Boondockers Welcome in the Adirondacks

 After leaving Ives Run, we traveled to the Adirondack Mountains of New York. We had reservations through Harvest Host at a Boondockers Wecome place. It was on NY highway 8 north of Utica, NY. We were scheduled for four nights. It was a great place! We parked next to their 'toy' garage which had morotcycles, a boat, a helicopter, a full kitchen and bathroom.

They had a pond with a kayak and a row boat for folks to use. There was even an electric hookup, which we didn't need. We left it open in case someone else arriving could use it if needed..

 The horse in their pasture was fiberglass (with his own story to tell). Snowmobilers use the back part of the property in winter and the horse is one of their landmarks as they pass through the area.

Our first day, we drove to Lake George to sightsee. We tried to go in the visitor center, but it wasn't open. We did an Adventure Lab (geocache), a little shopping, and ate lunch at a nice tap room before heading back to Sol.

 On our way back, we stopped in the small town of Speculator which was about 30 miles from Sol. There was a community park with a nature trail and a brewery. We visited both. Due to the winds that day, there were a lot of downed limbs on the nature trail. Lemon Tree Brewery was a nice stop to end our sightseeing for the day.

The next day,  Bob and I needed to do a hike so I chose Echo Cliff  via Panther Mountain Trail. It was a 1.6 mile round trip hike that climbed to an overlook of Piseco Lake.

 The write up said it started out with a gentle incline and was very steep at the top...

...that was all someone else's perspective.  That trail was steep! 

 Yes, we had to climb up the tree roots and rocks!

 But the views at the top were well worth the climb!

 
Back at Sol, we visited with the owners of the property and another group of rvers that showed up. We spent the evening around a campfire sharing travel stories. 

Our last day in the Adirondacks, we drove to Utica and the Erie Canal. We walked several miles along the canal and collected another Adventure Lab. That afternoon, the rains started and we stayed in the rv, getting ready for Monday's travel day. We hooked the car to Sol late that evening and had everything ready to travel before we called it a night. We wanted to get an early start on our travel day before the next rain storm hit.

Ives Run COE Park in Tioga, Pennsylvania

The travel day from Seven Points Recreation Area to Ives Run COE Park was only about 150 miles. Once again, we took our time since checkout can be late at some of these parks. About halfway, we stopped to stock up on perishables. Back in 2021, we visited Ives Run on our way to New England. We found that the towns near the campground were not only small, but far away. This time we were prepared. 

Once at the campground, we found our site was open. This campground has hosts, but no one mans the entrance gate. You stop, check to see if your site is open and proceed to it if it is. If not, there is a large day use area where you can park to wait for your site to be vacated. Our site was on a cul-de-sac in Birch Loop. We had plenty of room...there was at least 50 yards between us and the neighbors on the hill behind us as well as good space between side by side sites.

 

Since we arrived early the afternoon, we unpacked the bikes and went for a ride around the campground. We rode all the loops, the day use area and up to the park entrance. Not far from the entrance (still inside the park) is a nature trail for hiking, biking or driving. We rode our bikes along Stephenhouse Trail next to Stephenhouse Run (stream). By the time we got back to Sol, we had ridden a little over 10 miles!

We would be at Ives Run for 3 nights so we decided to ride our bikes every day as well as walk around the campground. 

The next day we put the bikes on the bike rack and took off for Pine Creek Trail--a rails to trail gravel trail that runs next to Pine Creek. The area is also known as 'Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.' We drove to the Darling Run Access Area to start our ride.

 As we rode, we passed a few small waterfalls and then this one. Each time we neared a waterfall, the air temperature seemed to drop about 10 degrees. It was definitely a 'cool' ride.

 Our ride took us to Tiadaghton Campground which was 7.7 miles. It was a nice ride on a pretty flat trail.

There were quite a few people at the campground. We saw several rafts drift by and a few campers. One gentleman was even flyfishing near the opposite shore. 

