Babcock State Park, New River Gorge National Park, Clifton, West Virginia

 We woke up to gentle rain and fixed breakfast inside Cutie Too. The light was fading last evening to get a good picture of the lake as the fireflies came out. The rain started harder as we pulled out of the campground this morning as we found our way to Bristol, Tennessee, and quickly across the border to Virginia. The rain followed us so we stopped at The Grind Coffee House near the West Virginia border for a latte and bagel and for the rain to pass. We picked Highway 20 which paralleled the interstate into New River Gorge National Forest and then onto the back roads to Babcock State Park. We have a beautiful wooded spot away from the other big rigs and plan to enjoy hiking nearby, The campground is two miles from the state park.

The site of the old hotel along the river

The river view from the old hotel

Our campsite at Babcock State Park

The rains came after we finished dinner and packed up in anticipation to keep things dry. It rained all night and we woke up to rain. We fixed our first breakfast inside and by the time we finished our coffee, the rain had stopped. We headed to Babcock State Park down the road and by that time the sun was out. We hiked down the road past the Old Grist Mill and cabins down to the Narrow Gauge Trail which went over a swing bridge to connect to the Rocky Trail which climbed up to the Skyline Trail. It was a great hike in the shade the whole way and only a few spots we had to cross water cascading over the trail.  After our hike, we were looking for a brew pub so we drove into Fayetteville to the Biergarten at Arrowhead Bike Farm. The temperature has been perfect and we really did not need the air conditioning.

The swing was too wet to sit in

Bookmobile in the visitor center parking lot

Old Grist Mill

Rhododendrons in bloom

Bright berries

Fluffy flowers

Old swing bridge

Another pretty waterfall

Rocky Trail

Lots of recently downed trees cut up

Liking the varieties of lichens

Great view from Skyline Trail

Inside the operational grist mill

Biergarten 

Cute Handlebar bar

Listened to bluegrass music while eating a West Virginia beer bratwurst

Bike, beers and brats

And goats let out around the campground