Destination File 79: Canaan Valley Summer Change of Plans

By C.C. McCotter

Ever planned for a great trip and something changed and you didn’t go?

This is what happened to my family when our plans to travel to Ontario for a week and stay at KO Lodge for a fishing adventure fell through.

I have been going for the past 11 years, so it was disappointing to miss this time but things turned out just fine, as you’ll find out.

We had a month to make other plans, and with these recessionary times, the budget was, well, you know, economical.

Our spirits were lifted when the family we had planned on going to Canada with decided they would try a trip to Canaan Valley, West Virginia with us as a lower cost alternative. My family has been traveled to Canaan for many years and it is a favorite destination.

When you share a home with another family expenses are cut in half. Going in late July or August is ideal because you rarely experience air temperatures higher than 80 degrees in this alpine valley. Here’s a day –by-day account of the adventure and Destination File #79.

Arrival Day

Our trip to West Virginia officially began after a family church homecoming in Lexington, Virginia and at nearly 4 pm that Sunday we met the other family we would stay with (they also have a son and daughter) in Harrisonburg and headed northwest on Route 33. Hinton, Rawley Springs and then Middle Mountain fell away until we entered the Mountain State and watched the temperature drop from 86 to 76.

There were five more mountains to go and the eastern continental divide, but we were on our way. We had left the flat lands and heat and people behind.

At a fuel stop, I saw my friend’s wife smile – something I hadn’t seen in a while due to a hectic work schedule. I said to my wife, “I think we are going to have a good time with them.”

Our next stop was Yokum’s Store at Seneca Rocks, a tradition with an incredible view. We bought the kids candy sticks (yep, the old fashioned kind) and took some photos of the rock formation dubbed “the best climbing in the east” before getting back in the vehicles and heading still further into the mountains.

It would take just 25 more minutes to reach our rental at 3,900 feet. The switch back roads are tricky and you do have to down shift and make certain your brakes are good, but it’s always been worth it.

We rented a home in the Old Timberline – called Sartori or “sudden enlightenment”. The 25-mile plus and valley view out the living room windows was certainly enlightening.

Since we arrived a bit late in the day to do much, the women insisted on starting dinner so me, my buddy his son and mine made the short hike up to a notable overlook. Here we were on the backbone of Cabin Mountain, one side Timberline, the other the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. As we gazed down at the two private lakes in Old Timberline and the Canaan Valley Wildlife Management Area I could see the affects of limited development. At our backs, the was nothing but trees, heath, rocks and more mountains stretching as far as the eye could see into Dolly Sods.

I could also see from the sparkle in my friend’s eyes he would appreciate this experience. It was going to be a fun three days.

Day One – The Roar Of Waterfalls

We woke up early this morning and looked out our windows to see fog had flowed into the valley floor below us and obscured all but the highest points. This was fitting because at one time the area power company had planned on flooding Canaan Valley to create a massive lake and hydroelectric power supply reservoir. 

   By 8:30 am the fog had burned off and we were heading over to nearby Blackwater Falls State Park. As we headed down the mountain, I noted that the outside temperature was 56 degrees. There were a number of falls and hikes I thought we could see today, mixing in breakfast at the lodge buffet. 

  Our first hike was the Elataka Falls trail and a bit of the Yellow Birch Trail. This is a loop that starts at the Blackwater Lodge and ends up there, too, but on different trails. You start out in a rocky, rhododendron and spruce forest, cross the impressive Elataka Falls on its way down into the Blackwater canyon, hike back up some impressive rock formations, then cross the park road into a spruce and pine forest while paralleling a beautiful tannin-stained creek. It's about a two-mile hike that brings you out near the lodge in time for brunch by 10:30 am.

   From brunch we took a look over the Blackwater canyon at the observation point, then drove over to the trailhead that takes you down over 200 steps to the actual Blackwater Falls. Today, the falls were raging. Recent rains had swelled the river and created a sight I've never seen before. The falls were magnificent and roared.

   From here we did the obligatory Trading Post shopping stop for some trinkets and tees, then it was on to the Pendleton Falls overlook on the opposite side of the canyon from the lodge. Here the families soaked in some sun on the rocky cliffs about 800-1000' above the riverbed before we hiked down to Pendleton Lake and found the falls there the perfect spot for some creeking and more sunning. What a perfect spot to have brought a lunch! The kids were really having a great time. The adults talked and watched them. 

Pendleton Lake is open to anyone with a fishing license and I’ll tell you that it’s full of big largemouth bass. I’ve kayak fished it before and caught bass up to five pounds on surface frogs among shoreline lily pads.

   By 3 pm it was time to get back to the house. The rest of the afternoon we adults were on the deck enjoying the sun, mild temperatures, view and beverages. We did get up to the Cabin Mountain overlook for the sunset.

   What a great way to start our adventure - four waterfalls in one day, hiking and relaxing.  I fell asleep that night, tired but looking forward to our next day of adventure.

Day Two – It’s Time To Fish

Today was a day in which the gals would do their thing and the guys would do theirs. 

Chrissie, Maggie, Diane and Kaitlyn would go horseback riding in the morning up Cabin Mountain via the Timberline ski slopes while David, Jack, Mitch and I would fish Spruce Island Lake with our kayaks.

   I had fished this lake last year and noted it was full of yellow perch, largemouth bass and sunfish. I was after the yellow perch and it didn't take long to figure out how to catch them.

