Rain pelted the windshield and the headlights reflected off patches of fog gathered in small dips making the seeing difficult. This caused the speed of the car to drop even further than its normal creep. On one side was a steep fall with nothing but trees to stop the plunge, the other had a deep ditch used to drain water from the road. If you want to call it a road! At the top of the mountain, it is gravel and dirt with large puddles, often spanning the road. It twists and turns following the topography of the mountain. There was no bulldozing a straight path, when a dip or a curve is encountered, that’s what the road does, dip and curve.
When you are going down, the drop off is on your left, right outside the driver’s window. Like so many West Virginian mountains, you can’t see the bottom. Especially when it’s raining with fog laying around each bend. There are a few spots where you can’t see the road at all, even in the daylight. As you come up the rise, nothing can be seen beyond the hood of your car. You say a prayer and hope that no-one is coming in the opposite direction.
Whenever an encounter occurs, one of the vehicles has to back up to one of the few “wide” spots and let the other pass before the trip continues. Luckily, there isn’t a lot of traffic on these roads. A mile or two down the mountain the road is paved but it is only the width of a car or truck. The paving makes the edges seem even closer.
I had left Big Laurel around 6 in the morning, trying to get an early start on my drive back to the Pittsburgh area. The rain and fog was setting the stage for a dismal day of driving. Rain continued all the way from southern West Virginia to the border of Pennsylvania; from there it changed to snow.
Big Laurel is a learning center, a place that does summer camps, community outreach and promotes social change through education. It sits on 400 acres perched on a mountain top. Big Laurel is located about 10 miles up the “hill” from Kermit, West Virginia. Ann Marie had been house-sitting and I had dropped down to visit her.
The night is dark up there. There are houses on top of the ridge but they are widely spaced and even though some have lights on them, the light doesn’t travel very far through the trees. I was searching for an open spot that would give us a good view of the stars but we can’t always get what we want. Rain followed me down and then tapered off for two days and then returned for the ride back. Clouds remained during the nights.
During the day we drove around the area, searching out a couple geocaches and looking for things to photograph. There was never any disappointment on that account! On my second day, we borrowed the Jane Deer to explore the roads scattered across the top of the mountain.
During the evening there were cats and dogs and chickens to keep us company. The cats and dogs are like therapy animals. Always near-by, ready to be petted or to lick your hand.
The houses we visited and stayed in were beautiful, filled with pictures and books and of course, dogs and cats. I can only imagine how tough it would be to live up here permanently. There is no store right up the block and the drive up or down would be treacherous in icy conditions. The neighbors always help in emergencies but to get an ambulance or a fire truck up there… I don’t want to think about it.
Daffodils were blooming along with the crocuses. Greenery was starting to show up alongside the roads and some forsythia was starting to show their yellow leaves. It is always a good sign to see that fresh color of green that the spring brings. We still have a month or so to wait in Pennsylvania but in West Virginia, the beauty of spring is already breaking out.
While driving back, thoughts of the fun we experienced kept running through my head. I also kept marveling at the mountain tops, hidden by the low hanging clouds. The peaks were all shaded in different colors, the colors determined by how near they were.
This state is such a scenic place, high hills and mountains, dramatic outcroppings of rock and deep, deep gorges. Everywhere I looked there was beauty. There were so many potential pictures I passed on my way home, but the rain kept me in the car. The “pictures” are saved in my mind, along with all the other great memories of this fantastic state.
Wild and Wonderful, that says a mouthful and yet it just barely touches the surface!
1 comment:
Sounds like a fun trip. Really like the pic of the tracks
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