October, 2017 Roadtrip Day 5...Along Hwy 219

Day 5 Thursday 10/26/17

      One of the reasons I chose the Hendersonville Super 8 was its location.  The motel is right off the interstate and right on Hwy 219.  Everything I wanted to do was right off that road.  It made for a pretty easy day.

      My first stop was a place I had read about, Beartown State Park.  The trail through the park is only a half mile, but it’s all on elevated walkways and boardwalks.  I could have gone around the barricades, but didn’t feel the need.

     A half hour north is the turn off for Hwy 55.  About seven miles west is the parking area for the Falls of Hidden Creek.  The trail is a fairly easy mile and a half to the lower falls.  But first, the Upper Falls, coming in at a mere twenty-five feet.

     The Middle Falls clocking in at forty-five feet.

     And finally Lower Falls, the second highest in West Virginia, coming in at sixty-three feet.

    I lingered for a while as the light changed, as well as the light refracting off the water, causing the prism of colors to shift.

    

     I keep driving north, pulling off in the town of Buckeye.  There’s a parking area with access to the Greenbriar River Trail.  The entire trail runs 77 miles along the abandoned Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad line that once carried ore and timber between the towns of North Caldwell and Cass.  The line was completed in 1900 and the last freight train to use it was in December, 1978.  The line was officially abandoned. 

     I have no idea how far I walked, but turned around after forty minutes.  The trail curved along with the river.  I kept going until it curved enough to bring the trail out of the shadows.

 
      A municipal park in Marlington...

   

     Passing through the town of Slatey Fork, I passed this curious bridge.  It certainly looked like an old covered bridge.  But, it was actually built in 2005 and is named Sharp’s Kissing Bridge.  It was built by Ken Gibson for his uncle Dave Sharp because he always wanted a covered bridge.  

     Seen along the road...

     I pulled into the town of Elkins late in the afternoon, found the Super 8 and settled in.