Greenbrier River Trail, Taggart Flyer, Blackwater Falls State Park, and Ryder John

 

May 15, 2024

Stop me if this sounds familiar, but we awoke early and left our campsite before dawn. We drove in the foggy cold morning (35 degrees!) to the nearby town of Cass, where we parked at the railroad station. Other cars and people were already there as they were participating in a foot race on the Allegheny Trail; fortunately, in the opposite direction we would be traveling. Larry put the bikes together, and we started our 88-mile journey on the Greenbrier Trail before 8 am.

The day proved epic in a “push yourself to your limits” sort of way. The weather was fickle, starting cold and foggy, warming into the 60s by lunch, then clouding with rain as we finished. The Rails to Trails is just that – a trail on a rail bed, so sometimes very narrow with steep drop-offs, which wasn’t a factor for the trains as they rode the rails. We saw many deer and bunnies, plus some evidence of bears. Sometimes, we rode alongside the Greenbrier River, often in the forest and also through a few towns.

We stopped about one-third of the way for a quick lunch at Rivertown Cafe in Marlinton. The egg and bacon burritos plus warm coffees were just the pick-me-up we needed. Both of us realized that 88 miles would be a stretch for us, rationing the two batteries on our e-bikes, finishing in time to meet the shuttle back to Cass, watching the weather, and making ourselves keep a brisk pace.

Larry was phenomenal without one complaint for the misadventure I’d inflicted on us. The last time we biked this far was along the Trail of the Couer d’Alenes several years ago. Our rumps were tired and muscles aching, but we wisely drank plenty of electrolyte water and ate salty snacks. We enjoyed the scenery, though having more time for stops would have been nice! We made it to the Caldwell Trailhead 20 minutes early, and our ride showed up 10 minutes early.

Whew!! He drove 90 minutes back to Cass, entertaining and enlightening us with local and personal history. Larry disassembled and loaded the bikes back into the RAM, finishing just as it started to pour. We drove to the ranger station near our campground and took the best hot showers in forever. Back at our campsite, we made a quick dinner and climbed into bed.

Sunday was not a day to sleep in as we needed to catch our train ride at 11 am, and it was at least a 1.5-hour drive away. We packed up and made it to Elkins early enough for a quick Walmart shopping trip and refueling the RAM at Sheetz. After backing the truck camper into a spot near the station where it wouldn’t be in the way, we checked in at the train station.

I had booked us a Mother’s Day ride from 11 am-3:30 pm to High Falls on the New Taggart Flyer in the Parlor Car.

The Parlor Car gave us a buffet lunch, one glass of wine, personal service, dessert, and free drinks.

It was so peaceful and lovely—we enjoyed the scenery this time as we weren’t biking.

Hey, we earned these yesterday!

I can say that it was a really, really beautiful day!

Both daughters touched base with me for Mother’s Day, and our youngest revealed that she was scheduled for a C-Section the next day as her son was still breech (like his older sister). So exciting!!

We camped just a short distance from the Elkins Train Depot at Stuart Recreation area, where we switched sites in the deserted campground from #9 to #26 as there was no way we could get anywhere near level on site #9. On Monday, we finally reserved a campsite in Schoodic Woods in Acadia for later this summer. We have been trying without success on our separate reservation accounts for over a week, but we each got a site that day! Larry’s site was better than the one I got, so we went with his reservation. We drove to Blackwater Falls State Park, where we walked to the Falls before hiking the Lindy Point trail, where a fellow hiker pointed out some wild lady slippers.

We’d been in touch with our son-in-law, who told us that eight-pound Ryder John had arrived, and both mother and baby were doing well. Another reason we came east this season was to be near them if they needed help, but the two West Pointers again have everything under control and are enjoying family bonding time.

We stayed at the nearby RestRite campground for a few days, hiked Elakala Falls, and found the Balanced Rock despite some missing trail markers.

Most importantly, we briefly chatted with our daughter and met our grandson!

Wow! Life is Good!

 

I have always thought that time was the sneakiest thief of all, as you are robbed of your most valuable resource slowly, insidiously, and without any recourse to recover it, but the birth of grandchildren is a magical, wondrous glimpse of eternity. Khalil Gibran said it best in one of my favorite poems:

On Parenting

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you.

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts,

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you,

For life goes not backwards nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees his mark on the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might so that His arrows might go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.