Seventh Annual Canaan Valley Weekend

We spent this past weekend with our friends in the Canaan Valley in West Virginia. This is our seventh (!) year doing this. I can't believe it has been that long. Time flies. We rent a lovely house close to a bunch of outdoor activities and cross our fingers that there might be snow. This year, we got a lot of rain and a little snow, and a whole lot of cold. Not to mention great food, board games, and a wonderful weekend spent with friends.

On Saturday, Michael and I went for a long walk in Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. This bridge was perched oddly on a hillside, about 200 yards above the nearest creek.

 Michael pausing to take pictures on a hillside.

 Birch leaves.

Clouds descending over Canaan Valley. At this point it was starting to snow a little bit. That would pick up and then change to rain later in the afternoon. It finally changed back to snow Sunday morning.

 Trees on the edge of the meadow.

 The trail crosses the stream at this point. A beaver decided the trail crossing was a great place to build its home.

 The beaver dam near its den.

 We surprised a grouse alongside the trail. It left wing prints in the snow when it flew off.

 On Sunday, Michael and I and three friends went over to Blackwater Falls State Park. Since it rained all night, the falls were running hard. The red color is from tanins in the soil.

 Icicles near Blackwater Falls.

 Another view of the falls.

 We also walked down to Elkala Falls.

 Rhododendron leaves curled up in the cold (it was about 15 degrees).

 Our final stop was Lindy Point. Normally, this is a really nice view of Blackwater Canyon. On Sunday, it was a view of the cloud!

 Michael and I at Lindy Point.

There was a lunar eclipse on Sunday night. It kept clouding up, but right near the end of totality, we got a clear view. It was _cold_. It was around -8 and pretty windy. It was so cold that the trees popped and cracked around us. There were many things I could have done to get sharper pictures, but in the cold and at that late hour, I didn't think things through clearly. I'm just happy we got to see it!

Wet, Wild, and Wonderful West Virginia: The Annual Getaway

We spent last weekend with a bunch of friends in a cabin (and, by cabin, I mean a house that sleeps 16) in the Canaan Valley in West Virginia. This is the fifth year we've done this in some form and it continues to be a weekend that I look forward to all year. We eat and drink  too much, yell at each other while playing board games, and play outside. What could be better?

This year, the weather did not cooperate. The hope is always for enough snow to go snowshoeing or skiing. Most years, we've had at least a little snow. Not this year. Worse, not only was there no snow, the initial forecast was for 40 degrees and raining all weekend. We did wind up catching a cloudy, but dry break on Sunday, but overall, it was pretty much a washout.

After hanging out and eating most of the day on Saturday, I finally needed to get out for a walk. The great thing about where we stay is that you can walk out the door onto miles of hiking trails without having to drive anywhere. We walked out into Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge in the rain to see what we could find. Since it was raining, I used Michael's waterproof camera, which is a point and shoot. It is a great little camera, but it has a few limitations, particularly in low light conditions.

 All of the creeks were out of their banks, including this one.

 A little bit of club moss.

 Walking up the hill, away from the large creek.

We had to do a short bushwhack to make a loop back to our cabin. It turned out to be the most interesting part of the walk. This cairn was randomly along the way on our walk through the woods.

 A creek on the bushwhack portion of our walk.

The lake outside our cabin. This was pretty much what things looked like the entire weekend.

On Sunday, we walked up into Dolly Sods. It wasn't raining, which was good, but it was a bit colder, especially on the plateau. That being said, for January in Dolly Sods? It was positively balmy. It was also stunningly beautiful, because of the fog and frost, not in spite of it. I used my camera on Sunday.

 Frosty moss on the way up to the plateau.

 Hoar frost on blueberry shrubs up on the plateau.

Michael standing on a wet, muddy trail in the fog. There was so much water up there and, in a normal year, it would have all been frozen.

Hiking in the fog.

Frozen Mountain Laurel branches.

 Wet, muddy walking.

 The rocks on the Rocky Ridge Trail. This is one of my favorite sections of Dolly Sods.

 Hoar frost on cedar trees.

Hiking out through blueberry bushes.

It was a great weekend, in spite of the weather.