Today my cowboy boots took me to many places and to just one. I traveled to the highest point in West Virginia and to a few of the great landmarks of the area. I began the day at Stonewall Jackson Lake near Weston, West Virginia. We are spending the week at the lake to fish but it was a rainy day and we decided a road trip was a fitting alternative. I traveled first through Elkins and to Black Water Falls. Only once before had I been to the Falls, but I was so young that I could only remember flashes of memories and for years I wanted to go back. The Falls were very pretty. I remembered them being larger, but I was considerably smaller the last time that I was there. Another difference from the last time that I was there is the ability to touch them. When last I was there we could go down to the river at the bottom of the Falls, but anymore visitors are restricted to a wooden stairway. While the surrounding forest reached out to me over railings I felt constricted not being able to touch the beauty of the Falls.
Our next stop was to Spruce Knob, but we came upon some pedestrians on the road away from the Falls. A momma bear and her two babes decided to cross the road right in front of us. It was a wonderful thing for me because I have always wanted to see a bear in the wild. I guess that the road is not really the wild, but way better than the zoo. I was very excited. They left all too soon into the woods on the other side of the road and we continued our journey with a new wind.
We finally reached the top of Spruce Knob after what felt like an eternity up the mountain. It was cloudy as I got out of the vehicle and looked around. It almost required effort to take in my surroundings. At that elevation everything looks so much different. I felt like I was in my own private West Virginian Highlands, but then I guess I was. We were the only visitors the the mountain that afternoon and walking down the medieval path was almost worrisome. The ominous weather and the path that appeared to be cut right out of the forest, with small paths cut out every so often leading to seemingly nowhere made me anxious as if I should expect danger around every turn. It just made for a wonderfully chilling atmosphere. I went up the tower against my better judgement but couldn't really see much due to an unsettling fog that set in so I gladly placed my feet back on the moss-covered ground. Soon we left that place as well which was oddly sad because the mountaintop surrounding that day were so imaginative they were more like a setting than real life. I felt like I could get lost there, probably because I could have.
We traveled through Canaan Valley and then on to Seneca Rocks. I was unable to hike to the top of the rocks because it was becoming dark quickly, but I enjoyed the atmosphere here as well. The romantic tales of love and loss were of interest to me as well as the factual history of the Rocks. Most of all, what I noticed as I explored the area at the foot of the rocks was that they are a constant presence there always keeping watch over the area. It was a comforting feeling, but all to soon we had to leave there as well.
It was a late night but an exciting day. As it is always a wonderful adventure going to places that I have never been I had a wonderful time and now I have many places that I want to return to and explore to the fullest. I went to many places and just one - home. All of them right here at home.