For the return trip, we cranked the speed up a notch since we did our sightseeing on ride south. 

 Yes, we have electric bicycles....much easier on the hills,,,lol. And they also allow us to ride farther than we would with regular bicycles. This trip we rode almost 16 miles. And yes, I am in charge of securing the bikes on the rack.

On our last day in the area, we started at the Wellsboro Trailhead and rode to the Darling Run Access. It would have been an 18 mile run, but someone (hint: not me) forgot his fitbit in the car after spraying sunscreen. So, at the 2 mile point we turned around to fetch said fitbit--you always have to have 'official' credit for a ride--and then continued our ride. So instead of 18 miles, we had 22 miles! Still an easy ride on a nice, well groomed trail. Some day we will have to return and ride the rest of the trail. The trail goes from Wellsboro in the north to Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, in the south, covering 61 miles.

This was our last day at Ives Run. We stopped in Wellsboro to stock up on spirits. Oops, forgot  that to get spirits in Pennsylvania you have to go to a specific store. I went to Oregon Hill Winery's tasting room and left happy. Bob went to the wine and spirits store for his beer, but found that he had to actually go to a beer store for said beer AND that he had to purchase a case---all the same, no mix and match! He finally left happy.

Time to head back to Sol, pack the bikes for travel and be ready for another travel day. 

Next stop: The Adirondacks in New York.

On to Pennsylvania!

 From Maryland, it was on to Pennsylvania and Seven Points Recreation Area at Raystown Lake. Bob and I have stayed here before--2021--and enjoyed it. This time we will only be here for 3 nights. The distance was one of our longer ones on this trip, 187 miles. As we got ready to start our drive, we decided to wait a bit since it was foggy in the mountains. We took our time driving as the official check in time is 5 p.m. We were hoping that the site we reserved was vacant the night before so it would be available earlier. It was! We had site 3 next to the playground and the bathroom.  As you can see, it was a large site.

 The next morning, we drove to the visitor center so we could hike the trail around the park. It is a nice trail, but at the end, it is steep! From one of the higher viewpoints along the trail we had a good view of the marina.

 The area behind the visitor center is a habitat for native species. It is always  fun to see what has been planted in this area. .

 After our hike, we ate lunch in Sol then set out to complete a Geocache Adventure Lab in Huntingdon. The lab took us to some remote roads and viewpoints of Raystown Dam and Lake. 

Our first stop was a fishing hole favored by the locals. The next stop was the spillway of the dam.

 Then we drove to the top of the dam to see the pagoda that was dedicated in 1974 when the dam was completed. As we walked around the pagoda, a man told us there was an eagle sitting in the middle of the top of the dam.

 Sure enough, we spotted the eagle. He was too far away for us to get a good picture, but he patiently waited while we tried.

 

 The next two stops were overlooks--Ridenour and Hawn's. They were only 300 yards apart. The first picture is from Ridenour Overlook.

 

The last one is Hawn's Overlook. This overlook completed the Adventure Lab.

Time to head to the local brewery for some refreshments. Last time we were in the area, we visited Juniata Brewery and we visited it again this time . Once again the drinks were yummy. Bob had his usual IPA, but I ventured into the unknown with with a ginger lemonade kombucha (hard). It was also good, but different.

The following day we decided to hike the Old Loggers Trail once again. When we were here in 2021, we hiked the trail. It was moderately challenging and muddy. Well, it hadn't changed much--it was still moderately challenging and VERY muddy!

 

Once we got to the bridge, we had to make a decision

Were we going with the gradual incline or the steep incline?

Yes, we started with the gradual incline! We preferred to do the steep side on the way down. Unfortunately, the gradual incline had the most mud! We had to cross several small streams, but they were a breeze...there were rocks to step on. Other places, the trail was just a mud hole!

There were also downed trees we had to climb over.

 It was not a terrible hike, but it was challenging...all 5.85 miles of it. We definitely relaxed once we got back to Sol and had much needed showers!

