Glade Creek Grist Mill-Revisit in West Virginia

I had to go and try it again this past fall, ahead of a trip to Germany. I had heard the changing leaves in North Carolina and West Virginina were exceptional and that was my cue. Nothing is more fun than crawling up some wooded back road, not knowing what’s up around the next bend. The county roads go on forever. Getting lost was part of the experience, where GPS was a waste of time. The Grist Mill happens to be the most photographed spot in West Virgina. Something out of a Kinkade painting. I’m sure he made many trips here in the fall. There is no better time to come.

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Autumn at Glade Creek Grist Mill
Dave Morgan-Creative Commons

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Dining at “The Kutte” Swiss Restaurant

This was a welcome surprise, wandering through the back roads of West Virginia. It was just lumber trucks and us, traveling deep in the hills, when we come across this quaint little community of Helvetia. The Kutte restaurant was the perfect spot to stop and actually the only place to stop for miles. What a great experience this little restaurant had to offer. Probably the best lunch we had in years. I ask permission to bring in my camera and tripod, and probably spent an hour shooting all the different rooms loaded with antiques. A fun experience and a place worth visiting, if you’re ever interested in going out in the middle of nowhere, to find a gem like this.

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Kutte Swiss Restaurant, West Virginina
Dave Morgan-Creative Commons

West Virginia Wandering Cascades

Autumn this year was blazing colorful in West Virgina, but they had such a dry season , one could hardly find any nice waterfalls. So I dug through my arsenal of photos from my last trip and found this beautiful cascade, which has no name, that I could find. It just happened to be on a country back road, just waiting for me to find. It was completely gone this year, so I reminisce.

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West Virginia Cascades
Dave Morgan-Creative Commons

Autumn Hay Fields in West Virginia

Happy Thanksgiving!!

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I love to just get on a plane, sometimes not much planning in advance, rent a car and then go wildly and freely into the country. I watched the Internet for peak season in West Virginia this year, so to best plan a fly back and take advantage of changing colors of fall. West Virgina is a great place for leaf-peeping. This country road was blazing with color, so I got off the Freeway and just let it take me into the hills. No traffic, no people around, just the horses, cows and me. So Happy Thankgiving to you all, and may we gives thanks for our blessings, and help those less fortunate then ourselves.

Hay Fields in West Virginia
Dave Morgan-Creative Commons

Autumn Falls on Boley Lake, West Virginia

Happy Halloween!!

Time to photograph the kids as they collect lots of candy for me! Maybe it’s just a dream.

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A visit last week to Babcock State Park was a repeat trip from a few years ago. Trying to hit West Virginia’s most photographed spot at just the right time is difficult to do. While waiting for the sun to set I ran up to Boley Lake, just a mile up the hill, to grab some shots of an incredible lake glowing with color. I spent a few hours hiking around the lake shooting tons of shots. More to share at another time.

Boley Lake, Babcock State Park, West Virginia

The Kutte Swiss Restaurant in Helvetia, West Virginia

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We found this quaint little village, population of 59, quite by accident driving the backroads of West Virgina. We decided to get lost way back in the hills of West Virgina, so we took all the remote roads we could find and eventually ran into this neat little town. We stopped at this amazing restaurant called “The Kutte Swiss Restaurant”, for lunch. The food was incredible. The waitresses wore tradtional Swiss and German clothes and bonnets. The restaurant was stuffed full of antiques. Each room of this home-converted to restaurant, was unique with antiquities from the last few hundred years. I think we spent a couple hours enjoying and photographing this restaurant and village and driving off with some great memories. The isolated community was settled by Swiss, starting in 1869, and is known today for maintaining Swiss traditions, food, and folkways. It’s great in this day and age , to find these treasures unexpectantly along the roads less traveled. I hope you folks with wanderlust in your heart, who enjoy vicariously visiting these travel blogs, take the time to jump in your car, head down the road, with no particular direction in mind, and just discover beautiful places.

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The Kuttes Swiss Restaurant-1
Dave Morgan-Creative Commons

Somewhere in West Virgina

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I was on my way to Babcock State Park to shoot the Babcock Grist Mill. I saw this river and bridge and had to pull off the road and grab a shot. The beautiful autumn leaves were in full bloom and the distance mountains set it off nicely. Anybody know where I am, let me know. This happens alot when you’re traveling, and just pull over in your car and start shooting.

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Somewhere in West Virginia
Dave Morgan-Creative Commons

Bridge Under the New River Gorge Bridge

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Fall is a great time to take the winding dirt road into the River Gorge,West Virgina. Beautiful autumn colors light up the deep gorge. At the bottom you cross a bridge that leads you up to Wolf Creek. I spent a day just photographing this incredible valley.

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Bridge Under The River Gorge
Dave Morgan-Creative Commons

Wolf River Cascades in Autumn, West Virginia

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This was an interesting and fun photo to take. I was traveling on a dirt road, trying to find my way out from under the Royal Gorge in West Virgina where a had spent most of the day. It was pretty much dark and I decided to pulled over because I  heard the sound of rapids, an indication water was flowing over some rocks somewhere. Over the edge of a cliff I could barely see the rapids, so I thought what the heck, last photo of the day, I’ll do an extremely long exposure and see what happens. The night was very still, which was a plus. The details in the shadows came out better than I expected, so I left satisfied that even in darkness, there still is a little light shining through.

Wolf River Cascades-2

Big Wheel Keep On Turning, West Virginia

 

Red Wheel

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Traveling through West Virginia, enroute to Blackwater Falls, I saw this interesting contraption on the side of the road and just had to stop and take a picture of it. The sun was shining through the trees and I looked for an angle that would let the light shine through.