Getting to know our West Virginia property made it start to feel more like home. The landscape was more diverse than expected and it was so fun to walk around!
I already felt an affinity for the land when we first purchased it, but then I discovered a whole new dimension to it. Exploring a different set of logging roads took us much closer to the wet weather stream and then back up towards the top of the property which I thought was really cool.
The changing elevation and landscape compared to the wooded areas higher up made it a lot more interesting and unique. My mind started racing with ideas for all the places where we could put rest areas with benches or tables for snack breaks (or maybe a reading and meditation area :). I’ve only been able to make it out there a handful of times since we purchased the property, but each time, I had only explored a limited area of the property which had one particular logging road and forested area – so this was all new to me!
Exploring a new path sparked intrigue
There was so much to take in when we strolled the new path. we walked started out closer to the entrance of the property, and was originally a logging road. Unlike the rest of the property, the path starts out in the open (lots of sun) and overlooks a road to one side. We walked down this path for a bit before making it into the more forested areas.
Moving deeper into the wooded areas and towards the wet weather stream, we saw fiddleheads starting to unfurl. There were some areas of the path that were totally green almost like they were covered in patches of grass. But really these were what looked like different types of green cover like clovers or other things. It looked magical, with the green floors and the towering mountainside and trees above us!
Mr. Nacho used his binoculars to look at the mountainside across the creek (which is also within our property line). We talked about what could be the best way to get over there and explore (we didn’t have a great solution). The land there is quite steep but looks like there might be small caves to explore (being mindful of any bears and their hibernation season). He also tried using this new bird identifier app created by Cornell University Lab of Ornithology which was pretty cool. It can identify birds by sight, sound, and image. The app tried listening to bird sounds and the image below were the suggested best matches.
There were so many pretty rocky outcroppings we passed by and I wanted to explore them all! Many of these could be considered rest spots and places to put little benches.
We learned how much work building a trail is going to be
Clearing a full path will take a long time – but it will be fun and rewarding to do when we’re able to get around to it. We tried clearing leaves and debris as we walked the path – especially when there was no clear path. After some time it was very clear that it was going to be way more work to continue doing this. We would need hours and hours more to really devote the time to making it a clean trail.
Once we got far enough down the path, we wanted to connect the trail back up to the top of the mountain where our proposed build site was. We made little marks in the dirt to create potential switchbacks up the mountain. Perhaps these will be areas we try to clear out more in the future. I also plan to start researching more about trail building best practices.
A brief pass through our tent and build sites
We continued towards the top and walked towards the top of the property line just to see it. On our way back down a different path, we passed our proposed tent site and build site along the way. Mr. Nacho met with an excavator not too long ago and they walked the property together. They ended up finding a better build site than what we had originally planned for. This spot was higher up and still had potential for nice views on either side of the mountain. On this new proposed build site, we found a singular blooming dogwood tree which I hope we’ll be able to keep!
That’s all for now. Check out video highlights from our exploration on this day:
