Could You Do It? (I could) - West Virginia

Good Monday Morning!

Glad to be back in the US, and back in the good old mountains of West Virginia in the fall.  

I keep seeing a photo/meme in my social media, and while the details and the image are always a little different, the message is always theis same:

"You have to stay in this cabin for a month, with no internet, cell phone or tv. On the last day you walk out with $100,000."

This seems like one of the silliest things I've ever seen, especially after the last week I've had.  In the last week I traveled to some of the most populated and dense parts of the world, Beijing and Taiyuan China.  As a country boy, I don't know that I will ever get used to places like Beijing.  20 million people in an area slightly bigger than Pocahontas County.  Having massive jet lag, and walking the city at 3am, and there still being a LOT of people up, and working, and shopping.  Whole lives where the city park may be the biggest open area they see.   

Because today, in a world that is getting increasingly hot, developed, and crowded, what I see is that not only would I - and many others - take that deal, I suspect that the ability to go to the cabin in the woods, and intentionally disconnect, and enjoy nature for its own sake, is going to be a luxury reserved for the well-to-do. 

To those of us fortunate enough to call West "By God" home, lets make sure we realize the value of these things.  

Today's Photo feels quaint after this conversation - this is a long abandoned farm, in one of the high valleys of Preston County.  I'm sure at the time, they would have liked a bit more connectivity.  ;)

Could You Do It?  (I Could) - West Virginia

300 Miles to Sunrise - Maryland

Good Friday Morning!

There is a difference between traveling “for fun” and traveling “for work”. Lucky for me, I generally enjoy traveling regardless. It always helps to recenter and reset my thinking about this world we live in, and help me keep perspective on the problems and joys we face, both here in West Virginia/Appalachia, and in the country more generally.

I feel like every time I go on a “big” trip, I come back imploring folks to travel - even it it’s a lower-cost fully road-trip camping and couch crashing trip, and to someplace not in the tourist guides. There isn’t much to learn about our world from a week in a chain hotel in Myrtle Beach, drinking the same drinks and eating the same food that you can get at home. It also doesn’t just mean “cities” - I have learned so much from going to the “Richwood” sized towns in New Mexico, or Indiana, or even China, and seeing how “normal” folks live “normal” lives in their little part of the world.

Today’s image tries to speak to that romanticism of the road. Pushing through the night, heading for a new experience in the morning. Only 300 miles to sunrise.

300 Miles To Sunrise - Maryland

Antique Apples - West Virginia

Good Early October -

The leaves are still awfully green out there, but it does seem that fall is upon us. We traveled over the high-country this weekend, and not a lot of leaf-changing, but all the other signs - including the fall fruit and harvest - are on full display right now.

I decided to highlight this apple tree today as it has been a long time resident of the homestead, and I have no idea what it’s history is. The tree is old - very old, for apple trees - as my dad remembers this tree when he was a boy. More interesting to me, the fruit is darn near inedible off the tree - extremely hard and tart - and it’s a tough old lady, holding fruit through the winter on the limbs. I wonder if they could be used for (or originally were) hard cider apples, based on their taste, and if anyone out there has any ideas I’d be excited to hear them.

I am thinking about picking a couple of apples and trying to get some new starts. Would be a shame to let something as old and tough as this pass without trying.

Hope folks have a great week.

Antique Apples - West Virginia

She - West Virginia

Once upon a time, I met a girl while playing Jenga. We hit it off, but we weren’t on a date, and we were pretty sure we weren’t dating.

Then, a little while later, she took me out and we danced, and she hiked with me to waterfalls, and she walked with me in summer sun, and we found our way home, and then we were pretty sure we were dating.

Then, we decided that we wanted to “say something” about this place, and we worked together to talk about our adventures, and she went with me to Seneca Rocks, and High Falls of the Cheat, and Blackwater, and we danced, and we won, and we lost, and tried, and we failed, and we won some more.

Then, one day, she asked me to marry her. No way that was going to be normal, because none of the rest of it had been. We went too hard for everyone else, and we wanted different things than everyone else, so why would we do that like everyone else?

So now, we are planning a wedding, and she does things everyday to make me laugh, or to make me calm, or to make me curious. And she is pretty much the only one that can get me to dance.

She is pretty great.

And I’m glad she chose me.

She - West Virginia

The Abandoned Turnpike - Pennsylvania

Good Tuesday Morning!

