Category: Our Area

A Hole in Our Map?

Take a quick peek at the map. What do you see? Or, more importantly, what don’t you see?

East Coast Light Pollution

While I love riddles and trick questions, this isn’t one. There is an explanation.

The image displays levels of light pollution on the East Coast. The brighter the color, you guessed it, the more light. You will notice there is a “hole”.

Take a look at cell phone coverage maps. There it is again.

Road maps? Yup, you guessed it, same thing.

We Are In a Hole…Sort of
Opossum Creek Retreat is on the south-western edge of the “hole” you see in the maps. We spend a lot of family time inside the void, for good reason. While the maps and images may lead you to believe there is nothing there, in fact, it is full of things to do and discover.

The Monongahela National Forest
West Virginia has plenty of public lands, more than 1.5 million acres, with The Monongahela National Forest taking-up close to a million acres alone. Just about anything you can think of to do outside, can be done within the Mon boundaries.

  • 825 miles of trails
  • 576 miles of trout stream
  • 8 Wilderness areas encompassing almost 100,000 acres
  • 75 different tree species exist in the forest
  • Elevation ranges from 1000′ – 4863′ above sea level

Nearby Favorite
Located about 45 minutes from our cabin rentals is ‘The Cranberry’. Near the National Forest’s southern boundary, a visit to The Cranberry is like venturing to another latitude. Literally.

Red Admiral Butterfly enjoying the late summer wild flowers in The Cranberry Backcountry

This area is the southernmost hold-out from the Great Ice Age of the Pleistocene. The result? It’s like going to the Canadian tundra, without a border crossing, or Loonies, or anyone ending sentences with “A”.

The plants and animals you might encounter along the Botanical Area boardwalk are from the great white north. Red Crossbills (a bird I have yet to see), Canada Warblers, Skunk Cabbage wild flowers and trees, are all normally only found much further north.

Bears & Scenic Drives
Black Bears are beautiful, graceful creatures. They are plentiful in and around The Cranberry, in fact we see one on almost every trip over. However, don’t let that stop you from making the trek, make it a reason to go!

Be sure to stop in the visitor center (a great one) for a map, some books, great exhibits and modern facilities. Then take a trip across the Highland Scenic Highway for a “Sunday Drive” to remember.

There is so much to do while you are in the “hole”, we couldn’t possibly share it all in one post. After your next trip, be sure to share the photos.

What is your favorite thing about The Mon?

4 Ways to Enjoy the Fall Colors in the New River Gorge

My favorite time of year? It’s hands down. Fall.

Country Roads

Since childhood, the anticipation of fall has excited me. It’s quite simply the best time of year to be outside.

  • Cooler Temperatures
  • Clear Blue Skies
  • Leaves Changing Color
  • Football Season
  • “sweatshirt weather”
  • Hunting Season
  • Fresh Apple Pie (I Like Pie)

Need I say more? No, but I’m going to.

Fall also brings about the harvest. Fresh apples (did someone say pie?!) and pumpkins, the site of freshly-cut hay bales dotting the fields. There is just nothing like a crisp, cool, fall-evening and the smell of fresh-baked apple pie coming from the kitchen. Folks, that right there…is living.

Fall Foliage
Whether you are an honest-to-goodness leaf-peeper, or a casual admirer, there is no arguing that the star of fall is the “show” of colors. From the first tinge of color in September, the woods are generally on fire with color by late October. No matter which camp you might subscribe, I guarantee that full-fall color in the New River Gorge will take your breath away.

4 Ways to Enjoy Fall Colors in the New River Gorge

  • Hike Long Point Trail

    • This is my personal favorite hike. Long Point trail begins just outside of Fayetteville and offers a breathtaking view of the New River Gorge, and New River Gorge Bridge, at the end of the 1.6 mile hike.

  • Hike (some more!) Fern Creek Trail

    • A beautiful walk through the woods along Fern Creek. This trail also has some amazing views of the Gorge.

  • Float Trip on the Upper New River

    • Plenty of long pools of warm water that allow you to check out the colors from the bottom up.

  • Kayak (or Canoe) Hawks Nest Lake

    • The lake and its surroundings provide an incredible scene as you paddle around.  Don’t have a canoe or a kayak, simply visit  Hawks Nest State Park and take the tram to the bottom and enjoy a stroll.

Fall in the New River Gorge truly is an awesome time to take a walk in woods.

What is your favorite thing about fall?

Some Don’t Like Our Name, But We Love It (And Hope You Do Too)

The name of a business is important. Right? It should tell you a lot, with a little. It should give you an idea of what a company does, where it might be and all that good stuff.

Some business names are great, some aren’t. Check that. Some belong in the “What the hell where you thinkin’?” category.