CHEERS to another successful stop!

A Quick Stop in Maryland

 Travel Day! We needed a quick stop between destination campgrounds (places we stay 2 or more days), so Bob reserved us a place at a Harvest Host in Grantsville, Maryland. Our drive for the day was 180 miles. When we first left Battle Run Campground, we stopped a few miles down the road at U Save Propane. It isn't often that we need to fill our tank, but we knew we would be boondocking in the near future and we wanted to start with a full tank.  Our second stop was High Country Creamery in Grantsville, Maryland, our Harvest Host for the night.

 

 The building houses their store, a small restaurant and their cheese making facility

When we first arrived, we parked in the rv parking lot next to the building. 

After checking in and purchasing some cheese, we moved Sol to the back, gravel parking area. That is where we had our late lunch of cheese, crackers, olives and meats. We definitely enjoyed this Harvest Host.

Friday would be another travel day. Next stop: Seven Points Recreation Area on Raystown Lake near Hesston, Pennsylvania.

The Newest National Park: Part Two

 Monday morning we drove back to New River Gorge National Park to hike Endless Wall Trail. Once we got to the rim, the trail followed the rocks for about 3 miles. We started at Fern Creek Trailhead and hiked to Nuttall Trailhead. The views along the way were fantastic! There were about 6 places along the trail where rock climbers could access the rocks. The area is popular with climbers and hikers.

We started the trail crossing Fern Creek. The trail was well kept, but a little muddy from recent rain.

We ventured out on the rocks where climbers had access, but we didn't spot any climbers.

From all areas on the rim, we had excellent views of the surrounding mountain and New River Gorge.

Once we completed the trail and walked the road back to Fern Creek Trailhead (1/2 mile), we drove to the ghost town of Thurmond. Well, it did have a few people living there AND an Amtrak Stop, so was it really a ghost town? Today, what used to be the commissary for a thriving town, is now a visitor center for the national park (only open on weekends until Memorial Day). There was a geocache Adventure Lab for us to complete at Thurmond.

Many of the buildings are no longer standing, but those that are have name plates telling what they were or who owned them. This home belonged to a Childres!

 

To get into Thurmond you drove a narrow two way mountain road that reminded me of Kentucky 1427 from our first retirement trip....not for the faint of heart!  Once to Thurmond, it was a one lane bridge next to the railroad bridge with a weight limit of 10 tons! No rvs  at this part of the park!

Once away from Thurmond, we drove the scenic route back to our campground. We took WV 16 to US 60 to WV39 to WV 129. As we were near the junction of US 60 and WV 39, we spotted a waterfall. Of course, we stopped to see Cathedral Falls. Turns out it is part of West Virginia's Waterfall Trail (who knew?...certainly not us).

Once back at the campground, we watched two of the natives swimming with their family...

We planned another hike at New River Gorge for Tuesday. This time we hiked Long Point Trail and Timber Ridge. We combined the two trails so we would get in 5 miles. 

The hikes were both enjoyable, with Long Point having the best views. The trail started in a parking lot and went up through the woods to a rocky point overlooking the gorge.

If you look closely, you may see New River Bridge in the background of the next 2 photos.

Once we completed Long Point, we followed Timber Ridge Trail to its turnaround. It was a nice trail, but no good views. It serves as a connector trail to several other trails in the area. 

By then, it was lunch time! On to Bridge Works Brewery just south of Fayetteville. In fact, it was only a few miles from Freefolk Brewery where we ate on Sunday. They didn't have a kitchen at Bridge Works, but there was a food truck in the patio area. Bob had a burrito and I had chicken quesadillas....both were good, as was the beer.

On our last day at Battle Run, we decided to hike the dike trails near the campground.. We also found a couple of geocaches along the trail. We also had a good view across the lake of Sol in the campground.

Thursday was to be a travel day, so we spent the rest of the afternoon stocking up at the local Wal-Mart and getting ready to move.