We love traveling to historic and abandoned places.  We've done full write ups on lost ranches and civilizations (The Die Back), abandoned railroads (Adventure in the Gauley Canyon) and decaying factory towns (The Lost Town of Hammond).   Because of this, sometimes we have our readers send us ideas, and sometimes we find things on our own.  Today's post is a bit of both.  

After the Hammond piece, I received some comments about the "abandoned turnpike" in Pennsylvania.  I did enough homework to know, generally, where it was, but we didn't travel in that direction very often, and it got pushed back on the stack.  A few weeks ago, we had an event in the Eastern Panhandle of WV, and it seemed like the right time. 

The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1940, and was meant to help connect the mountainous central part of Pennsylvania to the east and west, using a right of way and several tunnels that were originally bored for an uncompleted railroad in the 1880s.  The highway was successful - too successful.  By the late 1950s there would be traffic jams at the tunnels - where the road necked down from 4-lanes to just 2, and the state started working to widen the road.  After looking at the designs and costs, it became cheaper to bypass two tunnels, the Rays Hill Tunnel and Sideling Hill Tunnel.  Once this happened, a 13-mile section of turnpike became abandoned in the rural Pennsylvania mountains. 

I always feel a bit sad and confused when we find things like this - to think that there were people that devoted their lives to building and maintaining things like this, and now they are left to the elements. 

Regardless, it was a very cool - and surreal - detour into Pennsylvania.  For a bit of context, the photo in the advertisement below is of this same spot - the entrance to the Sideling Hill Tunnel, from 1959.

You can find a map for the parking area for the Sideling Hill Tunnel section here.

Talk to y'all on Friday.

The Abandoned Turnpike - Pennsylvania

Headwaters of Glade Run - West Virginia

Good Friday Morning!

Sometimes we are on an adventure, and see something so good that the pressure is on trying to capture it - that you REALLY want to make a good image of what you are seeing.

We took off to celebrate Carmen's birthday, and managed to get what has been a rare combo lately - nice weather, on the weekend.  We drew up a loop that took us out and around some "greatest hits" spots near Davis and Thomas, and then by some friends house - way too ambitious for the time we had, but we knew that going in, so at least the pressure off.  As we rolled out, it seemed like the universe was working for us - our friends called us somewhere near Rowlesburg, and we connected with them first - so started the day with some of our favorite people - and then, only had to make a plan that would get us to dinner time.

From there, we decided that we'd aim for the backside of Dolly Sods/tippy-top of Canaan Valley, a patch of ground that has been very good to us in the last few years - full of adventure, and critters, and plants - and after a bit of navigating and jeeping, we were watching a beautiful summer afternoon transition to a beautiful summer sunset. 

We wandered the alder stands, sunk in bogs over our shoes, marveled at how much it felt like the west - aspens at 3,000ft - and then got to watch this - and felt the pressure to "get it right".  Because it was right.  The day was right.  Our people were right.  And we felt right - a lovely, quiet afternoon together out in the wilds. 

Headwaters of Glade Run - West Virginia

With Tired Souls We Slept - West Virginia

Good Tuesday Morning!

It's setting up to be a busy fall for us.  October is "Art Show Season", and is always a time of heavy travel generally for weddings and being outside.  I'm working up a bigger piece with some of my thoughts on Autumn, and hope, maybe, to have some time for a little fiction project going into the fall and winter.  Why am I sweating it so hard?  Because 2018-2019 is shaping up to be crazy busy - I'm trying to push a degree across the finish line, plan a wedding, and continue to contribute to all the things I do already.  If that means our posting is a little lumpy this fall, I hope folks will understand.

The title of today's image reflects a bit of that fatigue and view going forward.  It feels like we are putting a lot of effort out there for lumpy returns, but we must keep trying.  So we rest up, and we try again.  The view is obscured, but we can still see the light, and we know the beauty is out there.

With Tired Souls We Slept - West Virginia

Monarchs Munching Milkweed - West Virginia

Good Friday Morning Everyone,

It's funny the things that you learn as you grow older.  When I was a kid, one of my jobs around the farm was to cut out milkweeds in the hayfields around the house - the milkweed could mess up the hay, and poison the animals that were fed it.  This led to me thinking for a long time that milkweed was "bad", and didn't serve much of a purpose.  It also seemed to be terribly common when I was doing this job - I never lacked for work while doing this. 

