The quiet little town of Durbin, WV is cradled within the beautiful Monongahela National Forest. We met up with Mike and Tracy there and spent a couple great days chilling and exploring a bit. A leisurely trail walk…complete with a first hand lesson in forest creature life cycle thanks to a dead deer along the trail…yucky yet fascinating. A very slow, curly, gravel road ride up to Spruce Knob…we took the back way up and it included a “rough road” warning from the only oncoming driver we met.

Hoofing it up to Seneca Rocks, 1000ft elevation in about 1 ¼ miles. It was a bit of a hike but we were glad we did it. The view of the rugged rock spine was actually better from our balcony table at the diner where we found ourselves after the hike.

The Bluegrass jam session at the Elkins Park. Locals and passersby are welcome to pluck and strum and sing. It is a great concept, fun for the listeners too.

The chefs at home whipped up some pretty delicious meals… a BBQ rib dinner and biscuits-n-gravy breakfast were probably the highlights.

The long way home. We drove Skyline Drive back to York. It was slow and curly with lots of bicyclists so a bit tough on the driver. Despite the bright sunny day, haze shrouded the long views. Even on a less than perfect day it was still beautiful. All was made even better by the wildlife. We spied many deer hidden back in the thick forest and a total of 6 black bears. We watched and listened as two yearlings clambered up a tree in response to a warning bark from what looked to be their sibling. They all ran off when “Mom” burst through and barked her remarks. Others were seen rolling rocks for grubs, digging roots along the ditch line, and cruising the meadow for berries. Samantha (our slightly demented and frequently confused GPS) repeatedly directed us down steep gravel fire break roads as she incessantly urged us down off the Parkway. It is a non-truck route after all and not the quickest route either. Kent ignored her, all went well.