West Virginia mountains

 A change of scene and scenery today as we head through Maryland into West Virginia and the Allegheny Mountains. The mountains were very hazy all day and the weather noticeably cooler as we climbed higher. Our first stop was Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The first thing I did when we got there was change out of my shorts and into my jeans as it was quite nippy!

The visitor centre was shut but there was a nearby map so I directed us to there nearest short trails. The first one led us down to the Blackwater River through pretty woodland.

At the river there was a very rustic bridge!

I tested it out and it proved able to bear my weight, plus that of Charlie and Pimple.

The next trail went through a more forested area and we saw plenty of birdlife and I spotted a deer in the shrubbery. It also tracked a dragonfly though some long grass and eventually got an ok picture of it.

They thin out the forest every so often to create different habitats for migrating birds. It was a lovely peaceful place to walk through.

Next we visited Blackwater Falls where the river we had looked at earlier falls quite impressively 57 feet down. The waters are quite brown due to the tannic acid of fallen hemlock and red spruce needles. A pretty spot and the hike down and up from the falls wasn't too difficult.

It was quite hard to find accommodation nearby as they are mostly hostel type affairs for hikers so we had to move towards Morganstown. It was a very scenic drive through the mountains although Charlie had to concentrate quite hard on the steep and very twisty ups and downs. The sat nav also took us on one of it's special roads. Last time there were giant wasps bombarding the car and the road ended in barbed wire. This one wasn't quite so bad although it was a rutted muddy track for most of the way. When we eventually got to the end of it we rejoined the road we had previously been on! When she suggested a similar road a little while later we wisely ignored her.