We were planning on taking a cruise over Thanksgiving to celebrate our 8th anniversary. Then, all three cars ended up in the shop in the last month and after spending $1k for repairs and maintenance...we decided to postpone the cruising until next month.
Our back-up plan was to drive to Ottawa and spend some time there and in Gatineau (Quebec - right across the river from Ottawa). Then, we kept hearing that traffic on the main highways was expected to be much heavier this year after all the problems with TSA and people choosing not to fly. Since Ottawa is 9 hours away and involves going through customs, we decided against it.
Then Chris cooked up a plan to rent a cabin out in West Virginia. It was the perfect plan - a quiet, peaceful vacation, with a short 6 hour drive that didn't involve any major highways. And it was wonderful! The cabin was really nice - had one bedroom, two bathrooms, full kitchen, dining room, living room, a loft with another bed and a futon, a front porch complete with rocking chairs, and a back covered deck with hot tub and grill. PERFECT!
The cabins were just outside of Fayetteville and in the New River Gorge area, up on a mountainside. The area was very private - we didn't see any of the other cabin occupants while we were there.
The first day we were there was Thanksgiving, and our 8th anniversary. We had planned a simple meal, that didn't require a lot of preparation. We slept until 11 am!!! Wow, we must have needed the sleep, because I can't remember the last time I slept in that late. While the turkey was cooking, we enjoyed the beautiful view from the hot tub on the back deck.
The next morning, it snowed! From almost 70 degrees to upper 20's and snow...all in 24 hours. We drove over to the New River Gorge Visitor's Center to pick up some trail maps, and decided to hike the "Endless Wall" trail along the ridge of the Gorge. It was an easy hike - 4.5'ish miles from start to finish, but the views were so amazing we ended up climbing out to each rock outcropping along the way. They had areas off the trail with iron ladders for rock climbers to use to get partway down the rock face safely - Chris was brave enough to climb down one, while I watched from above. My legs turned to jelly just looking over the edge! At one point, I was holding my camera out over the ledge to take a picture, but I ended up getting down on my belly and wrapping my feet around the tree roots so I could stick my head over and get a good enough picture. I'm not scared of heights...but we were really high up.
After finishing that trail, we decided to take a drive down into the Gorge on one of the scenic highways. We stopped at the base of the New River Gorge Bridge and a couple other places along the route to take pictures. The sun had finally come out and it had turned into a gorgeous day!
After eating lunch back at the cabin, we decided to visit one of the local wineries. Since it was such a small operation, the owner actually gave us a little tour of both the winery and the distillery. They make all kinds of wine and several kinds of "moonshine". We bought a couple bottles of their wine and Chris picked up a bottle of rye whiskey to bring back to our friend who was nice enough to watch Eddie (and Ozzy) for us while we were gone. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures there...
The next day, we decided to hike down to explore the abandoned Kaymoor Mine. It was abandoned in 1962, and all the buildings are still there - although most have collapsed and/or been taken over by mother nature since. The trailhead started at the top ridge of the other side of the Gorge, so we had a very steep, downhill climb ahead of us. Lots of switchbacks, very slippery rocks - I hadn't done a hike like that since Rangers, and I actually don't think we ever hiked anything that steep. We made it down though, with no problems - to the top of mines. There were several abandoned buildings up there, and a very cool sign - it reminded both of us of the Army. Did you realize that these mines were only 36 inches high? I had no idea those men worked in such cramped spaces every day - can you imagine?!
To get down to the Kaymoor Mine Bottoms, where the plant, railyards and coke ovens were, you had to climb down a series of steep, wooden steps. 821 to be exact. Yes, 821. I'm not even kidding. Now, lest you think that's not a whole lot....I beg to differ. By the time we got halfway down, my legs were shaking. I had to take a couple breaks, and this was on the way DOWN. Oh my.
It was definitely worth it once we got down there, though. We explored the beautiful abandoned buildings, the rails to nowhere, and the decrepit coke ovens that were now home to leafy deposits and copperhead snakes (so we heard anyway). Very cool!
Starting back up was...intimidating.
But we made it! Had to take a few breaks, but we made it :).
Of course, don't forget we still have to climb back up to the top ridge, back to the trailhead and our car. Chris was lovely enough to hike behind me on the way back in case my legs gave out. It was a very steep climb back up, but I almost liked it better than the way down. I wasn't so worried about slipping and falling down the mountain.
After that hike, we both spent an hour in the hot tub and then took a very long nap :). We ventured out for dinner that night - to a local cantina. Trying to eat gluten-free there was an adventure, since they had several GF things on the menu that ended up not being GF after all (made with soy sauce, or contained wheat to thicken). Good thing I ask a lot of questions! Luckily, there was only 4 other people in the place and our waitress and the manager were super-nice and helped me find something I could eat.
It was really sad to leave the next day. There was still so much to see, so much to do! Another winery to visit, a local pottery shop to check out, antique shops in downtown Fayetteville, and another dozen or so trails to explore. Plus, there's a state park with a spectacular waterfall we'd like to have seen, a tour of a working coal mine, caverns to visit, and we didn't even make it to the Gauley River! We'll have to go back next year, I think.
I had planned to upload the pictures directly to the blog, to make the post more interesting. Unfortunately, blogger is not cooperating. So,
here's the link to pictures of our trip. Please feel free to leave lots of comments!
Sorry you guys couldn't make it on the cruise, but it looks like West Virginia was awesome! So pretty! Those pictures were amazing, it makes me miss Rangers a lot. I can't believe you hiked up all those steps, I'm pretty sure I would have died.
I'll bet Eddie would have made it though!
36" high!!! that is just crazy... I don't think I could it... no- I KNOW I couldn't do it. I do love that sign though at the top of the mine.
I love how much there is to do there- what a great idea for an anniversary trip :)