we reached the rocks, we walked through a tunnel of rhododendron.

We enjoyed the view from the rocks and even saw evidence that the rocks had been used for rock climbing...pitons hanging from the rocks.

The next day, Sunday, we decided it was time to drive the 15 miles to New River Gorge. We planned to hike, but changed our minds once at the visitor center. We took the 178 steps down the hill to view the New River Gorge Bridge. The bridge is the longest arch bridge in the western hemisphpere.

 We also discovered that there was a geocache Adventure Lab starting at the visitor center. So, we changed our minds about hiking and took the scenic drive instead. It was mostly a narrow one way drive, but in several places it turned into a narrow two way road.. At one stop we found a waterfall about 100 yards from the Kaymoor Mine Trailhead. We completed the Adventure Lab as we completed the drive.

Lunch time!  Time to visit  Freefolk Brewery. The lady in the Fayetteville visitor center recommended the food (Greek influence) as one of the best places to eat in town.

We enjoyed our lunch and then headed back to Sol. Time to plan our next few days depending on the weather forecast!

The Most Expensive Flight (of beer) EVER!

 When we left Freighltiner in Gaffney, we had a short trip to Windsor Run Cellars near Hamptonville, North Carolina. This Harvest Host was a welcome stop after the short distance, but heavy rain!

Bob followed the hosts directions and pulled in near their distillery. Once we were set up for the evening, we walked over to the tasting room to sample their goodies!

The tasting room was busy as a group just finished a tour of the distillery. I sampled 4 of their wines and Bob sampled their honey beer. All the wines I sampled were good, but of the 4, I liked the port best....yes, I got a bottle! 

We spent a restful night at Windsor Cellars and were ready to continue our trip the next morning. Our next stop would be the longest of this trip...4 nights! Once again, the travel day was going to be a short one, but there was an accident on I-77 that closed the interstate in both directions. We stopped at the Virginia Welcome Center to find the best route around the closure.

The hostess in the welcome center had print outs of alternate routes depending on your destination. We took our directions and continued on our way following US 52 until we could return to I-77  just south of  Wytheville (pronounce 'wistful' with a lisp), VA. Our home for the next 4 nights would be Stony Fork National Forest Service Campground at the base of Little Walker Mountain. The sites were all paved. Our site had electric, some had water and electric, and others had no hook-ups.

 

 It was too late in the day to start a hike, plus rain  was in the forecast. Our choice was to visit downtown Wytheville to do a geocache adventure lab and visit the local brewery. Our first stop was Seven Sisters Brewery. It was a nice place with live music, seating inside and out, plus quite the list of local brews. Bob ordered a flight of beer (4, four ounce pours) with one of them being for me. Well, when I heard the price, my jaw hit the floor! It was the most expensive flight of beer EVER! And to top it off, the beer wasn't even the best! Okay, I guess you want to know how pricey it was....it was the same price as a 12 pack of what Bob usually drinks! Yes, it was $17.45! And that was without tax. Needless to say, we just had the flight and left.

From there, we walked around the downtown area doing the historic adventure lab for Wytheville. Of course, when we were farthest from the car it began to pour! Time to get back to the car, check one more destination to complete the adventure lab and head back to the campground. The last lab location was Wytheville's smallest church which is open 24/7 year round. It is 12 feet by 16 feet.

 

The next day we decided to try Three Sisters Trail along the ridge of Little Walker Mountain. The trailhead is located in the campground and we knew it would be very steep. We weren't wrong!

 We were able to hike UP about 2 miles before we decided to turn around and head back to the campground. The views would have been great, but it was an overcast day.

 It sure was faster going down the mountain that climbing up the mountain.

 Overall, it was a good hike.  

The next day I used AllTrails to find a hike. Crystal Springs Recreation Area on the south side of Wytheville was our choice for the next 2 days. The first day, we hiked Crystal Springs Loop Trail. There were some interesting signs along the trail.

The trail follows the stream throughout the area.

 As we approached the junction of Woodpecker Run Spur, we spotted the trail's namesake having his lunch.

 There were two small waterfalls about halfway around the loop.

 As we continued on the trail, out of no where there was a yellow azealea! It is not a mountain rhododendron, it is a tall, leggy azealea like you would grow in your yard! It was the only one along the trail, hmmm, I wonder how it got there....

