Woodsey Getaway

During our heat wave last week Bev and I drove 4 1/2 hours south to Seneca Rocks/Spruce Knob area of West Virginia to backpack. As we drove through the last town I noticed the temperature on the local bank showed 97 degrees. I thought it'd be cooler in the mountains. I was not looking forward to carrying 22 lbs. of stuff on my back in that heat. But as we arranged our food, sleeping bag, tent, clothes, etc. in our backpack and made our way into the woods, it did seem to cool down. The dark green canopy of trees helped. We had to cross Big Run Stream many times which our feet really appreciated. Above is one of our campsites along Seneca Creek. This has to be one of my favorite trails in the east. This particular trail is only 5 1/2 miles long but is packed with waterfalls, perfect camp sites and stunning beauty. I like hiking along creeks better than along ridge lines. There's something soothing about water rushing over rocks.





This waterfall is only about 10' from one of the campsites.


And this is the primo, super special campsite. It has a mill stone to rest your feet upon as you sit on the amazing stone seats that some campers made.


We camped right near Seneca Falls. We had every intention of soaking in the cool waters below with the falls cascading over our heads, but the water was REALLY cold and we just couldn't talk ourselves into it. Wimps.


And of course we had our knitting and crocheting. I'm working on the other sock in Woodsey that I was working on in NH.


I got this much done sitting around the campsite.


Bev is making a baby blanket for her first grandchild due in July.


This was another campsite, set snuggly into the woods with a nice clearing so as not to feel closed in. It appears Bev is trying to fly.


These very tall ferns were covering the forest floor. It's a good year for ferns with all the rain we've had.


We saw this beautiful moth on the trail. We startled a mama turkey with at least 5 or 6 babies, and a quail was trying to distract us from her nest, walking near us and flapping her wings. Hunkered down in the tall grass near our tent was the cutest, tiniest fawn covered in spots. No other wildlife was spotted, which is fine with me as we were in bear country.


Seneca Rocks is an incredible rock formation shooting up 900 feet straight up. Climbers love these rocks and there are 375 mapped route up the rock face.




After hiking over 20 miles we felt we deserved a 'real' meal and picked the Front Porch, overlooking Seneca Rocks. Ahhh, eating a burrito, sipping a beer and kicking off our boots after coming out of the woods. Does it get any better?