West Virginia: Hiking, Bigfoot and Dinner

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DAY THREE
Hiking, Bigfoot, and Dinner

With all its thick green forest, West Virginia has many Bigfoot/Sasquatch sightings all around the state.  Pipestem State Park is no exception for people reporting Bigfoot encounters.  The area is rich with thick trees, various types of animals, and lots of water sources.  Sharon had an encounter several years ago while hiking in the woods at night.  She was heading back from a spooky cemetery when she was aware of, and heard heavy footsteps among the dark trees.  She felt as if a Sasquatch was chasing her out of the forest.  We fully intended to hike that path that night after dinner, but Mother Nature decided to put a crimp in our plans by making it rain.  We did, however, get a chance to hike down to the nearby lake and river during the day.  We not only saw some interesting stuff, but heard some things we couldn’t explain.


The Sasquatch is believed to leave signs, symbols, and wood structures as a form of communication.  Some think they are left there for humans as a warning, while others believe they are left for other Sasquatches.  I am not sure why they are there, but while on our hike down to the river, we saw so many unexplained symbols.  We saw crosses everywhere, sticks forming an arrow pointing towards a path, or several branches stacked side by side.  Also, while sitting by the bank of the river, we kept hearing tree knockings.  At one point, we heard a whinny whoop and had a big rock thrown at us from behind.  We both felt as if we were being watched.  We never saw anything unusual, but it was still a noteworthy experience.  The hike was uneventful, peaceful, and picturesque.


After cleaning up for dinner, Sharon wanted me to experience eating at the Mountain Creek Dining Room.  The only way to get to the restaurant and lodge was to take a tram ride down 3,600 feet through the Bluestone Gorge.  We were treated to the most spectacular scenery you will ever see.  The lodge has 30 rooms and is next to the river, or you can enjoy gourmet dining in the restaurant.  Because of its unusual location, the lodge and restaurant are only opened from mid-May to the end of October.


We hopped into a tram bucket and took the ride down into the gorge.  I was taken in by the views and took many pictures on the way down.  We had some time before our dinner reservations, so we took a walk down to the river.  When you look up, all you could see was green and a few caves tucked in the walls of the mountain surrounding us.




Our ride up was delayed while they maintain the ride for our safety.  I should point out that by maintaining the ride is to take a stick and beat it on the tram buckets until they are safely back on the track.  Yep, we felt safe riding back up.... NOT!!  By the time we rode it back up, it was dark.  There was a line of people waiting to go down and wanted to know what was going on below.  We just told them that a bunch of zombies were chasing us and we barely escaped with our lives.  It was a fantastic experience to ride the tram down into the awe-inspiring gorge, to the scrumptious meal, to the ride back up in the dark.

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