As I got older, I started hearing that monarch butterflies are on the decline, and that some of the cause may be agricultural conflicts - people cutting out the milkweed on farms and fields, and it not getting planted in other places.  I also started to notice that I wasn't seeing it "around" the way I did when I was younger.  It wasn't growing in the ditchlines or in the unmowed lawns of old houses the way I remember.  This is a big problem for these guys, as monarchs feed exclusively on milkweed when they are in the early stages of their development.

This guy inspired me, taken in the top of Canaan Valley last week.  This single plant had 3 caterpillars on it - and there weren't many other plants around.  Even up in the valley, I wasn't finding as many as I expected. 

So, I found myself shopping for milkweed seeds today, and with a little luck, I'll have a little milkweed flower garden out beside the house next year.  I'm not feeding cattle so much these days, so maybe I can feed a few monarchs on their way through town.

Monarchs Munching Milkweed - West Virginia

Summer Sunset Sheep - West Virginia

Good Tuesday Afternoon!

Today's image is all fun, but it does speak to why I love where I live.  Last week, we had a break from what has been non-stop rain, and decided we'd go on a "hike" around Morgantown.  Morgantown is a unique town - there are hidden corners, dead end streets, whole neighborhoods that are tucked away, but right in the middle of town.  Today's image highlights a little bit of that - a corner of the University Farm.  

I had family that went to the Agriculture School in the 1940s, and talked about how far it was to walk from the downtown campus to the farm.  In the intervening 60+ years, town grew up around the farm, and today the farm is a welcome break from the sprawl and townhouses and roads.  It was a bit surreal to hike up on these guys while looking back into town, and seeing the apartments on the other side of the valley.

Summer Sheep Sunset - West Virginia

One Year Ago - Wyoming

Good Friday Morning,

I've been seeing a lot of flashbacks to the "Great American Eclipse" from a year ago this week, and I'll admit a bit of nostalgia.  That trip was incredible to us, and while we did the eclipse proper - from a partridge farm in Torrington, Wyoming, I wanted to share an image from that trip that didn't make it into our trip log.  This image from the approach to Killpecker Dunes, in the Green River Basin part of Wyoming.  The prominent spire in the center of the image is the "Boar's Tusk", and for perspective, it's 400 feet tall above the plain. 

I suspect it's a matter of time before I end up retreating to the West - the older I get, the less I can manage our winters and wet, cold springs - and when I imagine that change, places like this are what I imagine. 

In the end, time is a slippery, tangled up thing.  It's always humbling to think about where you were a year ago (or five years ago).  Lucky for me, on this date at least, I was in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. 

Hope folks have a great weekend. 

One Year Ago

Low Clouds - West Virginia

Good Afternoon!

Glad to be back after a little break there.  It's taking me a bit longer than usual to get back into the fall swing here, probably a little bit because we didn't get our normal break this year.  It's been a pretty crazy 2018, and 2019 looks to continue.

That all means that it becomes even more important to disconnect and be "in it" when the opportunities arise.  We trekked over to far-eastern West Virginia, and managed to spend a weekend on back roads and campgrounds that we'd never been to - a bit of a feat for us in West Virginia.  While it was tempered a little by non-stop rain (no, seriously, when did West Virginia start having monsoons?), the urge to see new things and new places doesn't seem to get old for us. 

We've had weeks of "low clouds", and I have to tell you, those are a bit of a photographers bane - low, white overcast is literally the worst to try and shoot against.  In this case, we got lucky - the clouds were low enough to touch the ground.  :)

Low Clouds - West Virginia

Time For A Break (Sunset on the High Plains) - Wyoming

Good Friday Morning!

I'm tired, guys.  It's been a great, but very busy and somewhat draining summer, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and underrested today.  I think it may be time for a couple weeks off, a chance to recoup, rest, and get gathered up before the new school year starts (it seems it starts earlier every year!)

When we travel, I can end up taking a few hundred photos a day.  Typically, I try to pick the "best" ones of the most notable things we saw or did, and share those with y'all.  What that means, with our posting schedule, is that sometimes really good images end up on the "cutting room floor", and have to wait for a day like today to post them.

This image from the high plains on our trip to Wyoming last summer - a trip we were just getting ready for this time last year.  This was a campsite on the BLM, somewhere above Cody, Wyoming, and represents a bit of Wyoming at its finest.  Huge open spaces, big skies, and beauty for days. 

Talk to y'all soon.

Time For A Break (Sunset on the High Plains) - Wyoming

Pretty Close to Paradise - West Virginia

I've talked to a lot of folks about why people stay in West Virginia. 

"The economy stinks", they say. 