Mitch actually caught the first from the back of my Emotion Temptation kayak. One-inch white grubs on light line, drifted near the bottom off the weedlines, nearly in the middle of the lake was money. Once we figured this out (it took about 30 minutes) we caught many. A sign read Catch And Release so I won't tell you how good they could have tasted fried in butter with bread crumbs that night! 

  We also caught red-eared sunfish, bluegill and largemouth bass. We all caught fish and by noon we were hungry. The girls had finished their trail ride so we met back at Sartori and planned the afternoon's activities over lunch.

   The kids and the women would go swimming at Canaan Valley State Park in the outdoor, heated pool, then bungee jump and rock climb. David and would head over to Davis and kayak fish the Blackwater River. It was reputed to be full of brown trout.

I had scouted this area last year and knew where to put the boats in and take them out. I just didn't know what lay in between. The fine folks at Wilderness Outfitters in Davis supplied us with some hot local lures and some mealworms just in case.

   The put-in on Canaan Valley Institute land was great. We did so at campsite #8 just below a pool. The water on this smallish river was deeply tannin stained and cold. I immediately caught the ever-present and greedy chub on a mealworm and switched over to a spinner fly in search of a trout.

  Well, the stretches we paddled and fished at first were not good. I caught three red eyes and five chubs. The water was too shallow, frankly. However, near the end of the float, the river narrowed and deepened and the whitewater began.

We ran several Class I stretches and probably a couple of IIs before we came to a definite Class III and a perhaps a Class IV. We roped through the first two and then portaged the second. I was game for the first two, but didn't want to ruin the trip if I got into trouble.

The final rapid was scary - a four to five foot drop with rocks. We were an hour late at the take-out where the rest of the families were waiting. We also met up with a black bear I spotted about 15 yards away from us. When I moved in for pic, it kinda came toward me. We all ran like jackrabbits to the Purcell SUV and jumped on top of one another. The bear meandered across the gravel road where we watched it disappear into the woods.

  This bit of kayaking was the best I've done in years. Despite the poor fishing, I'd do it again. The last few pools looked very fishy, we were just moving too fast to stop.

  Steaks on the grill, fish for appetizer (just kidding?). Great day of adventure. We played Taboo before hitting the racks. Now that’s good family time.

Day Three – Into And Out Of The Wilderness

This was the day David and I had decided to take the families on a hike into the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. I had scouted the fringes of Dolly Sods in previous trips, but had never been deep into this remote region.

Equipped with the best paper map one can buy (the Canaan Valley Adventure Map) and David's handheld Garmin GPS plotter, we took the Ridgetop Trail along Cabin Mountain (just above our rental home) to the trailhead and entrance to Dolly Sods at the summit (around 4,000').

Here many trails diverge into the wilderness and a map gives general directions. We would take the Breathed Mountain Trail to the intersection with Red Creek and then hook back home on the Blackbird Knob Trail. It was a good plan and it worked about 95% true. I estimated the hike to about 6.5 miles, turns out it was just over nine on David's extremely useful GPS. 

  It was worth it, though. My seven-year-old son did it with very minor complaints. My 10-year-old daughter had a tough time on the last two miles. David's kids did fine. We saw so many different environments I lost track.

  We hiked through dense blooming rhododendron thickets 20' above our heads, red spruce forests, Canaan spruce meadows, bogs with rare sundew plants, rock gardens, dry creeks, wet creeks, teeming blueberry thickets, St. John's Wort meadows and places that looked like something out of Jurrasic Park without the dinosaurs. 

   The highlight of the hike was after 3.5 miles we came to Red Creek and stopped for lunch. A short hike off the trail led us to a hidden paradise we dubbed "Eden". The creek flowed over a 100’ long rock water slide and then dropped gently into a nearly round pool. I actually slide down it for about 30' and then jumped into the cold water in the pool. Mitchell joined me for a brief swim. The water was around 65 degrees at most.

We should have brought fishing poles because this was certainly native brook water. I have caught some brookies around 11” in lower sections of Red Creek.

We did find some primitive campsites, but they were widely spaced and unoccupied. I'd like to come back and try one overnight.

  We hiked out of the deep streambed around Blackbird Knob and back toward Cabin Mountain and finally hooked back into the Ridgetop Trail and back down to our rental. All told, we were on the trail at 9:30 am and back home around 3:30 pm.

   What a sense of accomplishment we had after trekking over nine miles into the bush, seeing such incredible things and coming back out with two hearty families. It will be difficult to top that experience - tremendous bonding and confidence building with unmatched fellowship.

I knew tomorrow was departure day but also knew I had maxed out the time we had. There were things left to do on our next visit but nothing was left undone on this one.

Departure Day

It is difficult to leave such a relaxing and invigorating venue. We packed up this morning and then headed over to Canaan Valley State Park and ate the famous breakfast buffet. It's a little pricey, but it's tremendous. There are cereals, grits, oatmeal, yogurt/granola, fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, hash rounds, fresh toast, bagels, sweat breads, juices, coffee and probably more I've forgotten. 

  David said he couldn't believe we did this on the final day of the trip. We probably should have hiked again afterward, but it was instead time to check the brakes and head back through the mountain passes to Louisa.

  It's 153 miles and took a little over three hours this time - much better than the trip up even though we watched the thermometer rise. With 100-degree heat predicted for next week, I'm wondering if we should've stayed for another few days....

Want to try the Canaan Valley experience with your family? Contact Almost Heaven West Virginia Realty at 1.888.400.4552 or www.almostheavenwvrealty.com for area rentals.