Lost with Mike
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    • The South >
      • Merchant's Millpond State Park, NC
      • BRP and a visit to Charlotte, NC
      • South Carolina and Back on my GS (2011)
      • Jaw-ja Trip #1 - Visiting my Nephew
      • Jaw-ja Trip #2 - Cousin's Wedding
      • "You rode 1300 miles for BBQ?!?" (2010)
    • Canada (eh) >
      • 2012 - Beards to Canada >
        • Day 1: Arlington, VA > Arlington, VT
        • Day 1-2 (Continued) Back to VA!!!
        • Day 3: Newburyport, NH > Sandy Cove, NS
        • Day 4: Loafing around "The Neck"
        • Day 5: Sandy Cove, NS to Antigonish, NS
        • Day 6: Antigonish, NS to Meat Cove, NS
        • Day 7: Meat Cove, NS to Port Aux Basques, NFL
        • Day 8: Port Aux Basques to Port Saunders
        • Day 9: Port Saunders to Big Brook
        • Day 10: Big Brook, NL to Trans Lab Hwy
        • Day 11: Trans Lab Hwy to Pinware River
        • Day 12: Pinware River, LAB to Norris Point, NL
        • Day 13: Norris Point to Blue Beach
        • Day 14: Blue Beach, NL to Port Aux Basques Ferry
        • Day 15: Sydney, NS to Sandy Cove, NS
        • Day 16: Chillin on the Digby Neck
        • Day 17: Sandy Cove, NS to No. Sandwich, NH
        • Day 18: Sandiwch, NH to Arlington, VA (Home)
      • Algonquin Park 2013 >
        • Day 1: Home to New York
        • Day 2: Chataugay State Forest to Brent, ON
        • Day 3: Brent, ON to Nipissing River Portage at Nadine Lake
        • Day 4: Nipissing River @ Nadine Lake Portage to first island in Red Pine Bay
        • Day 5: Red Pine Bay to Hogan’s Lake
        • Day 6: Hogan’s Lake to Catfish Lake
        • Day 7: Catfish Lake to Cedar Lake to Fredonia, NY
        • Day 8: Fredonia, NY to Brookville, PA
        • Day 9: Brookville, PA to Alexandria, VA
      • Think I'll ride to Montreal this weekend...
      • Ontario on a Whim
    • Maryland >
      • How to Hit a Tree, By ME!
      • Ruckus Stealth Camping in MD
      • Ruck'n around Southern MD
      • White's Ferry and some Maryland Backroads
      • 1000mi right near da' beach (2010)
    • New York >
      • Cornell, Niagara Falls and PA Coal Country (2012)
      • Finger Lakes trip to NY (2011)
      • New York City Trip (2011)
    • Pennsylvania >
      • Early Spring in PA
      • Michaux Camping
      • From a Wedding to "Where-da-fugawi?"
      • Pennsylvania Leaf Peeping (2012)
      • First Big Trip to PA (2010)
    • Virginia >
      • From the Mountains to the Sea in Ol' Virginny'
      • What the Fog? (Northern Neck, VA - 2013)
      • Uncle Bucks Ride to Eat and Snowy SNP
      • Charlottesville Area Ride
      • Serious Helmet Time in VA (2011)
      • Ruck'n Across Virginia (2010)
      • Impromptu Camping with 'DC Rider' (2010)
    • West Virginia >
      • Rella-Vous and Skippii Rescue
      • New River Gorge Ghost Town Exploration (2011)
      • Five States from Laurel Fork (Spring 2013)
      • A Little Dirt, A Little Clouds, A lotta Fun, WV (2012)
      • GS and an NSX? (2012)
      • Seneca Rocks Camping Two-Up (2011)
      • Panniers Only Club at Seneca Rocks, WV (2010)
      • Laurel Fork Fall 2010 on the Honda Ruckus 50cc (2010)
      • Dog Days Rally and Rella's Gift (2010)
      • Pops and Richmonders in WV (2010)
      • Rocket Boys (2010)
      • New River Gorge and Rella's (2010)
    • Cross Country 2009 >
      • Trip Preparation
      • Day 1: (Sept 3, 2010)
      • Day 2: (Sept 4, 2010)
      • Day 3: (Sept 5, 2010)
      • Day 4: (Sept 6, 2010)
      • Day 5: (Sept 7, 2010)
      • Day 6: (Sept 8, 2010)
      • Day 7: (Sept 9, 2010)
      • Day 8: (Sept 10, 2010)
      • Day 9: (Sept 11, 2010)
      • Day 10: (Sept 12, 2010)
      • Day 11: (Sept 13, 2010)
      • Day 12: (Sept 14, 2010)
      • Day 13: (Sept 15, 2010)
      • Day 14: (Sept 16, 2010)
      • Day 15: (Sept 17, 2010)
      • Day 16: (Sept 18, 2010)
      • Day 17: (Sept 19, 2010)
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New River Gorge Ghost Town Exploration (2011)

