HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TED C.!
TRAVEL DAY: THURMONT, MARYLAND TO BRUCETON MILLS, WEST VIRGINIA.
Day 26 – We hope you had a wonderful birthday, Ted. Hi Carol. Did you guys go somewhere fun for dinner?
It was 38 degrees this morning when we got up at 7:30 a.m. While we got ready to leave for our next campground, the girls lined up on the dashboard and looked out the windshield at the Sparrows walking around on the roof of the Honda. Kept them occupied until they realized we were packing up.
We departed at 10:45 a.m. It was 41 degrees and sunny. The first part of the drive was through the beautiful Catoctin State Forest on Route 77 with its winding, narrow road. We eventually came out of these mountains and traveled through hilly farmland. Then it was back to climbing mountains where there was some fall color. We got gas along the way and stopped for lunch at the Discover Mountain Maryland Visitor Center & Victor Cushwa Memorial Bridge rest stop off I-68 west. The views were incredible.
The Maryland western mountains are really beautiful and this drive turned out to be even more pretty with the fall colors, even though some were muted and others were past prime. We continued west on I-68, entered West Virginia, and in about 10 miles turned north on Coopers Rock State Park Road. We soon began to climb again on an extremely narrow and winding barely-two-lane road where we had to stop completely to allow oncoming traffic to get by (or go into a ditch by the side of the road)! We arrived at our destination, McCollum Campground in Coopers Rock State Forest at 2:35 p.m., 46 degrees and sunny. We got some fresh water and found our campsite, #15. Again, we had made reservations without seeing the campsite first, and the site was not level at all, with the driver’s side requiring 6 blocks of wood to level. But, when we made reservations at this campground, we got the last available site for the weekend. Dang those weekend crowds!
The campground was lovely. Lots of beautiful trees with nice fall colors. We also had electric hook-ups. The cats will again get their heated pads. Oh happy day! We set up camp, then left for a drive to check out the area. When we got here, there was no one at the check-in station so we didn’t get any literature that would show us what was available. So, we decided to drive around and find out on our own.
As it turned out, this is a gorgeous Park, although there were signs warning of rattlesnakes and bears! Main activities appear to be lots of hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing. There was also another campground, Rhododendron Campground. We drove through – it was tents only. This whole State Forest was amazing! Beautiful trees, mountainous rocky terrain, and it just happened there were some fall colors at peak. Just lovely. As we drove further, we saw several VERY old buildings in the Park. Since we didn’t have the literature to give us information, we don’t have more details, nevertheless they were very interesting. A couple of them were now being used as picnic pavilions. There was also a trail to the Henry Clay Furnace, an old historic iron furnace, 30 feet wide by 30 feet tall, and many other trails leading to scenic views. The parking lots to all the sights were about ½ full of hikers and bikers, and it’s not the weekend yet. Tomorrow will tell how crowded it gets, but this is indeed an area worth revisiting.
Returning to the RV, we found the girls had already settled in, finding their pads were heated and warm. Nothing like a little electricity to make someone’s day.