You, Me, and the Dog: Stories From the Mobile Mojo Dojo Casa House: Week 1 – Stafford, VA and Pocahontas, WV -- Part 3

Along the Highland Scenic Highway

The part of the country we are in is considered a “temperate rainforest” so, much like the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, it rains a bit most days. I used to have a problem with rain everyday but here it seems so natural I haven’t given it a second thought.

We decided to stop slacking off today and, despite the rain, get in some hiking and sightseeing. (Plus it was on the schedule I’d made.) We grabbed the glossy brochure with a map of the Highland Scenic Highway loop and Marlinton on it and headed out the door.

Beaver Creek Campground is small, with spacious, spread out sites and a lot of [relative] privacy. It was also pretty empty when we moved in and, this Monday morning, it seemed we were the only people still here.

In Marlinton we crossed the Greenbrier River at a traffic light and headed North past a couple of gas stations (all more than a quarter per gallon cheaper than Stafford), the IGA (!!!!), a Dairy Queen of all things, and a corner with a Walgreens, Ace Hardware, and some weird warehouse old rusty truck kind of place.

The Highland Scenic Highway sign directing us to our left turn wasn’t especially dramatic or expected, but we saw it in time and entered a road as empty as route 50 through Utah. The first scenic overlook was a dud if you were interested in seeing anything more than the inside of a cloud. Neat, but we’d already been doing that for a quick minute.

The dog got to play fetch off-leash in the grass so it was one of his favorite stops of the day.

Other overlooks gave us more dramatic views of mountains behind mountains behind mountains fading into a lavender haze. Valleys cut down through steep forested slopes with the occasional clearing of a farm or or unincorporated hamlet.

We hiked a short trail to see “honeycomb rocks.” If you like geology, check them out. The short version is that sandstone cracked, water leaking through the cracks deposited iron, the sandstone eroded, the iron veins stayed. Sort of like yarn-glue art when you pop the balloon.

Just West of the highway is the Cranberry Bog. It’s a high altitude, bowl-like depression with a tundra ecosystem. And cranberries in a massively old and deep peat bog. We hiked a short trail to the overlook and saw that it was indeed a high altitude bowl-like depression.

High Rock Trail is an out-and-back 1.5 (3) miler between 4250 and 4450 feet elevation. It winds around two ridges and opens out in a breath-taking grassy area with split rail fence along a cliff face and a view out over everything. We ate our sandwiches looking down on circling hawks and vultures, out over stream and road and powerline cuts across the mountains, to rolling hills and flat farmland.

The view is why you should take the hike if you ever get the chance, but the trip out and back was filled with strange giant mushrooms, white and pink mountain laurel just starting to shed their blossoms, ancient hardwoods, ferns, and moss covered boulders stacked the way our grand daughter arranges kitchen pots.

There were also a lot of spider webs and black flies. But there were moths and butterflies too and we saw a blue crayfish. Crawdad here in the WV. We found out later they are regular crawdads but because of the mineral content of the water on the mountain, they turn blue. Having actually seen one of these fantastical looking creatures, I now officially believe in the Big Foot.

From there we drove down to the Falls of Hill Creek. We were supposed to go to the Cranberry Bog but I missed the turn.

The Falls is actually a series of 3 falls, each one a bit taller and more dramatic. It’s an easy trip down to the bottom if you are comfortable with stairs. Lots of stairs. Including a four story metal fire escape-like structure that is bolted into the side of the eroding cliff face. Fortunately it wasn’t that rusty and since it was steel grating, you could see all the way down to the sharp rocks below with every_single_step. Axel did not care for those steps and, much like a cat walking across snow, carefully chose each footfall. Crazy staircases aside, it was a neat place to spend an hour and a great workout to climb out of. As an added bonus, there was a yellow-ringed black snake hanging out in the parking lot.

With nearly 20k steps a piece in the day already, we decided to head back home rather than find the cranberry place. Back in Marlinton we made a quick stop at the IGA for fresh produce and some cookies, and stopped at the local outfitter for bear spray. It comes with a lot of warnings, many of them must have somebody’s name attached. But what I liked was how much effort was put into explaining bears, how and why they react the way they do, and the admonishment not to go looking for trouble.

That’s not just good advice in the bear’s country. That’s good advice.