6/26/2011

FRIDAY

A couple weeks ago, Beard sent me a PM saying he needed to get out and clear his head, take a trip, get dirty and sleep in the woods. Couldn't complain there. "I'm in."

Set a weekend and, as ADV style plans often hold, it was forecast for pouring rain the whole time. :super

Departed Friday Morning directly into a cool rain via 66W then back roads toward WV. Fodderstack Rd outside of Flint Hill

Howdy happy camper :fyyff

We stopped for fuel in Harrisonburg and had a granola bar. I figured we'd push on to Goshen for lunch at the Mill Creek Cafe. Somewhere around Bridgewater, I got the Stich' crotch leak. Sorta used to it by now and couldn't care less. The "crotch leak dance" was always fun for Beard to watch. Couldn't blame him :doh

Around 2:00, we get to Goshen and find the Mill Creek Cafe closed...aw shucks

We continued on up 39 and I could hear his belly grumbling from my helmet...or maybe that was mine...

Dropping into Warm Springs, the fog was heavy over the mountain but cleared and the rain stopped. I decided to turn into town looking for a bite to eat.

The Waterwheel Restaurant was nice but just a little too nice for our soggy boots and bearded mugs

So on down the road we rode some more till we got to "The Varsity" gas station/restaurant across from the High School. This spot has been here a long time. We sat down to relax, consult the map for our camping spot that night and ordered a Medium pizza, forgetting these were "Country" size pies, not "City" size. We had two slices left over at the end.

Headed south for a bit on 220 then took a leak at Falling Springs
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Just kidding...

WOWOWOWOW
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The view on 220 just before Covington. Things were clearing up nicely for the next 40 miles of our trip.

After passing through the Paper Mill town of Covington, we took a side detour to the Humpback Covered Bridge

Matt taking it all in

The old rail bridge to the north

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Michelin Man?
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Waiting for us to quit screwing around...

Back on the road...to make time we slabbed 64, which is a beautiful piece of highway twisting through the hills. We ran into a few showers but nothing major. In an hour, we stopped for gas along the New River.

Typical WV Gas Station with company on the porch

We twisted down to the New River from Beckley and then explored a couple campground around Prince settling on Glade Creek at the end of the line. This was the view from our free site.

(AM Pic)
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We found some wood that wasn't too damp and made a fire while enjoying some leftover pizza, a pipe and some delicious beer. Beard on the left, myself (twice)

SATURDAY

The morning broke with some sprinkles but mostly just droplets of water falling from the trees. I hung around in the hammock enjoying the sound of the river and birds chirping.
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Misty morning on the New River.
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Prepared some coffee and oatmeal
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MMMmmmmm
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This is how we was our spoon
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Walking to the bathouse through camp
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From here we packed up and were riding by 8:30 or so. We turned up to the north of the river on McKendree Rd out of Prince and hit the first tight switchback. IMAG2744.jpg

A bit like this...
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A busted case mount that some straps fixed and we were off again. The road was rocky but not terrible, some of the mud puddles were a little deep and my Jesse case kept bouncing off it's bracket since the clips weren't set tight enough. I kept it below 30 and was alright.

Some of the hurricane damage was evident. Happy to be on a moto :clap
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Much of the route was like this:
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The ghost town of Thayer
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Beard was so excited to snap a pic of me he dropped his bike again :doh
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Mhm
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Stopping to smell...the weeds?
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The old Church in Thayer
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Saw an old silo on the side of the road so decided to go exploring.
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Spooked some deer from inside it
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The mythical beard
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My favorite photo of the trip perhaps... :rofl
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Beard coming on back down
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Crossing the bridge by Stone Camp
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A beard portrait
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Rolling into Thurmond, WV.
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This old rail town was once a very busy place but all that is left are the old buildings and a National Park Visitor Center.
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We spoke with the rangers in the visitor center who assured u that Beury Mountain Rd behind the town was passable and in better condition than McKendree Rd we had just traveled. Well that is good news because there were some hairy bits on that last road for sure.

