Beartown, Droop Mountain & Watoga
So we were in Lewisburg for a wedding (congrats Rebecca & Ted!) and had some time on our hands. It seems logical (and destined) that sidekick and I would go ahead and knock off three more parks for the WV State Park Challenge. Well it seemed logical that I would want to do so, as sidekick has no interest in these ridiculous challenge caches. He does, however, have an interest in cool spots.
Our first stop was Beartown.
Where?
Exactly.
What it was, it turns out, was beautiful and stunning and a complete surprise. Which is very much what I’ve found West Virginia to be throughout.
And as I often can be found to have written, photos do not do this park justice. But they may whet your appetite.
Thirty minutes outside of Lewisburg. Do yourself a favor and stop by, you will not be sorry you did.
From Beartown (no bears sighted for the record) we headed to Droop Mountain Battlefield. It’s roughly 10 minutes north of Beartown State Park on Rt. 219.
It was a stunning day and we enjoyed a walk around. The museum was open so we perused it and learned quite a bit. Also, i found a new favorite quote.
“If they had said, ‘Colonel, surrender’ I would have done so. But they said, ‘Stop you damned red-headed son of a bitch’ and I would not accommodate any man who used such language to me.” – Col. James A. Cochran, 14th Virginia Calvary.
Chad found an awesome bed of moss, fortunately it was in the shade and he’s been looking for sun loving moss. I say fortunately as the moss covered a confederate burial ground. I think grave moss must have some ill luck attached to it.
And since we were on a mission it was time to head on to Watoga.
Where?
Yeah…
Upon arriving we realized we were starving. I had mentioned that I bet there would be tasty delights. Sidekick mocked me for this, until we hit the park canteen and were presented with a nicely varied menu. I went with a bison burger topped with barbecue sauce and an onion ring. I also gulped down some french fries and chocolate ice cream. I mention the food because A) it was delicious and B) we immediately set out to get a geocache that was at the end of a one mile vertical climb.
My hike sounded like this: Pant, Pant, Pant. BELCH. Gasp. Pant, Pant, Pant. BELCH. Grumble.
Sidekick’s hide sounded like this: Are you ok? Do you need to stop to barf?
He’s so considerate.
Eventually we made it to the top. Then went back over another hillside to find the cache. And having succeeded there we climbed the observation tower, where we learned that…
It was a good trip. Three very nice parks that were new to both of us.
chris on June 14th 2011 in Geocaching, Travel
