Originally Posted by Dave9
My favorite spot is getting the H3CK out of that S-hole.
It's a den of meth and heroin addicts, where you can't walk alone for a mile without a gun.
It's a beautiful place, ruined by people who want a way out and self-medicate instead. Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.
Yes it is like stepping back in time, but in a bad way, when you consider what the midwestern hills were like back in time.
Hopefully you have a scenic resort vacation isolated from the reality of that region. Ignorance is bliss.
Despite my negativity, congratulations, I wish the best for you! Please leave for your own safety.
This was hilarious! You have a great dry sense of humor!
Yes, West Virginia does have issues, and its fair share of ne'er-do-wells, as does every state. To us, it seemed that the state has sort of been "left behind". We stayed in Parkersburg (Out West) for a couple of nights, and then drove from there, through Charleston, down to the Fayetteville area (Hico, to be exact, a few miles from the New River Gorge Bridge/National River).
The parts of West Virginia that we saw, looked, to us, very mid-20th Century. Lots of post-WWII homes, many of which, sadly, haven't been maintained. Many have even fallen in, or are in the process of collapse.
I read that WV has the oldest per-capita pop. of seniors, of any state. Young people are moving out to find work, because there's a decline in coal, oil and gas, and chemicals. So, the population is declining.
Charleston was a cool looking city. It has a downtown section, with the typical mid to late 20th century tall office bldgs, and a lot of the city, with it being so hilly and craggy, seems perched on cliffs. It is a city I'd like to go back to and explore when times return to normal.
We had a wonderful time in Hico. We rented a nice 2BR "cabin", which was actually a nice, fully-furnished house with all the amenities, including a full kitchen, satellite TV, gas grill on the spacious front porch (I cooked out all 3 nights we were there), and hot tub.
We explored lots of trails around the bridge, including the Endless Wall Trail, which was awesome.
There is a road that goes down one side of the gorge and up the other, starting at the Visitor Center on the east side of the river. I did an awesome run, down the east side of the gorge, next to the bridge, and up the other side, and then back down to the bottom, where the wife picked me up. Awesome views of the bridge and gorge. Got in 10 miles.
Yesterday, we decided to chance the 3.5-hr drive up to Spruce Knob (highest point in WV - 4800'), even though someone here said it was closed. Well, they did have a barricade sign blocking the road, but someone had moved it slightly, and we were able to drive around it and get up there. Just gorgeous up there, although the blowing mist and fog obscured the view from the observation tower. We also went to Spruce Lake. It was really cool, getting to drive around all those deserted fire roads. It felt like one of the most remote, deserted locales I've ever been to, Despite the fact that it's not all that far removed from civilization. I'll tell you this - if we would have had a vehicle problem or a crash or something, it might have taken a while to get going again, especially since much of the area doesn't have cell reception.
To get to Spruce Knob from the Hico area, I chose a route that had us in the Monongahela National Forest, almost the whole way. The roads that I love - Crooked, twisting, turning, undulating, up, down, switchbacks...are just endless in this part of WV. Paradise for motorcycle riders and sport-driving enthusiasts...though I didn't see anyone else enjoying the roads, except for aggressive mining truck drivers and bro-dozers, who think they own the road, and don't respond well to being passed (read: they downshift and attempt to speed up when you pass!). Seriously, we encountered SEVERAL very aggressive drivers! We tried to see the Green Bank radio telescope, but, again, due to the current situation, it was closed and we could only see a small part of the receiver (but we could tell it's huge).