View from Long Point Trail New River Gorge West Virginia

Which brings us to our name. Opossum Creek Retreat. For many, the only exposure to our name sake is on the highway. More often than not, usually not looking its ‘best’ (Cough..road kill). There has to be quite a few folks wondering what we were thinking.

Spelling and Alphabet
Know who doesn’t like our name? The Alphabet. And regular readers of Webster’s.

When you pick-up an area visitor’s guide, we’re always toward the bottom. The letter ‘O’ is nowhere near the beginning of the Alphabet (you knew that, right?). So, as you might imagine, when listings are done alphabetically we are way down there.

Then, we have to deal with silent letters. We aren’t sure who invented silent letters, but he hates us. Why does it start with an ‘O’? Who knows. Perhaps the spelling was passed down from our Irish ancestors.

Also, turns out, Opossum is kind of hard to spell. Don’t believe us? Check out the July 27th thread on our Facebook Fan Page. It’s very funny. Not really “ha ha” funny but funny as in, “How did any of us pass 4th grade?”. No one can spell Opossum, we even misspell it from time to time!

We’re starting to get a bit of a complex here.

Google’d
As if we weren’t already feeling a bit insecure, Google also hates our name. Like it or not, Google (and Bing) has become the way lots of businesses like us “do” business these days.

It’s the Google-fication of America. Google acts a lot like an old friend at a party full of people we don’t know. It introduces us to great folks we hadn’t the opportunity to meet before. Perhaps someone like you.

Hi. Nice to meet you. Let the ‘Possification begin.

Well, it appears that in order for Google to help introduce us to folks, that might like what we have to offer, Google has to like our name. We wish they liked it more. I could have named the business West Virginia Cabin Rentals. After all, we have cabins for rent and we are in West Virginia. Makes sense right?

  • Our name doesn’t include the words ‘Cabin Rentals‘. Google frowns a bit.
  • Our website address doesn’t include the words ‘West Virginia cabin rentals’. Google no-likey.
  • Our web address and name don’t really say what we have here: rental cabins.
  • Our guests know we do more than just “rent cabins”. Does Google care? No.
  • One thing Google does like (love) about us? Our content. We like to share lots of local information on the New River Gorge Area of West Virginia. In fact, Google says we are experts. Thanks Google.

Why We Love Our Name (And Hope You Do Too)
When I named the business more than 15 years ago, Google didn’t exist and the Internet was still a baby. All I was thinking was this: “It’s a cute name and people will remember it”. I think it worked. Many repeat guest have remembered it and have returned time and time again.

Cabin Rentals in West Virginia

We love our name. It does tell you about what we do, and where we are. Proof? The Farm House, our first rental, sits on the banks of Opossum Creek.

Our goal, the same as 15 years ago, is to provide a place where you can retreat from it all and relax.

Get it? Opossum Creek… Retreat. Our name is here to stay no matter what Google may think of it.

I Was Invited To The Greenbrier Classic (But I Did Cabin Rentals Instead)

Free Greenbrier Classic PGA Tour tickets for me? Really?  Why, I would love to.  But I can’t. Thank you, though.

The Greenbrier: West Virginia Cabin Rentals are just over the mountains in the background.

I had to repeat that a few times last week.

What was I thinking?! I should have dropped everything on the to do list at our rental cabins to be at there. Do over please?

It was hot, rainy, and  (oh,who am I kidding) it was great. Many of the players commented on how much they loved WV, like  this quote from Jeff Overton in an interview:

“It’s just a great place,” Overton said. “It’s pretty cool what they’ve done with it here. I never knew anything like this existed in West Virginia. I knew there were some hidden gems in the world and this is definitely one of them.”

Staurt Appleby, you're welcome to stay at Opossum Creek Retreat your next time through. (Discount rates, too.)

We got tons of PR while on the stage of national TV, which, being a rental cabin guy, I absolutely love.  And I think we all looked very good. The course was in awesome shape, the match was to die for, down to the wire, out of nowhere shooting a 59 to win the inaugural Greenbrier Classic.

Wow.

Who could ask for more? Me.  I could have been there.

What a week it was for WV. Next year, I’ll be ready. They say people were booking cabins and hotel rooms up to two hours away (we’re closer than that, BTW). And we have way better restaurants here than they do over there.  Just sayin’.

So next year, let’s all do a better job of planning ahead and get to the Greenbrier classic for another great event.

Do You Know The New River Gorge? (A Nature Nugget On Shrooms From Keith)

The Shroom that started it all

Last summer was an unusually wet one for the our little  group of vacation rental cabins in the New River Gorge.

I can remember when Paul Shaw (an Opossum Creek Retreat family member) and I spotted the giant gilled mushroom growing from the side of the tree in front of the Over the Hill cabin. That seems to have been the beginning of the “Year of the Shroom”.