Nothing else was blooming on the trail...the rhododendrons had buds, but they won't open for another couple of weeks!
 

The second day we added more trails to our itinerary. We started on the Waterline Trail, intersected the Crystal Springs Loop Trail and then finished with the Woodpecker Run Spur. To keep track of the turns, I was constantly checking AllTrails.

 Bob saw this bird house...we weren't sure if it was place in the fork of the tree or if it fell from above.

Another successful hike in the books...

Time to do some chores...While in Wytheville, we filled both vehicles with fuel and restocked necessities from the local Wal-Mart. 

Time to travel to our next stop!

Our Next Big Adventure

 As many of you know, it has been quite some time since Bob and I have updated the blog. No, we haven't been at home all this time, we have been exploring. Some of the places we explored were Oklahoma, Arkansas (2020),  New England (2021), Hawaii (2022), cruise to New Zealand (2022), cruise to Bermuda (2023), trip to Quartzsite (2024) and a few other close to home trips. After much discussion, it was decided to continue the blog as we embark on our next adventure.....The Maritimes!

April 29, 2024, was the launch date for this adventure. Unfortunately, as we left home, we realized that one of Sol's rear air bags wasn't inflating properly. This was evidenced with an unusually rough, noisy ride, plus a lower ground clearance on the right rear passenger side. Our first scheduled stop was not far from home. O'Leno State Park is just off I-75 near High Springs, Florida. 

 To relax after that terrible ride, we hiked the River Sink Trail. The suspension bridge is closed as it  needs repair, so the trail was not very long.

The area has an interesting history. Much of  the park was built by the CCC  after many name changes for the small town.

t

When we returned to Sol, we decided our next stop would be a repair place as we didn't feel safe driving all the way to Gaffney for the repair. Bob researched repair shops near the park and found one! The next morning, we drove 32 miles to Tom Nehl Freightliner/Oasis. They were able to get Sol checked in, diagnosed, and fixed that day! Our ride that afternoon was much nicer! 

It was late in afternoon when we got back on the road, but our next stop was only a few hours away--a Harvest Host in Ashburn, Georgia.  This was our second stay at Carroll's Sausage and Country Store, but our first as Harvest Host guests. The store also has a full hook-up campground. It wasn't too, too hot so we boondocked on the gravel area under their sign.

The store is always an interesting place to shop as it is truly a country store. We purchased a few items to snack on as we continued our travels the following day.

From Ashburn, we continued to Anderson, SC. We had reservations for another Harvest Host, but due to the heat we were really considering finding something with hook-ups. While we were pondering our dilemma, I received a text telling us there was a full hook-up host site available at the Harvest Host! Next stop, Green Pond Event Center and Boat Ramp. This was a county park for fisherman, no camping except for Harvest Host! There are frequent bass tournaments on the lake, thus 'event center' in the name. 

We watched a beautiful sunset from our site overlooking Lake Hartwell.

We took advantage of the full hook-up site and were glad we did---it was a scorcher! The next morning we drove into Anderson to collect a few geo-caches. There was no hurry to get on the road as we were just traveling 84 miles to Gaffney, SC, for Sol's yearly maintenance.

While Sol was in the shop, Bob and I deviated from our usual hikes at Cowpens National Battlefield or Kings Mountain National Military Park. This year we hiked the Overmountain Victory Trail at Lake Whelchel.

The trail was long (7.9 miles). We chose to walk the trail counterclockwise from a parking area on Concord Road. No, we did not walk the entire trail, but we did hike a total of 5 miles out and back. It was a nice trail and we were the only hikers. Mountain bikers love the trail and we saw a handful of those as we made our way around the lake. 

The tulip trees were dropping their blooms in the trail. It was the first time I had seen these delicate blossoms. They must not stay on the trees very long. 

The mountain laurel were also in bloom.

We enjoyed our hike around Lake Whelchel and will keep it in mind for our next visit to Gaffney.

Once back at Freightliner, we sat in the waiting area for Sol's checkup to be completed. Once Sol was back in her site, we made a trip to the store for a few perishable items. Saturday would be our next travel day....moving further north on our adventure.