When writing this blog, I had a few titles in mind: A Week in West Virginia; Three States, Four Hours, On Foot; and West Virginia, Wild and Wonderful. The last heading won its spot at the top of this post since it described this blog the best – and it’s also the slogan on all the West Virginian license plates. West Virginia is a beautiful, mountainous state. It is also the only state that lies completely within the Appalachian Mountains – meaning I couldn’t leave the state until I did some hiking.

Endless Wall Trail

The first hike I did (with my family) was the Endless Wall Trail. It isn’t very long, spanning a total of 2.4 miles and a having a total elevation gain of 427 feet, but it was a fun family hike to stretch our legs. At the end, a rocky overlook gives you a birds-eye-view of New River. Speaking of birds, as we relaxed on the rock slabs and took in the picturesque scenery, two hawks decided to give us a front-row aerial show! We watched as they chased each other in the sky, soaring up the cliff side (and just two feet from where I was having my pictures taken!), and circling back down. It was a fun show, but a hard one to capture in pictures or a video – the hawks were so fast! After walking back to the parking lot, we hopped into our car and took a scenic drive back to our campground, The Outpost.

Over the course of the past 22 months, I’ve been to a lot of RV parks, and I can say from experience that The Outpost is definitely one of the nicer ones. The campground has a cottage-like feel; rustic wooden cabins and tent platforms line a sloping hill, and a narrow stream trickles behind the RV sites. The bathhouse was rather luxurious, with modern sinks, rainfall showers, and on-demand hot water – in other campgrounds, I was lucky to find a shower with a pull-down shower head… let alone on-demand hot water.

The day wasn’t complete without a campfire. Although we didn’t roast any marshmallows or bake potatoes in aluminum foil, my dad did make his famous (and very delicious) Nepali dal bhat – which is especially tasty on cool nights in the mountains. Along with that, we also cracked open peanuts and threw the shells into the fire :).

Most campfires are enjoyable, ones in which you can sit back, relax, and warm your hands and feet by the fire. When we lit our fire, there wasn’t more than a gentle breeze; but as the evening progressed, it got a little windy, whipping the smoke and flames from the fire every which way without any notice. We continually had to pick up our chairs and move to different positions around the fire ring – it was like a game of musical chairs! After completely putting out the fire, we folded up our camping chairs and got ready for bed, tired and smelling like smoked sausages.

Long Point Trail

The next day, my dad and I went for a hike to Long Point, which is a fantastic overlook of the New River Gorge and bridge. Instead of driving to the Long Point trailhead, we started on the path across the road from our campground, which lengthened our hike by a bit. I believe the whole hike totaled to around nine miles, which, for my dad and I, was just right. The first part of our hike was the hardest because of the steep, leaf-littered rock steps, but the rest of the way wasn’t too bad. This hike doesn’t have too much of an elevation gain, but when it’s time to gain some elevation, it comes in sudden bursts. We would be walking on a fairly level trail, and then all of a sudden, the path would drastically climb upward – it was a good aerobic workout!

Finally, we made it to our destination. We enjoyed a nice snack at the overlook, a view of the New River Gorge Bridge ahead and the raging New River in the gorge below. We also watched trains (with myriads of containers!) cut through the hillside, and listened to the bumblebees buzzing around the trees. When we were completely quiet, a shiny black raven landed a few feet away from us, perching on the edge of the cliff (and took off a few seconds later), and a giant swallowtail butterfly passed right by our heads. My dad and I spent more time up at the overlook than we had anticipated, but after our relaxing break, we made our way back home… and were greeted by all those many steep stone steps right at the end.

Three States, Four Hours, On Foot

This hike was my favorite for many reasons, and we accomplished a lot in only a few hours.

My dad and I walked from our campground to Harpers Ferry (Harpers Ferry is about four hours north of New River Gorge, so we were no longer at The Outpost) where we started on the Maryland Heights trail. Here’s a fun fact: Abraham Lincoln attempted to hike up along the Maryland Heights trail, but turned around halfway up because it was too strenuous for him.

The previous day, my whole family had walked around the historic town, where we learnt about John Brown’s Raid, Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, and the different gifts the two explorers sent back to President Jefferson. We also watched an 1812-era black powder firearms display where volunteers dressed as U.S. army soldiers (of the period) fired muskets. It was really loud!

Back to hiking. Along the Maryland Heights path, interpretative signs told us more about what took place at Harpers Ferry, including Civil War Union Army fortifications and artillery positions. After around an hour, we made it to the overlook cliff. We had an astonishing view of the town below, the merging Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, and the surrounding mountains. We stopped to take a few pictures, then headed back down the trail. The Maryland Heights hike took us through West Virginia and Maryland, so when I heard that we could enter Virginia by walking a certain portion of a nearby bridge, I told my dad that we had to do it. And that’s how I ended up hiking in three states in four hours.

On top of that, my dad and I also visited the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Visitor Center, something my dad had always wanted to do, and we hiked the entire span of the Appalachian Trail in West Virginia. We even stopped at Jefferson rock to have a quick snack. I’d say we ticked off a lot of boxes that day. It was a wonderful hike… and after heading back home for lunch, we went back to Harpers Ferry for some more fun!

Dare to explore!

Vivienne

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