I don’t recall ever seeing so many different varieties of mushrooms in the woods as we did last year. Almost every turn revealed a new (to me) fungus on the forest floor. Some were really tiny and some were huge. There were shapes and colors I never imagined from translucent orange and creams to electric, lime green. And I’m a guy that’s spent tons of time in the forest.  It was an amazing adventure every time you stepped into the woods. Every chance I got I was grabbing my camera and heading in to see what new ones I could find.

Paul and I took hundreds of pictures and researched almost every one. Names like Dead Man’s Finger, Wood Ear, Old Man of the Woods and so many more lured me into the fascinating world of fungi.

Just what I needed, another outdoor obsession.

My wife Tammi was amazed by the unusual shapes and colors she even bought me a mushroom book for my birthday. It’s called Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians by William C. Roody. A great reference for the shroom enthusiast.

So, what the heck is a mushroom, anyway?

William Roody defines a mushroom as a fruiting body of a fungus. Most mushrooms are temporary creatures that appear sporadically, depending on environmental conditions. I always thought that most all mushrooms were poisonous and could kill you. After doing some reading and researching I find that there are a lot that are ok to eat. Some are even great to eat.

The most common edible wild mushroom is the insanely delicious Morrell. The Morrell is a local favorite (if you can find them before the turkeys get to ‘em, or someone else). Some locals call the Common Morel “Molly Moocher” or Sponge Mushroom. No matter what you call it, it fares well on the table for sure.

The mushrooms you can find in the gorge area and here around your cabin are plentiful and a lot of fun to look for and look at. Get out there and look around, you’ll be surprised and what you might find. One thing I really like about shrooms, and that you will too, is that they are a lot easier to photograph than birds. To see some of the photos you can visit our Facebook fan page and check out the OCR Fungus Album.

Happy hunting!

The Fastest Zipline Ever (Almost)

The entrance to some family fun at the Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park.
Cool shirts. Plus, they put on a great soccer camp

As a rental cabin owner guy, you get certain perks. This is a post about one of them.

Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park had invited The Opossum Creek Retreat Adventure Team ™ (that’s us) to test drive their Brand New Dual racing Zip line.

Having been a stranger in a strange land, I know it can make you do strange things. So I asked the coaches from our kid’s soccer camp, Challenger Sports (all from England) if they would like to peg the adrenaline meter with us on a zip line and they said “Yep we’re in!” And then they immediately said, “What’s a zip line?”

Thanks to Burning Rock’s hospitality they said yea, bring on the Brits too!

The Burning Rock zipline is always safety first.

There is something really great about taking people outside their comfort zone; when you do, it’s easier for everybody to just laugh out loud at themselves and at each other.  Just another great thing about living in the mountains

Burning Rock has the fastest, longest zipline east of the Rockies, and I’ll say this about it: it feels like you’re flying.

View from top of Burningrock zip line over looking camp ground ATV track ready for burning rocks 2500 foot zip line.

Personally, I think it could be longer and faster.  Hey, Woody (Duba, Burning Rock GM): I know you have a spot picked out. Go bigger next time, huh? (People say my sarcasm is endearing).

What else can you say?  If you like speed, and thrills, and doing things you’ve never done before, and West Virginia, then this is for you.  If you don’t like that stuff, you should probably stay home.  Or maybe watch it on youtube.

What’s also cool about Burning Rock is the 8000-or-so acres and 100+ miles of West Virginia ATV trails.  I’m not a huge ATV guy, but I like to ride every now and then, and I think it’s going to be a blast to take my kids.

In the past, we had sent guests down to the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System, which is a pretty cool place in its own right.  But it was a fairly long drive to get there, and the system down there is actually several different trail systems, all connected together.  Burning Rock is more of a one stop shop.  Rentals, guides, gear… everything you need.

I’m definitely looking forward to what Opossum Creek Retreat guests have to say about it.  Almost as much as I’m looking forward to going back myself.

Why River Guides Are Awesome A Former New River Raft Guide Speaks

My first spring here in West Virginia, I was training to be a whitewater raft guide in the New River Gorge.   In March.

Right.  It was cold.  Unbelievably cold.

Right down there is where you'll find your guide.

A lot of our initial trips found us on the icy river with snow still on the banks and freezing air. I wondered to myself if I was crazy for being out here in those conditions.  The verdict is still out.  Kind of.

Now that I’m older and wiser I doubt that I would do it over again in the early spring.  But any guides do this every year; they come to train or be trained as a guide here in the New River Gorge.  One of the guides who trained us that year was Jeff “Tiny” Elliott.  At first, I figured Tiny was crazy.  Later, I realized it wasn’t just him.  They’re all that way.  It’s a good kind of crazy.

Tiny many of our trips that spring fun and he was able to teach me a lot about the river.  He had guided all over and was well versed in hydrology. He made reading a river seem simple and interesting while at the same time making sure all was well with the entire team of trainers and trainees.

