Finish books (a woman stayed in cabin 3 writing for a month because she was “on a roll”.)
Paint.
Painting done during a stay at OCR
Get married.
Get inspired to get married.
Get inspired to stay married! (Maybe not in that order.)
Read books.
Draw.
Fall in love.
Forgive a loved one.
Explore, outside and in.
We talk about relaxing all the time.
These are the kinds of things people experience once they do relax.
All of these are stories we have heard from our guests, who have written in the guest books or in a note on the comment card. Some even have gone to the trouble to send us a thank-you letter. We are humbled and thrilled that you think of us this way.
Geoff’s got guide experience in fishing, rafting and other adventures.
Okay, the whole world is stretching it, but a big chunk of the Western Hemisphere is accurate.
From Montana’s ice cold waters and rugged back country, to the Grand Canyon, to the southernmost reaches of South America on rivers dammed long ago, to that narrow waist of Central America. Yes, raft guiding was very good to me. There was some fly fishing guiding, and there were some pack trips on horseback that took me to places I am sure no one has ever set foot. Keith and his family have led trips to the high plateaus of Peru building schools.
And we choose to make The New River Gorge our home.
Now, we don’t guide anymore, but we know the area well, and we do love to share our knowledge. Take advantage of our free info and ask us some questions! All guides love the sound of their own voice.
We have some fun and informative videos on Youtube that will really help you plan your vacation. Tours of town, trails and restaurants, to name a few.
We also show how to tell temperature based on rhododendron leaves, if you like that kind of thing.
If you visit our website, you will see full-day itineraries for almost every situation.
Let’s just say you want help with some questions about certain activities or the best time of year to come bird watching or to Girls Club. Okay, maybe we are not Girls Club experts, but… well, yes we are. At least the planning part.
For one week a year we entertain about 100 people a day, feeding them, taking them on birding and nature field trips, showing off our guides’ amazing talents with popcorn talks, evening presentations, and according to the participants, having lots of fun.
The Festival is one of our favorite times of year.
Here at OCR, we know “we” is a big word. The gargantuan “we” that makes this event happen behind the scenes are OSSUM!
From the breakfast at Burnwood in the AM to the lunches in the field (made with love by the early-rising ladies in the deli at Foodland) to the ACE adventures super-safe bus drivers that make it possible to criss-cross the New River Gorge Region as a group. Sharon, Cindy and the staff at the CVB put up with a lot over the course of the year. Pastor Ray Crook and the ladies of the ramps who feed a few lucky trips each year at the Danese Community Center.
Sherri at the NPS patiently reminds me, then re-answers the same questions I had last year as we fill out the National Park Service permit forms.
Spouses and friends all contribute in their own way, from jumping in and volunteering to stitching names on hats or keeping the home fires burning while we immerse ourselves in the week.
The landowners like Dave Ross of Dave’s Exxon who allows us to traipse onto his family’s fields and revel in the unexplainable song of the Bobolink.
I am surely missing some, like a bird I forgot to mention in all the excitement, but they are no less appreciated.
We’ve seen the birds countless times. What is amazing is when one of our guests, world famous authors, or guides sees the birds for the first time. At that moment everyone in the group can feel the wonder, awe and emotion wash over us. “We” all feel the joy.
Tears of joy are far too rare in this world. Those feelings are why we do this event.
Thank you to all our past and future guests. We are honored to share this festival with you.
Bang! Like getting shot out of a cannon! (On my bucket list, by the way.) That’s how we start our season.
The New River Birding and Nature Festival (April 29- May 4) is our Daytona 500. Yes, I just referenced NASCAR in the same sentence as a nature festival. We like doing it this way; it’s like getting smelling salts when you are a little groggy from that long winter’s nap.
Why is this festival such a big deal here at OCR? We love getting together with people who appreciate our woodland home in the Gorge as much as we do. So much so that we provide a daily dinner and nature presentation, which is included in the festival registration. Major media contributors, distinguished authors and nature educators will share their expertise over a delicious homestyle meal.
And just after the New River Birding & Nature Festival, climbers will converge in town for The New River Rendezvous (May 16-19), one of the East Coast’s most loved rock climbing get togethers. Newbies and experts alike will be here sharpening their skills, sharing their tips and taking on the Gorge’s diverse sandstone cliff faces.
This is their 10th event (Rendezvous X), and the VIPs have been staying here with us at OCR since the beginning.
Our New Wedding Pavilion
We have lots of other Big Events planned. We have already had two couples share their vows here, and the new Wedding Pavilion in the backyard of The Meadows is going to make even more couples really happy this season.
The Boy Scouts are coming in for the first-ever Jamboree at their new home, The Bechtel Summit, in July. Scouts from all across the globe will be flooding in to adventure through the Gorge and lend a hand with community service projects.
We also have some family reunions and corporate retreats on the calendar as we roll into summer. Never a dull moment!
But even with all of this going on, we still have some great weekends available for people to tie the knot, have a reunion, or just sneak away to a cabin in the woods.
Has your year started off with a bang, too? Hope it’s been as good as ours!
I fell in love in West Virginia in September and you should too.
The year and the date are a little fuzzy, but I do remember the place. I traveled a lot back then. I had just rolled in from Montana, in the dark chased down a windy two-lane road by a coal truck. The next morning I hit some raft companies up for a job. Late in the day an owner of one of the companies was walking out the door when I pulled up. You a guide? Yes. Where from? Montana. Really, they have white water there? Catfish hired me on the spot, not for my river resume but “based on the collection of cassette tapes on your dashboard”. I was on the river the next day.
Yes, the Gauley River is everything it is made out to be!
Falling in love in West Virginia
The river I was ready for. The tall drink of water from UVA I was not.
September anywhere is a great month. It is fantastic here.
I must admit I had some preconceived prejudices about WV. Some of them were well deserved. Some were unfounded. But all add to the character that makes this place so wonderful.
My first year here, I had only two or three days of work per week and got to spend the rest of the time exploring, fishing, hiking, golfing, and biking. I thought this was a wonderful place to visit; lots of very high caliber activities. As everyone knows, the Gauley River is world class and that has not changed, never will.
Happily Ever After
What has changed (and is not so well-known) is that everything else is just as good.
Really! Just as good. I am not bragging (okay I am), but my passport looks like someone used it to test stamps at the factory. I have spent time in 46 of our states. This place, our place, The New River Gorge Area, what I now call home, has something really good for everyone. Well almost (don’t show up looking for carnival rides, t-shirt shops, and rubber tomahawks).
We even have more really good restaurants than you could get sick of in a year, let alone a weekend.
I am having a hard time separating these two love stories. You see, Catfish did another favor for me a few weeks into that first September. He introduced me to that tall drink of water from UVA, my future wife. I am forever grateful for both favors.
This September will mark 20 some years for these two loves. There is something here that you will love too. Come test my theory.
Every spring here at Opossum Creek Retreat we host The New River Nature and Birding Festival. It has quickly become one of my favorite weeks of the year. The privilege of being a part of the festival has allowed me access to the amazingly diverse flora and fauna of the New River Gorge and surrounding areas. Each trip afield offers a new learning experience in all things nature.
With the Red Eft
There is something for everyone on the variety of field trips in and around the New River Gorge National Park. Here a Red Eft is adored by some of the folks on the Nuttalburg trail trip. This was a new trip for this year and will quickly become a favorite.
Female Canada Warbler
Getting a close up look at birds in hand is always a treat as Bill Hilton Jr., educator-naturalist extraordinaire puts on highly educational and fun banding demonstrations throughout the week. A female Canada Warbler was a first for her species here at OCR.
Common Lytrosis (lytrosis unitaria)
A great part of the the festival is its world class guides, a lot of whom are authors.I was able to identify this Moth, a Common Lytrosis (lytrosis unitaria) thanks to Seabrooke Leckie, author of the new Peterson field guide to Moths.
Just a few of the New River Birding and Nature Festival folks
The best part is introducing great folks from all over to the natural beauty of southern West Virginia, our home.
The New River Birding and Nature Festival just ended, and a good bit of the festival takes place here at OCR. Somewhere between 60-100 people a day get to enjoy our slice of almost heaven during the festival. During this event, people gather to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the New River Gorge.
We do not cook for many groups, but we will if it is the right fit. And this festival is. It’s all about happy people doing fun stuff, learning, and enjoying good food.
Birding By Butt
On Monday morning we got things going in a “back porch” kind of way with “Birding by Butt”.
We spent the day milling around the grounds, watching birds from the comfort of our lawn chairs (hence the name, “Birding by Butt”), in between feedings. This helps everyone get to know each other and settle into the routine of birding, eating, and listening to great presentations.
But you could say that Birding By Butt is a bit of a misnomer, because we do spend some time walking around the 20-some acres of Opossum Creek Retreat.
