I was not ready for this trip. Having just gotten back from a run into New England and then jumping with both feet back into work, I didn’t take the time to plan anything from what I wanted to do to what I was bringing to eat. So Wednesday night Cam and I just threw the camping boxes in the truck, grabbed some random food out of the freezer and called it good. I had taken the Magglionia of the truck as I needed to for work that week so instead of mounting it back up I decide that Cam and I would be tent buddies. He was overjoyed…
Thursday morning early we bid the ladies of the Clan goodbye (they both had to work this weekend) and pointed the truck south. The run through Pennsylvania was wet and dreary but my boy Cam is a bonnie companion and we had a good time running the asphalt. Once in West Virginia the skies cleared and we remembered why we like this state so much. The winding roads, scenic vistas, friendly people and tons of critters to spy along the route make for a great ride.
We rolled into camp in the afternoon, bagpipes heralding our arrival. James (jim65wagon), Elizabeth (MostlyHarmless) and family; Jay (mtnbike28) and his crew were already set up and mucking about. Out of the truck and having greeted our good friends and family Cam and I set up camp. Soon Al bumbled in bring along a pack of teenage boys that were in the progress of eating him into the poor house. Free of the truck we got to meet two new Minions of Al, that being Jimmy and John Paul. The third tertesterone capsule with Al was Jay the younger, a fine upstanding young man and an full fledge member of the the ARSES gang. It was good to see him again.
That night we just hung out and shot the breeze, hurled sarcastic barbs at each other, basked in the majesty of the FCJ80 ultimate overland vehicle and learned that nudity is the last stage of hypothermia…really...just ask Jay. I’m not sure how he knew this but it was a topic of much discourse through out the weekend.
Friday I was up early, as is my wont and wondered over to the woodline to examine a tree. This is when I noticed a small bear ampling down the holler making its way straight into my tent site. Thinking I was doing the bear a kindness by girving it a friendly warning and not just dispatching it and putting it on a spit I gave it a shout along the lines of “Hey Bear, get out of here!”
Well this was not well received by the lazy folks sleeping away as I appearantly disturbed their beauty sleep. A few were so bothered that they accused me of making the whole thing up. Next time I’m gonna let a bear walk right in and help it crawl in their trailers. Now that’s a wake up call right there.
This day the Hays and the Capers wanted to go see a train, Al and the Minions were gonna do some touring and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. But Cam had never been on a train and since his cousin Maddy was going he wanted to do the same. Cam and Maddy are like peas in a pod. With that settled we decide to meet up with the “Boys” in the afternoon and do some spelunking in a local cave Al knew off. So off we went to see a train…
…and then we met up with Al to go explore a cave. We hiked across a field and up a slippery trail and came across a small slit in the earth about 18” wide and four foot long. Al led the way…
The entrance was tight but working together we got everybody down fine. After the entrance you had to snake along at times bridging a couple of crevices and scrambling over slippery rocks. Than the cave opened up into large twisting passages that urged you to explore deeper into the darkened recesses. With hopes of finding a lost, fell blade of legend or an arcane treasure we spent the next two hours clambering about. The exit was harder and we all worked together to get everyone out, except for the teenage boys who zoomed ahead and out and then abandoned us to our fates.
Covered and mud and who knows what else we made our way back to the trucks and flew back to camp. Once back the rest of the gang was awaiting us. Carl (CLynn95), Lindy and wonderdog JD; Ken ( a West Virginia native and police officer friend of the Hays); and Tango and his not a rockcrawler Tacoma. Food was prepped, jokes flew and the young in’s played ladderball and Frisbee into the wee hours of the evening.
The next morning I was up early again but there was no “Get bear” wake up call. Slowly the rest of the troop emerged from their quarters and started the day. The group gathered around and decided to press Ken, our native WV guide, into service and plum his knowledge of the area to find some interesting things to do. We were about ready to leave when we realized nobody had seen Tim yet. He had retreated to the far campsite to set up camp by himself. So a gaggle of us wandered over that way to see if Tango was rolling with us this day.
So there’s about twelve of us standing outside Tim’s bunker tent speaking loudly about whether Tim was going to play with us today. We were at it for a few minutes and there was no response. Silence reigned and nothing stirred in the tent o’ mystery. We wandered back to our side of camp. Our first choice was to hike to a log fire tower to check it out. Worried that Tim might be laying dead in his tent and not wanting anybody else to scrounge through his gear before us, I went back over to check up on him. Dammit he was up and around so no new gear for me. Once Tim was ready we headed out.
On the way out a large male bobcat jumped off the hillside right in front of my truck, paused for a second to show of the dead squirrel in its maw and then bounded over the berm and down towards the creek. He was beautiful and the first live bobcat I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing in the woods.
Driving up a twisting, narrow single track blacktop we came to the site of the trail to the fire tower. Soon we were on a steep fire road going up the side of a WV mountain. While the trail was only a mile long it felt five times that in length. Some members of the party stopped half way up and waited for us to return.
Than it was back down the hillside. Next Ken led us across the ridges and hollers and down to an old lane that led to a hand cut railroad tunnel …
Hot, dusty and a little sore our personal police escort, Ken, showed us a local swimming hole where Cam, Maddy and Jay demonstrated unique rope swing maneuvers to entertain us…
Cooled down we headed back to base camp to fix a pot luck dinner. As is usual with our group the spread was awesome and Tim came through big time with a tasty Thai dish. Good stuff! Catfish cakes, chicken-potato casserole, meatballs, dip, cornbread crack cake and other goodies took over the camp tables. I ate way too much but enjoyed every minute of it. Than it was more jokes, discussions, shifting from campfire A to campfire in a can B depending on how much it was raining at the moment. Than the cot called and I went to bed.
The next day Cam and I had to leave. We packed up, said our goodbyes, gave out some hugs (we're a huggy bunch) and then rolled out towards home. We hated to leave. As usual the group of folks we shared the woods with were the best there is. Fun, helpful and a blast to run with. I want to thank Tim for coming and joining in the fun and boy howdy can that feller cook so of course he was readily made a member of the ARSES. A big thanks go out to Ken also for putting up with us and showing us about. Anytime you want to head north Ken give me a shout and I'll gladly return the favor.
Ooh...one more thing...Rhubarb is the pie for men...men of action. Strawberry pie, well good, just lacks the bad-assness of rhubarb.
