Marlinton to Cass

The only restaurant open in Marlinton on Sunday night is the Greenbrier Grille. The review of it at the Inn said that the food was average and the service inconsistent. That was an understatement! The food was not so bad. We had tomato basil soup and avocado panetta. Eventually. The waitress was pleasant enough, but there seemed to be no method or organization to how the place was run, so it took much longer than it should have to have dinner. We relaxed afterward on the front porch, where we met two brothers, one from the Lower East Side of New York and one from Boston, traveling together on their motorcycles. They were loving the winding and climbing on roads like the one we had experienced that morning. Then came Ben, a young man in his late 20s who had recently sold all of his possessions and was visiting family in the east before heading across the country on his motorcycle to live in San Francisco. He was eager for the adventure and gave us his blog address: www.anywhereness.org. We are looking forward to following his travels. After chatting for a while, we headed up to bed, lulled to sleep by the sixty mile ride that day and the rain falling outside. Perfect timing on the rain: it was finished by the time we got up and ready to roll, and was enough to cut down on dust on the trail but not make it too muddy. We had the 25 miles to Cass before us. Although it might seem boring to do the same trail, going in the opposite direction gives you a chance to see things you missed on the way down. Like the campsite on the river with the Ford Explorer firmly lodged on rocks in the middle of the river. We weren't sure if it had been there Friday; it actually had all the signs of a wild Saturday night event, preceded by those famous words: Watch this! We really wanted to know the story, but had to make up our own version, since the campsite was deserted. We also came upon a beautiful waterfall that we had missed on the way down, just because of the angle to the road. It was one of those places that doesn't photograph nearly as beautiful as it is in real life, so although we took some pictures we also spent a good amount of time just staring. We had decided to ride all the way to Cass. Our car was actually in a parking lot about a half-mile from the actual end of the trail. Cass was a company town for a wood pulp mill that served a paper mill. The railroad track was originally built to serve the logging industry, and connected Cass to Lewisburg, a much bigger town. The town consists of about 40 identical company houses, painted white and perched in rows on the hillside. They can now be rented by tourists in groups of up to 12. There is a steam locomotive train that does various tours into the mountains, a general store with a restaurant and hiking trails. It was surprisingly enjoyable, since I hadn't really expected much to be there. It looks like a great place for a group road trip. On the way home, we couldn't resist a climb up to the lodge at Snowshoe ski resort. It is a much higher elevation that either Seven Springs or Holiday Valley, the two resorts I'm most familiar with. Though I can't imagine driving there in snowy weather, the views are magnificent and it looks like good skiing. So all in all, a short but satisfying break. We highly recommend the area and the trail.

Back to Marlinton

Today started out as a true WV adventure. Reluctant to backtrack to the beginning of the trail, thus adding miles, Bob checked the map and found a route that took us overland to a spot on the trail at about milepost 11. It involved some back-country roads that were fortunately devoid of traffic. The houses and settings were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The road itself was another matter. It was paved, mostly, but the paved part narrowed several times until it was really barely one lane. I have no idea what drivers do when they meet each other, or when their vehicles are large. I also have no idea what these people do all winter! We knew that the overland route would mean some hill-climbing, but reasoned that we were headed from a town high on a hill to the river, so it would be mostly downhill. That turned out to be an understatement. I said prayers of thanks that we wren't traveling in the opposite direction as we plunged down what seemed like walls toward the trail. Bob's hands ached from using the brakes and we were very happy that we had just replaced the 10-inch disk on our rear brake just last week. All things considered, though, it was a smooth trip to the trail and we were happily pedalling along soon enough. Today the trail was a little busier than yesterday, both with people nd wildlife. We saw a few cyclists as we headed north, and things picked up the farther north we came. We ran into the Tennessee group again, in their neon green shirts, as we took a peanut butter break at the same campsite we'd stopped at yesterday. Wee got caught up on their news and headed out. Just as we passed some oncoming cyclists, three deer crossed the trail so close that we had to brake to avoid hitting them. It felt like being on the highway in a car. Then, during a stop to photograph some windflowers, we scared a large and very fast snake off some rocks he was using to sun himself. Some birds of prey called back and forth in the woods above us, and a couple of groundhogs munched on the side of the trail. Our second food stop was a place on the trail about 10 miles from here, Jack Horner's Corner. It was a combination pizza place, grocery store and souvenir shop that also rented tubes and kayaks for the river. It's the only game for many miles, and the service reflected that, but they had really good birch beer to go with our sandwiches, and it was a much needed break. So we Are now ensconced once again in the comfort of the Old Clark Inn, ready for dinner and a quiet evening, before we ride the 25 miles back to the car tomorrow. Don't know what the day will bring, but I think there could be Venezuelan food in our future!