That’s what guides do. They’re not only here to provide a great experience for the guests, they also have to be aware of all that is going on on the ever changing river. They make sure that everyone pulls their own weight in the boat and take up the slack for those who can’t.  All of this to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip on the river.  River guides are often full of…what’s the word…lore…yeah, that’s it… and interesting facts about the area and what went on here in years past.

River guides are awesome. Think about it:

  • They know the river
  • They know their history
  • They know their flora and fauna
  • They are educated in first aid and some are EMT’s
  • Some of them can cook
  • They are responsible for hundreds of people each season

The list goes on and on.  Try a raft trip on either the New or the Gauley River this year (we can help you out if you don’t know what trip to book).  Quiz your guides, and you’ll be surprised at what they know.  I know I always am.

How To Tell If You’re On Vacation In The New River Gorge

You can tell if you’re on vacation in the New River Gorge.  There’s a feeling that you’ll never be able to do everything. A weekend is just not enough time.

I first came to the New River Gorge area in 1992, and I went through some culture shock for sure. I had always lived in high population areas and was used to that sort of lifestyle. From the burbs of Philadelphia PA to the Orlando area, there was always a BIG city around.

Walk in the woods

Still, I always managed to find the most rural areas to escape to, no matter where it was I lived.  But when I came here, it wasn’t long before I realized I was in the escape place. A few months here (and outside of what had become my element) and a 40+ inch snow storm in March, and I was ready to go straight back to Florida. Thankfully though, I decided to give it a bit more time before packing my bags and hitting the road.

It’s been 18 years now and I still haven’t seen all there is to see in the Gorge area.  If you love to be outside like I do, then West Virginia (especially the New River area) has plenty of excuses to get out and play.

Once I got acclimated to the area, and got to know some local friendly folks, history, and lore, I became fascinated with the area. I began to explore almost all the area has to offer.  Now, I find it hard to imagine myself being away from here for too long a period. Even on short trips away I find myself pining for the mountains that I call home.

I love to help get our guests headed in the right direction. I know- my job rocks.  Whether folks are into high adventure or a little walking exploration, a typical day at OCR is anything but typical. You may be rafting on the New or Gauley River, climbing with New River Mountain Guides, taking a tour of Summersville Lake in a Kayak, or simply hiking some of the 70 miles of trails that live inside the park boundaries. To be in the woods in the Gorge area can be a therapeutic escape in any season.

If you’re completely relaxed, exhilarated, content, and really really happy, then it’s probably a good bet that you’re on vacation in the New River Gorge.

Bird Nerds Descend On West Virginia (And I Love It)

They came.  They saw.  They birded.

And they were like a flock wreaking havoc.  Lucky us.

Hundreds of Birding and Nature enthusiasts swarmed over The New River Gorge in West Virginia last week (my home sweet home).   They were traversing the areas rural roads by the bus load, searching out rare and elusive species of Birds and plants to add to their “life lists”.  People crossed borders (legally) to join the mayhem, and some flew almost as far as the birds did to get here.

Bird is the word

With several groups arriving from as far away as California and Washington State on the West Coast, Canada to the north and Alabama to the south.  That’s almost (but not quite) as far as some of the birds for the fest traveled.

It all gets captured in the look on the face of bear hunters, when they come flying around the corner and see a bunch of people in the road looking thru binoculars into the tree tops.  That’s what this blog needs a picture of.  Once they got there 4 wheeler under control and asked a few questions like:

  • Are you lost?
  • Did your bus breakdown?
  • Just what exactly are you all looking at?

The Local Bear Hunters offer up advice on back roads and secret spots for hunting Mushrooms. It’s strange to see so many people out in these parts, but we like a lot of the same things.  That’s why it’s a festival, I guess.

“We simply love it when those bird people show up.  They spend lots of money!  And, y’know, they’re great people, too,” a local business owner told me.  “They had to start calling ahead because we are not ready for a flock of people all at once this time of year [Ha!  Flock.  Get it?]. They make our week.”

And that’s one of the big reasons we started this event.  We wanted to help fill up some otherwise slow time in our tourism calendar.  Plus it truly is world class birding and botany.  Plus, it’s as much fun as I have all year.  Plus, most of the folks that come feel the same way.

Next year will be the ninth year for the event and organizers are already at work to make it better than ever. We felt it needed to be a sustainable event, something that could outlive us.  We’re not there yet but it’s getting better and better each year.

But don’t take my word for it (actually, though, you should.  I’m an expert on my own opinions, usually).  Here’s the word on the New River Bird And Nature Fest from around the interwebs:

Did we miss anyone?  Please, add a link in the comments if so.  And, yeah, it sounds pretty cool, huh?  It was.

If you want to put it on your calendar for next year (and you should), here’s where you can find us on facebook.  Until then, see you in the woods.

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