Fun switchbacks
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:wave up here!!!
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The view from this powerline rise
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So the road had some puddles but nothing TOO major. At the TOP of a hill it looked like this:
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Then immediately (at 45 mph) it looked like this!!!! :eek1
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I slowed then just gave it a gob of throttle and road directly into the misplaced rocks in the center. I figured when in doubt, gas it out!!!! My tire track
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The dip was so big coming out of the puddle it sent the Aeroflow screen into my helmet breaking off the face vent on the front. That sorta sucked. As soon as I could stop I pulled off and turned around just as Beard crested the rise, braked hard, slid into the puddle then gave it a shit ton of throttle launching his bike airborne and somewhere to the right. The front wheel landed first and the rest was history.

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Said puddle of doom
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Mudman lives!!!
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AFter securing the case as best we could, we ambled out of the woods and made our way down to Rainelle for some gas and a much needed bite to eat. We spotted a highschool car was at the Advanced Auto, which Beard needed to go to anyway for some more tie-down straps, so we fancied a visit.
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Not for the bikes but for...
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All clean(ish) we got some Subway and picked up some red wine at the grocery store. Warm beer just wasn't cutting it and the selection was sorta crap. Matt filling up his flux capacitor to obtain max jigawats
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We then traveled up to 39 again and headed toward the Highland Scenic Highway where I knew of some nice campsites on the Williams River.
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Feeling a bit cool, we took a break at the Falls of Hills Creek.

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Ol slippery wooden bridge
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Middle Falls not so impressive as my last visit.
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A view down from the upper platform
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Starting to feel a bit like macro season
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Unfortunately the lower falls trail was still closed. Oh well...
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Beard still slipping and sliding in the woods
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The colors pulling back out to 39 were just beautiful. I cannot wait for fall!

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The Highland Scenic Highway was brisk and cool, and fogged in like crazy. I wanted to try out the Dakar and give Beard a chance to ride a big GS on such a fast long road. The Highland Scenic Highway is just a great road for any bike. So off we went. I tried to keep up (something I am sure he was doing all day) on the little Dakar and he discovered 6th gear on the GS and cruised away.

I passed him and we turned to go down to the Williams River. Such a beautiful area. We camped at Tea Creek mainly for this view from our campsite
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All the wood nearby was green and wet but we made do.
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We each had a bottle of wine
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SUNDAY

AARrrrggghhh the creature emerges

And departing camp along the Williams River

A short break at Honeycomb Rocks

There would have been many more pics but...it sorta looked like this for 10 miles

Then it continued raining so we just skeedaddled on down to Sharpes Store

Stopped for a breakfast sandwich at Snowshoe Stores at the bottom of 66 and it began to rain. Up 66 we rode in the rain but it wasn't too terrible. Fun road and a little slick when wet. Descended to Cass and the rain let up. The train was heading out and visitors were boarding. I look forward to taking Lauren here once the leaves finally change.

Our next stop was at NRAO Green Bank

Some fun in their visitor center

Enjoyed the tour. This was my 5th time but still interesting.

From here we rode up 28 and the leaves were in full color toward the top of the mountain

Champe Rocks in the distance just past Seneca. You've all been there and seeen the pics hundreds of times so no stop at Seneca for us.

Then it was an amble back up to old 55 and through to Wardensville where we stopped outside Lost River Brewing but didn't have a beer. Just a Granola bar and some water.
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Went back by way of Stephens City
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Then into the Terrasic period
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It was nice to get home after the weekend and my boots were soaking wet and stinky. The shower was well deserved and the bike got a bath the following day.