"People are backward."  "Drugs are bad."  "The government doesn't know what they are doing."  "It's all owned by outside companies."

When I was a kid growing up here, I thought a lot of the same things, and thought that there had to be something better out there. 

So I left.  And I've been a lot of places.  And what I figured out was there aren't that many places left where you can see the milky way.  There aren't that many places left where you can just go swim in the river, and catch a fish.  There aren't that many places left where a person can grow their own food, and with a few tools and some ingenuity, can actually "make it" - maybe not rich, but possibly happy. 

So I came back.  I came back because I love all of those things, and I do realize how rare it is to have them all in one place. 

Now, I'm working on fixing the rest. 

Because, after going "just about everywhere", I've come to realize this place is pretty close to paradise.

Image of the orchard at my family home, and the milky way streaming above. 

Pretty Close to Paradise - West Virginia

Simplify - West Virginia

Recently, I was talking with Carmen about not feeling very inspired in my photography.  I was feeling pressure to make a good image, feeling pressure to "go somewhere and get something", which has always been the opposite of what we try to do.  The plan has always been "go do, and if something good come up, shoot it". 

So, today's shot is a welcome return to that thinking, a classic "pull the car to the side of the road, and shoot" spot. 

I've spent a lot of effort the last few years trying to apply that mentality - be in the moment, make good decisions, but don't force things.  It's a hard line to walk - I always feel like I need to be "doing" which means that sometimes "being" is hard. 

So, enjoy your weekend, and remember to spend a bit of time "being".  :)

Simplify - West Virginia

Better Left Alone - West Virginia

I spend a lot of time thinking about change.  Change in this place.  Change in the world.

I spend a lot of time trying to make change.  Change in this place.  Change in the world. 

This is a hard distinction to make for some folks, but I don't want to change West Virginia to be the next-wherever-you-think-it-should-be.  I have no desire for this place to be the next Colorado.  I have no desire for this place to look like northern Virginia, or southwestern Pennsylvania.

I do want to change this place to be the best version of itself that it can be.  I want decent internet service, restaurants that pride themselves on making food "from this place", and job opportunities that help serve the people of this place while simultaneously providing opportunity to kids like me, kids who grew up here and desperately want to stay, 

This is a fine line for some folks - I have no interest in folks from the DC metro telling me "how much better this place could be" by making it look like DC, and I resent the great teeming masses that seem to be coming out here, a new wave of extractionists, looking to cash in on our culture and our terrain.  New strip miners and clear cutters, who won't invest in the people here, they just want to take the little bit we have, without giving back.  Throw up some mountain-kitsch, and retire. 

I also have no interest in pretending that West Virginia is this little slice of heaven.  We are famous for being resistant to change, for being a little bit lost in time - and that isn't always a good thing.  I see and hear bigoted racist things from time to time.  I see folks that believe that if it's from here it's second class. 

Lucky for me, I know better.

Now I just have to figure out how to lose the bad and keep the good.  That probably is easier said than done, but I already know one thing - there are a few places better left alone.  No cell service.  No coffee shops.  No chain restaurants.  Just stars, and trees, and peace. 

Better Left Alone - West Virginia

Experience Creation - West Virginia

I was having a long talk the other day about how we (the global we) have "more better" of nearly everything these days, but it doesn't seem to be translating into quality of life.  It seems more people have depression and anxiety now than at any time I can remember, that we're faced with the options of tuning out or being miserable.

While my experience isn't universal, I thought I'd speak on this a bit today.  I've fought with pieces of these for most of my life, and I had a long stretch where I "managed" these things through immersion in work or self medication. 

It took a long time to figure out healthy ways to cope with these feelings.  One of the biggest things I found that brought me a sense of peace, and helped me channel those nervous energies is creation.  I love making things.  I love fixing things.  The positive vibes I get from creating pay more than I ever hope to make commercially from those things - music, photography, etc.  The other thing I've found is experiencing the world - creation.  The woods, the rivers, the people.   

Different things work for different people, but if these words are useful to anyone out there reading, it was worth the time to write them down. 

For me, the most fulfilling things I feel are when I experience creation, in all the meanings that carries. 

Have a great weekend.

Experience Creation - West Virginia

Glow Swim - West Virginia

Good Tuesday Morning!

One of my favorite things about West Virginia (and rural places I've visited, more generally), is that folks don't let the distances between the houses keep them from having a good time.  The community fairs and festivals, the parades and dinners, are all a big part of the fabric of this place - a tangible manifestation of the "community".

