If I could catch as many fish as I took flower pictures, I would be in paradise. Similar to Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park, you could take pictures in all seasons and they would be different. We didn’t see any bears or signs of bears, but surely they are here. There are lots of deer and rabbits, but they are both wary of people. In Big Meadows, you can walk right up to them, and bear are plentiful.
Expert photographer, Mark Zablotsky, recommended an app to identify flowers – Picture This, and it is great. You have to have internet, of which there is none in Hidden Valley, but when you get home, I just took a picture of a picture and it quickly identifies a plant, tells you the origin, uses, how it might be used in your home garden and much more.
With a macro lens or a phone, you can get good pictures of flowers. The difficulty is getting pictures of a bunch of flowers and to get them in focus. Looking into photostacking.
The Jackson River Trail is approximately 16 miles long following the Jackson River flowing south from Cedar Creek To downtown Covington, Virginia. We wanted to ride from Cedar Creek down, but that section isn’t finished yet, so we went down to Natural Well, first riding north as far as we could, then riding south for about an hour before turning around. It is a beautiful trail with great scenery of farmland and the Jackson River. We talked to a few people, but mostly we had it to ourselves.
After loading the bikes in the truck we drove up the mountain to explore Lake Moomaw from the east side. There is a very nice campground with shower houses at the top of the mountain with very few people there. Driving down the mountain, we found a beautiful sandy beach with only two people there on a hot July day. At the bottom of the mountain the road ended at the bottom of the Gathright Dam, which should be a great tailwater fishery, but I think there is only a short section that you can fish. Not far down is a beautiful private property.
Lake Moomaw is 2,530-acre cold water lake fed and drained by the Jackson River. It boasts 40 miles of undeveloped shoreline. There is a nice campground on the other side as well.
We chilled back at camp for a couple of hours before exploring the bird trail in Hidden Valley. I was surprised by the numbers of birds in trees surrounding a marshy-looking low area. Like the day before, we were amazed at the variety of wildflowers that were worked by bees and butterflies. An ebird list of Hidden Valley birds identified 127 species! Sadly, in a perfect setting, not one quail was noted. Maybe next time I will take the big lens, a tripod, water and some snacks and sit on a bench.
I have been to Hidden Valley several times to fish the Jackson River, but I wanted to return to explore more of the area. A beautiful B&B, Warwickton built in 1848, sits in the heart of the property, but I love staying in the campground with our Airstream. The campsite fee is $15, and is only half of that with a Senior National Park Pass. Originally I was going by myself, since Martha was going to Africa with her girl friends. However, the flight was cancelled, so they returned home from Atlanta. Well, it isn’t Africa, but she decided to come along and discover Hidden Valley.
After loading groceries and clothes, we got an early start for a pretty two-hour drive to Warm Springs. We drove around the campground a couple of times to select a site, which is difficult because they are all nice. We got setup, fixed some lunch and went for a walk. there are about 200 acres of “hay fields” that are just loaded with wildflowers. Well-maintained paths are cut around and through the fields. Butterflies and bees are busy gathering nectar from all the flowers. It was hot in the sun, even though it was about 8 degrees cooler than at home. The elevation is about 1,500′ with mountains surrounding it in 8,000 acres of George Washington National Forest. The Jackson River runs through the valley with 6.5 miles of river. Connecting to the north is Poor Farm, offering more river frontage and dispersed camping. My goal for tomorrow was to hike to Poor Farm along the river, crossing the swinging bridge. On Wednesday I wanted to bike the Jackson Trail, a rails-to-trails, well-developed trail along the Jackson River.
Trying to keep things simple, we just brought the Cobb Stove, a small grill that uses 6-10 lumps of charcoal. Martha is a great camp cook, cooking chicken for me, a pork chop for her and a riot of peppers, onions and squash. It was wonderful. There is no cell phone service in the valley and no radio or TV reception. It is interesting to spend four days without things we feel are “essential”. I had a new book by Kelly Sutton, A River Runs Through It Outdoor Reflections. I finished that the first day, and found it quite entertaining. We have been hunting and fishing together for a very long time. You can find his book on Amazon.
I get up early every day, but I slept till 5:00, which is quite good for me. With all the windows open, it had cooled to about 69 degrees, which was perfect with a sheet. Birds were waking and talking to each other, so I crept out to the field to look for a deer or perhaps a bear, but no such luck. We knew it was going to be a hot day for an 8-mile round trip hike, so we filled the water bottles and packed some granola bars and sandwiches. We were off by 7:15.
We drove up to the trail head in front of the elegant Warwickton. Our phones would have to do for cameras today. We had already seen four deer and several rabbits. The grass was wet with dew, and it was a beautiful morning for a hike. Deer, rabbits, butterflies and bees were everywhere. After two hay fields, we were in the forest, nice and cool. It took about 45 minutes to get to the first bridge, where I went straight toward Muddy Run. The trail followed it along until it crossed the now small stream. We saw a blaze on a tree on the other side, so we crossed, but were unable to follow the trail. Disappointed, we headed back down.
When we got to the bridge, we decided to cross and see where that went. It led back to the Jackson River and the famous swinging bridge. We paused in the middle to admire the beautiful river, then crossed to the other side. A sign pointed to the right to Poor Farm in 2.5 miles, but we had spent our energy going up Muddy Run. I turned around to cross back over the bridge when I was attacked by yellow jackets, quickly running back to the side. those little things just stick to you and keep stinging until you smack them off.
Well, fortunately the path went in both directions, so we headed downstream, hoping to end up at Warwickton. With no phone service and no map, we weren’t really sure where we were going, but hopefully not up and over the mountain to Back Creek. As long as it followed the river, we should be good, but we were on the mountain side, so it went up and down on a narrow trail.
After a lot of trekking, we indeed found ourselves in front of Warwickton. Crossing a bridge we saw a man leading people on a horse ride. Now THAT’S the way to do it! We talked to him for a bit, getting his information before they jogged on. We were tired, hungry and thirsty by the time we got back to camp, but it was all good, except for a bunch of itching bee stings.
