Goodbye Girls, Hello Coopers Rocks

Last night we went to dinner with Cathy & Vicki to a buffet in New Martinsville, WV. I can't recall the name of the restaurant but it is excellent home cooking and I'm sure anybody in the area can tell you it's name and give directions to get there. We had a terrific time at dinner with the girls talkin' & laughin' it up. After we got back to camp the four of us decided to crash the campfire at our neighbors site. Linda & I had met Albert earlier in the morning and his wife had joined him at camp since then. So the eight of us talked, joked and laughed into the wee hours. It was 1:30 before any of us realized. I think we might have been havin' too much fun, Thanks again Cathy & Vicki, were gonna miss ya!!!! Don't forget, if ya get down our way, you're always welcome.

This morning we left Cathy & Vicki, with hugs, at Camp Copperhead and headed east. We were backtrackin' across US 50 to Bridgeport, just east of Clarksburg, form there we were continued on east on US 50 to Macomber a WV Scenic Byway. We then headed north on WV 72, the Cheat River Scenic Byway a wild river running through a rocky gorge. Along the way Linda & I spotted something in the woods as we drove by. After questionin' each other about the site we turned around and went back to investigate. Well we don't know if this was a played out mine or the beginnings of a railroad tunnel, but it sure was BIG. We took our lantern and went to check it out. I looked along all the walls searchin' for some leftover traces of a coal vane, but couldn't find any. Lots of graffiti, but no coal. We tried to take some shots with us in them for perspective, this hole was huge!

 

This is kind of what we saw as we drove by.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Barry at the opening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This shot gives better perspective of the size of the opening.

 

 

We ventured further north and got a site at Coopers Rocks State Forest for the night. Nice little campground on a high ridge, but still no signal for the air card or cell phone.

 

 

 

Nice thick forested camp.

 

 

 

In the morning we were off to see 'Coopers Rocks'. The overlook is built on the rock outcropping for some gorgeous long range views.

 

 

 

Here's Linda sittin' on a rock, took some to get her out there.

 

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the overlook.

 

 

 

After the overlook we took a hike to view a 300 year old Hemlock grove. It wasn't as impressive as we had imagined, nothing to compare with some we've seen in the west. As a matter of fact we walked right through thinking we hadn't reached it yet. The forest was thick and beautiful and the smell of the air invigorating.

 

 

There were a couple of trees like this over the trail. We had some high winds from the remnants of Hurricane Ike the night before.

 

Our next stop is somewhere in the Monongehela National Forest. We'll look for a place to camp off the beaten path.

Until the next time.

Hope to see ya' down the road as we're

Dancin' on the Wind.