It all makes some sense, in the historic view of it - in a time before the internet, before the telephone, saying that "we going to have a big party every year, 2nd weekend in July" is a great way to get folks together, because in the end we're all in this together.  The community rises and falls on how well we work and play together.

This image from an event that has those same roots - although the glow sticks are a more recent addition.  On a super hot weekend in Morgantown, we escaped to Jennings Randolph Lake and discovered that we just happened to be there for the "glow swim".  Never ones to skip a good festival, we came by, enjoyed the company and music, and took a few photos of the party in the water.

Hope folks have a great week.

Glow Swim - West Virginia

Mountain Laurels In Bloom - West Virginia

This may not be my best technical photograph, but it does what photos are supposed to do - it makes me feel something. 

One evening, while I was down in Florida, I was talking to Carmen and I mentioned that I was kind of sad that I was probably going to miss the mountain laurels blooming this year. 

You see, I became conscious - aware - of how much I enjoyed seeing these in the mountains a few years ago.  I can remember them as a kid - and I didn't really pay any attention to how fleeting they really were, just that they were pretty, and showed up every year.  A beauty of the early summer. 

This year, it looked like I was going to miss them completely.  They were budding out, but not open, in the low country, which is usually a couple of weeks ahead of the mountains - and I was going to be gone for nearly a month.  I was surprised by how sad this made me, realizing that something that happens once a year wasn't going to happen for me. 

Once I came back to West Virginia, I returned to parents home, near Richwood, and got to spend time with my folks, debriefing everything that happened down in Florida.  On Sunday, Carmen and I decided to head home "the back way", up over Scenic Highway.  It was a beautiful, white-puffy-clouds day up there.  And there, on top of the mountain, in a place that I would have described as one of my favorite spots growing up, was a sea of blooming mountain laurel. 

It felt like home had held on just a little longer, just for me. 

When people ask why I love this place, it's things like this. 

Hope folks have a great weekend!

Mountain Laurels In Bloom - West Virginia

Running Against The Daylight - West Virginia

It's cutting it close.  I got a late start, with the rain and all.  But I do feel good, I feel "fast", at least for a guy my age with a desk job.  I probably have 3 miles in 30 minutes in me, even in these conditions.

The road across the field is beautiful, the sun casting the "after storm" glow in the western sky, but boy, it's going to be dark down in those woods.

I turn down the hill.  The blackberries will be on soon, I see their little green-not-quite-ripe berries on the plants as I fly by.   Yup, it's going to be dark in these woods.

The trail downhill is slick, muddy, just carry speed, don't fight it.  I feel my feet slipping around...  just stay over the top, stay centered.  At the landing, it's dark - don't trip! - but I can see blooms on the mountain laurel and the rhododendron, and I can see the light at the canyon rim. 

Standing on the overlook, I'm glad I came, and I catch my breath.  Get a drink of water.  It's humid.  Man, is it humid.  The mists are moving down valley fast enough to see them move, to see the river peek out from under them.  I watch for a minute, but realize that I have to get out of here before it is pitch black.  I didn't bring a headlamp, and we've had a couple of "near epics" out here at dark. 

Turning back up the hill, this is the hard part.  Sprint uphill, dig, breathe, dig, breathe.  As I reach the top, I can see the first stars appear - but out here on the road, I like my chances, and it's nearly all downhill from here. 

Breathe.  Stay light.  Don't trip.  I startle a deer, and feel like one a little bit, running through the dark.  But at least I know how to stay out of the road. 

Back to the truck.  Dripping.  Man, is it humid.  But I feel good.  I felt fast.  33 minutes, including my stop. 

The old girl rumbles to life.  Headlights on.  Now for the best part.  The breeze in the windows as I head back home with the radio on.  A glorious summer night in WV, running against the daylight.

Running Against The Daylight - West Virginia

Two Trees - West Virginia

Good Friday Morning!

Boy, this is my time of year.  There are few things I love more than the heart of summer, when it decides to show up and be hot, hazy, humid - especially when the dog days come in dry.  I'm looking forward to getting some time on the old homestead, as the memories of this time are among my favorites too - the smell of the hay going up, raspberries right off the vines (and purple fingertips), the mourning doves calling in the morning as the sun comes up. 

It reminds me of simple pleasures, of working hard and playing hard.

Maybe I miss these things more than I thought.

Hope folks have a great weekend,

Two Trees - West Virginia