The day goes something like this:
Examining a Warbler
People start rolling in about 6 AM and we have coffee and drinks ready. We get everyone checked in and give them a name tag and this spiel: “We will be taking walks and getting birds in the scopes and eating and watching Bill Hilton of Project Ruby Throat band a bird or two if we are lucky. There are plenty of chairs for you to bird by butt from, so get comfy and relax for a few minutes before we take a group for a walk.”
Of course everyone is too excited to sit down. They want to “go go go” and they soon hear, “My name is Jim McCormac” or “My name is Mark Garland” and “I will be leading a walk up the road. Who would like to join me?”. The routine of relaxing in the chairs around yard comes slower to some, but before long everyone has settled into the idea of Birding By Butt, just letting the birds come to them.
And they do.
During the rest of the week we come back to OCR after our field trips and have a ‘popcorn talk’. After that we have dinner, then the main attraction for the evening, another speaker or presentation.
It was great to look out the window and see folks sitting in chairs or just walking around looking up into the trees, smiling.
We also hosted the Roads Scholar group on Wednesday and Friday for the “Birding by Butt” routine. Keith and I also led field trips every day of the week (the best part of the week for us).
The New River Birding and Nature Festival is a great way to kick-start us out of winter season; we’d love more events like this to pour ourselves into. There is a price to pay for this much fun and we gladly pay it year after year.
By all accounts, the 10th Annual New River Birding and Nature Festival was the best one yet.
If you have a group you would like us to take care of for a week (or even just a couple of days), give us a call and let’s talk. We might even teach you how to bird by butt.
At Opossum Creek Retreat we are blessed with a location that allows us to provide maximum privacy and seclusion with a minimum of impact.
Eastern Hemlocks
Part of the reason we can offer this is the Eastern Hemlock. This ever green tree, with its thick layers of low hanging branches, provides a visual break between the cabins.
We have been battling the wooly adelgid for many years, and not without some success. The wooly adelgid is a destructive pest that sucks the sap from Eastern Hemlock trees, causing them to die 4-10 years after infestation. We have won a few of the battles against this bug, but are losing the war because as civilians we do not have access to the good stuff.
By teaming up, these groups have been able to provide the expertise that is required to survey and assess the extent of the wooly invasion, the health of the trees, and how best to treat them. They also have access to the good stuff that the general public can’t get their hands on.
The Wooly Team
This is a cost sharing program. For us to hire the Wooly Team to come in and do the assessment would be cost prohibitive, let alone purchasing the chemicals used to treat the wooly adelgid. The early estimates look like it will cost several thousand dollars for our share; we are happy to pay it. We are sure this level of expertise exists in the private sector; from what we have seen we would not be able to afford to begin a project of this scale without our partners.
Being on, and around, a body of water has an interesting effect on people. For some, it becomes an extension of self. Our friend Ashley, a local and longtime boatman, shares his story.
It’s A Part of Me The New River is as much a part of me as is my arm or leg.
I have been on, in, and around the New River for so long, that floating along on its current seems as natural and as effortless as breathing.
I grew up with the New River essentially in my back yard but never floated the waters until I was 18. I now have accumulated more years on the river in my life than not. It seems incomprehensible to try and imagine my life without it.
When I am on the New River in a boat, I know of no stress in my life that doesn’t become much smaller before the end of my trip. It’s like every wave I crash through serves to cleanse my soul. When I leave its shores I always promise it shall not be long ’till I visit again. I find the river captivating. I never grow tired of the experience.
Friendships
The New river has given me many things in life, including three of the dearest friends I have. I would never would have met them were it not for the river.
One of those friends passed away 2 years ago during a cold February. The first place I went to mourn was into the waters of the New River. It still helps me heal when I miss him.
He too wrote of the rivers bond and how it had impacted our lives so I know it’s not just me thinking this way. I don’t know if everyone that spends years traversing its waters feels the same way I do, but I imagine it holds a dear and special place in a great number of their hearts.
A Teacher
The New River is old and wise. I have learned to listen to it and it has taught me many things I now carry forward in life.
It has taught me:
Patience
Understanding
Humility
Above all else, respect
If you don’t respect a rivers power, it will let you know in no uncertain terms just how little control you have over it. It will show you that no matter how well you think you understand it, it still has a few things it hasn’t shown. It will show you exactly what you are seeking; you just may or may not see it right away.
It took me years of looking to uncover the tranquility I get from it now and I curiously wonder what it will teach me in the next 20 years.
What does the river mean to you?
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