Late Sept. Camping trip to West Virginia

Overnight temps in the  low to mid 40's. Daytime highs in the mid 60's. Perfect hiking +biking weather to  get out  to the mtns .and take in some of the colorful  fall foilage.

The second I pulled into a parking spot near the Canaan Valley  refuge  a  fellow peddled by me and saw that I had a bike with me and asked If I was headed up the hill .It happened to be the owner of Whitegrass  ski area Chip  and up we went. We climbed up hill almost 1000  vertical ft on the forest service road. It was an honor to go on  about an hour and 1/2 guided tour by this knowledgeable outdoorsman up on  part of Cabin Mtn and the edge of the Dolly Sods .  Part of the  trail we rode on isn't on  any  trail maps and in fact even part of an old abandoned railroad track . Thoroughly enjoyed the history lesson during the ride as well.

 Pretty magical cotton grass field on the edge of WhiteGrass and the Sods.

 Down we went through the cross country network of  trails non stop for a couple miles crossing a  couple  small streams  and fern covered slopes. I had to pay close attention to keep up!  As we were reaching the bottom of the Mtn we cross a bridge constructed out of old trees and timbers  and pop out of the woods right  at the front door of his house . One hell of a start to picture perfect   long  weekend in WV. Chip is such welcoming guy who truly has one of the most amazing backyards imaginable! It was a huge bonus  to get an invitation to come back and try out my splitboard this winter on some of the steeper pitches of his cross country ski area .

 .A pretty cool point to add to this was that  I surfed some chest to head high waves in VB in boardshorts Thursday morning before heading out to the Mtns. So this   bike ride  with the  owner of Whitegrass was the same evening. .What a great day !


The next morn I headed out to the Sods to check out some of the landscape.

 Looking East from Bear Rocks towards the Shenadoah

Looking West over the Plateau

Then out of the sods passing Mt . Porte  Crayon which wasn't quite in color but still hulking taller than   Cabin Mtn

 Morning coffee at Timberline.

  Blackwater falls

Then headed back up on  another tour up hill to the top of Bald knob from the valley  and back down through the WG trail system to the bottom of the hill.

The last night of the trip was spent down at Snowshoe with a stop at Spruce Knob on the way. Some of the Spruce tunnels reminded me a lot of some of the thick spruce in the woods at the Shoe.

The village  and MTN bike trails were  packed with a huge bike race  + concert but it was nice and quiet up here up at 4800 ft above Silver Creek  with amazing views of the WT.

 Ready to ride some lifts ?

Hurricane Cristobal Swell 8/28/14

Hurricane Cristobal  delivered some great surf to the Outer Banks . On the morning of 8/28   the storm was parallel to the coast a few hundred miles offshore. As luck had it the winds were blowing  west (straight offshore) at 10-15  MPH at first light and then dropped off to  10 MPH  mid morning  and stayed this way until about 3 PM when the cold front finally blew in.  In case any one was unaware   the best thing about living in Hampton Roads isn't Va. Beach or Williamsburg. Its the close  proximity of  the  Outer Banks . Roughly 2 hrs  to Hatteras Island and only about an hr to an hour 1/2 or so  to town considering what part of the 757 you live in 

Pulling into town (Kitty Hawk) just after sunrise to reveal beautiful glassy conditions and a nice swell in the water.Looks real fun but keep driving down south a bit farther to find a spot that is barreling.

Don't let the number of cars fool you here. On this day the entire town of Rodanthe was breaking well and not just a few standout spots  so the crowd was spread out and everyone got barreled!

Welcome to Rodanthe. Overhead with very makeable barrels . I spent just a couple minutes checking the waves with cam in hand and snapped these 2 pics right  before I ran to get my board and head out.

Look close  there's a guy about to get pitted on an Over Head one


Firing!!

After about 3 hours come in to hydrate and fuel backup  up for another session. Decide to take the go pro out for some shots this session. A touch smaller but user friendly and super glassy still.

Still  breaking perfect with some lengthy cover ups in about waist deep water.


Playful little pits just off the beach. Air temp 85 .Water 78. 

Hard to air drop in on some steep pitching waves  with the cam cupped in my hand and get the shot . Gave it a go a few times and almost got the tube shot I was looking for but instead some Johnson + Johnson shampoo treatment.Lots of fun trying though..

Another fun one coming out of a little cover up and eyeing up back dooring the next little tube on the same wave. .Only played with the water camera about one hour out of the six I spent surfing that day .Always nice to get the cam out in the water for a few shots though.. Next swell hopefully I  can grab the shot I'm looking for. Dream day on the Outer Banks!