No Snow? Let's go hiking...

We've been hiking a lot this month. It has been unseasonably warm, the skiing is barely worth it, so we've been hiking instead! Last weekend was White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run loop which was really challenging -- steep and long. Today we hiked Little Devil's Stairs -- short & steep and always pretty.

It was cold & icy at White Oak Canyon.

The sun helped keep us warm as we hiked up.

There was s lot of eye candy along the way.

We've decided that Little Devil's Stairs is the best, closest hike. Less than 2 hours, spectacular scenery, good upward hiking, interesting rocks, and the fire road down isn't a slog.

In the canyon.

Nature's art gallery

Click to see the barbed wire growing through this fungus covered tree.

WV Weekend

We skiied at Canaan Valley State Park, which is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. We not only got to ski, but enjoyed free cake and free entertainment by the Davisson Brothers, a band that is well connected in Nashville bluegrass circles (think Del McCoury & sons, Sam Bush) to celebrate their anniversary.

The cake was about five feet long -- didn't fit in the viewfinder!

Donnie & Chris Davisson from the Davisson Brothers Band.

Hanging out with Chris Davisson, ski boots and all.

Bob can ski and take video at the same time!

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The next day we went down to Seneca Rocks and did the "walk-down-memory-lane-grand-traverse-hike". We basically hiked and scrambled our way along the base of and through the cliffs, and reminisced about the days when Bob (and Anna to a lesser extent) used to climb all over the place here. The hike was just strenuous enough to remind us that we skied the previous day, but we generally felt really good. Our hike ended at the viewing platform at the end of the non-climbers trail, which we took back down to the van.

Climbers trail sign

Looking at "Triple-S" (the one in the corner), one of Bob's favorite rock climbs back in the day.

View from the top, looking west.