Backpacking in West Virginia: Day 1

We all woke up a little early. I was up and working on a morning fire by 5:30 a.m.. We had coffee and oatmeal by 7. After relaxing by the fire and waking up, dad and I nursed our coffee while checking out the map. We decided to go to a different part of the forest called Seneca Creek. Much safer sounding than Bear Heaven! On our way to West Virginia, Stephanie and I read an article in Backpacker magazine that featured Seneca Creek and a 17 mile loop trail that follows the creek. As soon as I mentioned the part about abundant trout in the creek, dad was sold. However, he did take a fee minutes before “suggesting” we try out that area. We divided up our gear, packed our bags, and set out for Seneca Creek.

An hour and a half later, and quite a breathtaking drive by the way, we arrived at the trail head.

We headed in and the scene was picturesque! Evergreen forest, open meadows, a crisp blue sky. It was about 65 degrees, which was perfect for this sunny hike. About 12:30 we came upon a campsite that was straight out of Lord of the Rings. There was a 6′ fire ring in the middle surrounded by stone seats for 12. If I wasn’t so excited, it would have been creepy.After lunch, Dad and I setup our tents while Stephanie DIDN’T take a nap. After the setup, dad went fly fishing and I snapped a few photos before journaling a bit. Then, Steph and I jumped in the creek and had to warm up in the sun. By the way, the creek was about -12 degrees.

After returning to camp with dinner on my mind, we saw a group of 15 college students move in as our neighbors. We could tell by the way they paused and sized us up that they were aiming for our spot. After all, it is a sweet spot. Stephanie made Anniversary Stir Fry for dinner. It was great! After dinner, Stephanie and I got a private lesson in how to make several different knots. There’s the Taught Line Hitch, Clove Hitch, Bow Line, Fisherman’s Knot, and the Double Fisherman’s Knot. Then we sat around the fire pit until we were all dozing off.

Backpacking in West Virginia: Day 0

We left Louisville right after church to head toward the Monongahela National Forest to meet Stephanie’s Dad for some backpacking.  Of course I had a few responsibilities to take care of before hitting the backcountry. It was pretty awesome to be able to do a bunch of work on my laptop while Stephanie started the trip and then stop at a Panera to upload what I had done (Website post, sermon to publish, emails to new visitors, etc). Then, I was able to edit the rest from my iPhone while on the road. Mainly, I was able to make sure the website post I submitted was showing properly and didn’t have any typos. For this reason, I love technology. It lets me get out in the woods more often.

Seven hours later we arrived at Bear Heaven Campground in Elkins, WV. Yeah, I love the name too. Dad had already secured a campsite for us and built up a nice fire. Lucy went crazy not only to see him, but to be out of the car after 7 hours of sitting still. We were really excited to be here and ready for our great backpacking adventure.

Tonight’s agenda: talk trails, final trip decisions, catchup over the campfire, bask in each other’s company.

Because of the wonders of technology (and the GPS capabilities of certain toys), I’ve been able to capture our trip via GPS. Here’s a link.

GPS coordinates: 38.930213, -79.68037

Socks

Stephanie made me some sweet wool socks. She’s taken up knitting and crochet. These socks are awesome and keep my feet nice and warm when it’s freezing outside.

I’m a lucky man.

Grillin & Chillin

Tonight, I grilled some tuna steaks and sea scallops for dinner. It wasn’t a feat to grill amazing seafood, though that is awesome. It was special because it was 17 degrees outside when I was grilling. Yes, it was cold. No, I did not loose anything to frostbite. Thanks for asking.

I’ve included some pictures because I didn’t want you to think I got lazy and stopped putting up pictures of food we are eating. I do think it’s amazing that Stephanie continually comes up with amazing meals that taste euphoric, and look like a magazine photo shoot!  I am a lucky man.

So, here are the shots. We had fresh tuna steaks and sea scallops. We enjoyed them with wild rice and spinach. The seafood had a soy-ginger marinade. 

 

Long Days…

I just finished a 14 hour day. It was pretty long. But because I know that it is all for a purpose and there is a bigger vision than what we had to do today, it made it bearable.

What made it fun? Well, that’s my favorite part. Stephanie was with me the whole way. She got to sing this week which meant she had to be there early for both services. She rode with me in the “setup mobile.” It’s nice to have someone with you while you have to work all day. But it’s awesome to have your best friend in there.

Yeah, she makes everything better.

How I got “fire-balled” in the face…

Last night I wanted to get dinner started before Dan got home and we were having something on the grill. So, I went outside to start the grill. Like normal, I turned on the gas first, then the the knobby-things and pushed the clicky red button. That didn’t work. It just clicked instead of igniting.

After trying that a couple of times I decided I needed to get the candle-lighter-wand-thingy. As I went inside for just one moment to get the aforementioned tool, I left the gas on, thinking that if it was the case of not having enough gas to ignite then it would accumulate with a closed lid and light more easily.

As I walked out the back door to the grill, it occured to me that this might go very wrong.

So I clicky-thingied the lighter and opened the grill. And WOOSSSHHH…

Then I got fireballed in the face.

(I wonder if this would be a good substitute to the “and then I found five dollars” punch-line?)

The first thing I did was to look down at myself to make sure I wasn’t still on fire. Check.

Second thing I did was feel my face and hair to make sure it was still there. Check.

Then, I noticed my arm hairs were a little curly and crispy. But that’s OK.

The grill was lit and no harm done. I guess it worked. And the grilled Mojo Pork was very good.

The End.

Stephanie

I love this woman!