Early August trip

This shot is actually out of sequence but was in Asheville.  Rob coincidentally had a guiding job for a couple of days near Brevard so he came to town the day I left WV to go see the dogs in Virginia.  We got together for coffee and a goodbye chat late in the afternoon the day before his departure.  It was really nice getting to spend a few days with him.

While I was in West Virginia visiting Rob, the first hike we did was to the Shoulder and then the Summit of Spruce Knob, the highest point it West Virginia.  It was a mild beautiful day and the scenery was well worth the easy walk to the top.

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At a certain point in the hike Rob felt the need to do a little bouldering.  I managed a bit myself although hiking boots are not, in fact, ideal footwear for this activity.

On day two we made a questionable decision to go on a cavern tour at Seneca Caverns.  While the cave itself would be pretty interesting to see, the tour was a bit much.

After surviving the cavern tour we stopped for a quick lunch and then headed to Davis, WV and Blackwater Falls State Park.

The setup here is normally for people to walk along easy paths to boardwalk overlooks but Rob is not one for this kind of experience and I was perfectly willing to go along.  So we climbed down through the woods that line the canyon walls down to the river.  After a brief stay at the bottom to get some good pictures (way better than what you could see from the overlooks) We headed up the other side.  You could mostly cross the river on boulders although there was a little bit of "boots in the water".

In the thicket we had to scramble through to get up the far side of the river we came across these beautiful brilliant flowers that looked a bit like snapdragons.

Near the end of the hike down to Blackwater Falls, across the river, and up the other side, we ended up back on one of the viewing platforms with this wonderful sign telling us not to do what we had just done.