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  • Scoot
  • Paddle
  • Pedal
  • Moto
    • The South >
      • Merchant's Millpond State Park, NC
      • BRP and a visit to Charlotte, NC
      • South Carolina and Back on my GS (2011)
      • Jaw-ja Trip #1 - Visiting my Nephew
      • Jaw-ja Trip #2 - Cousin's Wedding
      • "You rode 1300 miles for BBQ?!?" (2010)
    • Canada (eh) >
      • 2012 - Beards to Canada >
        • Day 1: Arlington, VA > Arlington, VT
        • Day 1-2 (Continued) Back to VA!!!
        • Day 3: Newburyport, NH > Sandy Cove, NS
        • Day 4: Loafing around "The Neck"
        • Day 5: Sandy Cove, NS to Antigonish, NS
        • Day 6: Antigonish, NS to Meat Cove, NS
        • Day 7: Meat Cove, NS to Port Aux Basques, NFL
        • Day 8: Port Aux Basques to Port Saunders
        • Day 9: Port Saunders to Big Brook
        • Day 10: Big Brook, NL to Trans Lab Hwy
        • Day 11: Trans Lab Hwy to Pinware River
        • Day 12: Pinware River, LAB to Norris Point, NL
        • Day 13: Norris Point to Blue Beach
        • Day 14: Blue Beach, NL to Port Aux Basques Ferry
        • Day 15: Sydney, NS to Sandy Cove, NS
        • Day 16: Chillin on the Digby Neck
        • Day 17: Sandy Cove, NS to No. Sandwich, NH
        • Day 18: Sandiwch, NH to Arlington, VA (Home)
      • Algonquin Park 2013 >
        • Day 1: Home to New York
        • Day 2: Chataugay State Forest to Brent, ON
        • Day 3: Brent, ON to Nipissing River Portage at Nadine Lake
        • Day 4: Nipissing River @ Nadine Lake Portage to first island in Red Pine Bay
        • Day 5: Red Pine Bay to Hogan’s Lake
        • Day 6: Hogan’s Lake to Catfish Lake
        • Day 7: Catfish Lake to Cedar Lake to Fredonia, NY
        • Day 8: Fredonia, NY to Brookville, PA
        • Day 9: Brookville, PA to Alexandria, VA
      • Think I'll ride to Montreal this weekend...
      • Ontario on a Whim
    • Maryland >
      • How to Hit a Tree, By ME!
      • Ruckus Stealth Camping in MD
      • Ruck'n around Southern MD
      • White's Ferry and some Maryland Backroads
      • 1000mi right near da' beach (2010)
    • New York >
      • Cornell, Niagara Falls and PA Coal Country (2012)
      • Finger Lakes trip to NY (2011)
      • New York City Trip (2011)
    • Pennsylvania >
      • Early Spring in PA
      • Michaux Camping
      • From a Wedding to "Where-da-fugawi?"
      • Pennsylvania Leaf Peeping (2012)
      • First Big Trip to PA (2010)
    • Virginia >
      • From the Mountains to the Sea in Ol' Virginny'
      • What the Fog? (Northern Neck, VA - 2013)
      • Uncle Bucks Ride to Eat and Snowy SNP
      • Charlottesville Area Ride
      • Serious Helmet Time in VA (2011)
      • Ruck'n Across Virginia (2010)
      • Impromptu Camping with 'DC Rider' (2010)
    • West Virginia >
      • Rella-Vous and Skippii Rescue
      • New River Gorge Ghost Town Exploration (2011)
      • Five States from Laurel Fork (Spring 2013)
      • A Little Dirt, A Little Clouds, A lotta Fun, WV (2012)
      • GS and an NSX? (2012)
      • Seneca Rocks Camping Two-Up (2011)
      • Panniers Only Club at Seneca Rocks, WV (2010)
      • Laurel Fork Fall 2010 on the Honda Ruckus 50cc (2010)
      • Dog Days Rally and Rella's Gift (2010)
      • Pops and Richmonders in WV (2010)
      • Rocket Boys (2010)
      • New River Gorge and Rella's (2010)
    • Cross Country 2009 >
      • Trip Preparation
      • Day 1: (Sept 3, 2010)
      • Day 2: (Sept 4, 2010)
      • Day 3: (Sept 5, 2010)
      • Day 4: (Sept 6, 2010)
      • Day 5: (Sept 7, 2010)
      • Day 6: (Sept 8, 2010)
      • Day 7: (Sept 9, 2010)
      • Day 8: (Sept 10, 2010)
      • Day 9: (Sept 11, 2010)
      • Day 10: (Sept 12, 2010)
      • Day 11: (Sept 13, 2010)
      • Day 12: (Sept 14, 2010)
      • Day 13: (Sept 15, 2010)
      • Day 14: (Sept 16, 2010)
      • Day 15: (Sept 17, 2010)
      • Day 16: (Sept 18, 2010)
      • Day 17: (Sept 19, 2010)
  • Photos
  • Articles