Lewisburg, WV

This morning started out with lively conversation over breakfast. The group staying in the Inn with us turned out to be a bunch of retired teachers from Tennessee. They were doing the trail in sections, using two "sag wagons," vehicles driven by two people in the group to drop them off and pick them up at the end of their ride. It is unlikely we will run into them again, since they were headed to the trailhead at Cass where we left our car, and riding to about 10 miles beyond Marlinton. They promised to check on our Prius when they got there. The trail is, as predicted, beautiful. We bought peanut butter, bread and oranges before we left this morning, since there really are no towns along the way with places to eat. It was a perfect morning for riding, and we actually switched to clear lenses in our sunglasses, since the canopy of trees created deep shade for a lot of the ride. It was uneventful, which can be nice. Bob had a chance to take a swim in the river, we enjoyed two peanut butter breaks at tables in campsites that were peaceful and beautiful. All was well until a very loud blowout puncture! I won't say what I exclaimed when it sounded like a shotgun went off and we limped to a stop. Bob got the tube changed quickly, with the dubious "help" of a hound who was most curious about us. He sniffed around the bike until two runners going by distracted him and he took off after them. We reached the end of the trail about 3:30 and headed off down the road in the direction of Lewisburg, where we had a reservation at the Quality Inn. That five miles gave us a real taste of West Virginia Hills! We climbed and climbed, dropped a little into Lewisburg, then climbed some more to the motel. We just enjoyed a dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Spoiler alert to our ski trip buddies: the menu did NOT include creamy mashed cauliflower. We will return there a little later for dessert, which we feel we earned from the hill-climbing. Tomorrow, we return to the Clark Inn in Marlinton.

The Greenbrier Trail

Since this will not be a year for a long bike trip, we've contented ourselves with weekend trips. We warmed up in the fall and spring with trips to Franklin PA via the Allegheny River Trail and Confluence on the Yough Trail. A couple of Sundays ago, the P-G ran an article about the Greenbrier Trail in southern West Virginia. Today we drove through some beautiful mountains through Elkins. That had been designated as our lunch stop, and fortunately we got our phone signal back just as we reached town. Google maps showed a Venezuelan restaurant, of all things, so of course that was our choice. It did not disappoint. At the waiter's recommendation we order a "Number 3 & a Number 4" to split. That meant we split an arepa, an empanada and a cachupa. Wow! I'm already lobbying for another stop on our way home Monday. We arrived in Cass, built the bike, and headed down the trail at about 3:15. We had been told numerous times that we were doing this the wrong way: most people start at the southern end and do the "uphill" ride first, then head downstream afterwards. We couldn't justify adding a couple or three hours to the drive from Pittsburgh, though, so here we are, doing this all wrong. It feels right, though. We arrived at the Old Clark Inn in Marlinton at about 5:30. There was already a group on the porch enjoying happy hour. Andrea, our hostess got us settled in and gave us a tour of the place. It is great and we would stay here again in a heartbeat. In response to my inquiry about whether there was a place in town I could buy a bottle of wine to join the group on the porch, she offered me a partial bottle of a delicious red wine that a guest had left her. She doesn't drink red, but likes the bottle; I don't want to lug the bottle, but like the red inside it. Couldn't have worked out any better. At her recommendation, we tried the Snak Shak. Contrary to our experiences across the Midwest, we had a great meal in a very small town. The pizza was delicious, the service excellent and the young man who owns the place very interesting to talk to. Currently we are enjoying the wine on the front porch, making use of the Inn's wifi and laughing at the battling hummingbirds fighting for their nectar from the feeders hanging here. Life is good. Tomorrow we head toward Lewisburg, where we have reservations at the Quality Inn. If the scenery today was any indication, we will be steeped in gorgeousness.