July 29 Greenbrier River Trail south

Lots of deer in the river today

My ride began a mile from the trailhead. It was a quick downhill ride into town of Marlinton. The trail crosses the main street right downtown by the depot. Heading south, the trail is paved for two miles before giving way to a nice gravel two track.

There are always lots of deer along this trail and today was no exception. I saw 25 in all. They were splashing across the river, eating apples, gracefully jumping 4 foot fences and climbing the steep embankment next to the trail. I caught a brief glimpse of a Redstart too. 

Cardinal flower

Beyond the Watoga Bridge, a farm road and eventually a paved road, runs alongside the trail for 2 miles into Seebert. Along here are many summer homes, some with beautiful vegetable gardens. The small community of Seebert has one business, Jack Horner's Corner, a convenience store, grill, gift shop, boat rental place. I have stopped here before for something to eat but not today. 

One of my favorite places is 2 miles from here; a beautiful farm, immaculately maintained. Their garden is loaded with perfect looking vegetable plants.  

Watoga Bridge

A bit farther, I pass the Denmar Correctional Facility. I could see the prisoners dressed in white, exercising in the yard as I pedaled by. The facility was originally a tuberculous hospital for colored West Virginians. Many are buried at the site. In the 50's it became a state hospital for chronically ill. I have read of one ghost story of a black doctor in white coat with a stethoscope having appeared several times. 

There is a bigfoot connection to this area too. According to the website At Home on Spice Ridge, the following:

In October, 2006, the Bigfoot Research Organization (BFRO) took a field trip to Pocahontas County, resulting in an exciting encounter. BFRO says of itself:

As a result of the education and experience of its members and the quality of their efforts, the BFRO is widely considered as the most credible and respected investigative network involved in the study of this subject.

It seems these respected investigators had a Class 1A sighting of Bigfoot the middle of this past October. Although their West Virginia Expedition, Oct. 2006 Field Notes point out that "Bigfoot/sasquatch field research also bears a tricky responsibility...knowing which information to not release publicly, such as specific locations in sensitive areas, or any other information that could be used by people with violent intentions," their pictures and accounts show they camped in Watoga State Park, and hiked the Greenbrier River Trail, in our part of the county. In October, these parks are high traffic areas for leaf peepers and mountain bikers, and local folks (apparently including Bigfoot and family) like to get out and enjoy the pretty fall weather too. Although several of my neighbors practically live in the woods, winter and summer, without seeing anything more exotic than mountain lions, the BRFO party had no sooner stepped away from their camp site than they were assaulted by a band of rock-throwing Bigfoots (Bigfeet?).

On this expedition indicative sounds were heard each day within a five mile radius of the base camp. On Saturday night a group of thirteen (13) participants said they were approached and intimidated by 2-3 sasquatches on a trail along a tributary of the Greenbrier. The incident lasted 2 hours. During the encounter there was one brief Class A sighting by Patty Lee (NC-BFRO) when the headlamp of Olof Seaman (VA-BFRO) briefly illiminated a large sasquatch as he (Olof) moved along a trail back towards his group. Those who were present came away very excited (some were slightly traumatized) by the encounter. They were unanimously adamant that the sasquatches were trying to keep them "herded" together, by skillfully throwing large rocks in the paths of those who tried to separate and move away from the group. After two hours the activity ceased.

Now that sounds pretty credible. I was on the lookout and kept glancing in my rear view mirror. There were some rocks in the trail too. That tunnel looks like a perfect place for bigfeet to hang out. Good thing I brought my bike light along.

Droop Mountain Tunnel

I rode through the Droop Mountain tunnel and turned around for the ride back to Marlinton. Temperatures stayed mild in the 70's. I had a great ride. My mileage was 52 miles.