Jon and I finally had the opportunity to take a “mini vacation” this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We were blessed with wonderful weather for hiking. I took about 160 photos and they are all so beautiful. I wanted to share them with you, but it was really difficult to choose just a few.
Friday, we visited Babcock State Park, WV and hiked 5.5 miles. I love the Glade Creek Grist Mill there. The mill and the views are lovely. Although we did a lot of hiking, you can see them by driving and parking if you prefer.
Saturday we went to Coopers Rock State Park, WV and hiked 7+ miles on various trails there. There are just too many trails to hike all in one day. The overlook view from Coopers Rock can be enjoyed easily by a quick walk from the parking area.
We both really enjoyed the Ravens Rock overlook. This required a bit of a hike and was the last one of the day for us. We were getting tired, but I am so glad we did not skip this one. It is spectacular.
After all the hiking we took what was supposed to be a quick drive down to Valley Falls State Park, WV to do just a little more sight seeing. We thought we had left the brochure in the hotel room with the directions to Valley Falls so I mapped it on my phone (once exiting Coopers Rock as there wasn’t much signal there). As maps generally do, it suggested 3 routes all of which looked simple enough. So we took route 1. After exiting the highway, our road turned into a little small winding West Virginia road. No news there. Our last turn took us on a unmarked paved state road that eventually turned into gravel and just kept on going. It winded and was narrowed at spots. But the little blue dot (us) was still on the blue line (route 1) on my phone map so we stayed the course. We eventually got as far as we could down the dirt road and there were a bunch of cars and trucks parked all along the side too thick for us to go any further. The road was too narrow to turn around on Jon’s Silverado. So, he had to start backing up this winding road. Luckily, while backing up we came to a wider section and there was a local coming down the road behind us. They informed us that this was the “back” of Valley Falls. I guess we had stumbled on a local party or gathering. If we wanted the state park main entrance we should go back to the main road and drive just a little further and we would see the signs.
Well, what do you know that was route 2 on the map. So what should have been 30 minutes turned into an hour drive to Valley Falls, but we finally made it to the “front” of Valley Falls. Since we were done hiking for the day it was nice that the falls were easily visible by just a quick walk from the parking area. There were so many little sections of these falls that were just wonderful. I’ve only shared a couple of them with you here.
Later, when we got back to the hotel we realized the brochure wasn’t in the room. Jon later found it in the back seat of the truck. It was there the whole time! And of course the directions on the brochure were to the “front” of the falls. LOL
Sunday, we picked up Jon’s 2 youngest boys and swung by to visit his Mama and brother near Charleston. After a fun filled busy weekend we got back home to good ole North Carolina Sunday night.
Did you have any adventures this weekend?
