Floating the Jackson River--we sure wish we had started an hour earlier!

 We can almost feel the love, as we headed toward Virginia today. This state has used the travel logo "Virginia is for Lovers" for years, and visitors can look for signs of the love throughout the state.

But first we had to drive out of the mountains of West Virginia. Highway 60 heading east was just as winding as the road coming from the west. Add an 8 percent grade, and this is not a ride for the faint-hearted motor home driver.

During that drive we witnessed some of  West Virginia's industry. We passed a saw mill lot full of piles of just-cut logs . . .

and mountains of coal being transported with long conveyer belts.

Just 52 miles from our last camp site at Babcock State Park, we crossed the state line and entered into Virginia.

We pulled into the state visitor center to pick up a map and to get some good advice for our stay in Virginia. We also got free samples of peanuts grown in Virginia. Who knew that peanuts were a big part of this state's agriculture?

We got the motor home settled into the Allegheny Mobile Home and RV Park. While they still have mobile homes, they are offering newly opened sites to RVers. A new tiny home was also just setting up, and Mark spent much of his evening helping that owner figure out his new home. This is our first campground with full hook-ups in a long while, so the washing machine was busy catching up with laundry. 

The next morning we turned into tourists, exploring the hidden gems of northwest Virginia. But we probably should have started an hour earlier. One gem is the Humpback Covered Bridge. From this end, it isn't obvious how it got its name.

But when we see a side-view, the name is obvious. Built in 1857, this is the only covered bridge using the humpback construction process that is still standing in the United States. The brochure says it was "built with a broad axe and put together with hand hewed locust pines."

It has a 110-foot span, and the middle of the bridge is eight feet higher than each end. That allows the midpoint of the bridge to stay above flood waters.

We found one of the Virginia "LOVE" signs near the bridge. The "L" is made from historic bricks from the area; the "O" is a retired gear from the paper mill down river; Mark is resting in the "V" formed by the split tree trunk, and the "E" is created from old railroad ties. These are called LOVEwork sculptures that were built randomly across the state as part of a tourism marketing campaign. Do you feel the love in Virginia?

Our next stop is to drop off Mark's bicycle along the Jackson River in the town of Covington, Virginia. We surveyed the take-out area of the river and decided that our plan for the day was going to work. So we headed up-river for a stop at Falling Springs Waterfall. A pull-off on the highway led to a short walk for views of this 80-foot waterfall. It is one of the most photographed spots here in the Allegheny Highlands sections of the Appalachian Mountains.

Waterfalls are one of God's wonders!

It took us all morning to set up this plan, but we finally had the kayak inflated and we were on the water at Smith Bridge right at noon--but we probably should have started an hour earlier.

We're always looking for rivers that we can float down with our kayak. This process usually needs two vehicles--one at the put-in spot of the river and one at the take-out spot. Sometimes we can be creative and use our pick-up as one, and then a bicycle as the other. The Jackson River allowed for that creativity today.

There is a semi-flat rail-to-trails bicycle trail that follows the Jackson River. So we are headed down river in the kayak. When we are finished, Mark will be heading up-trail in the bicycle on the Jackson River Scenic Trail to retrieve the pickup we just left at Smith Bridge. Genius!

We stopped by the very helpful river outfitter, that gave us a plastic-wrapped map of this portion of the Jackson River. Yellow means Class 1 rapids, while orange means Class 2 rapids. It also gives some great pieces of advice like, "Shallow--run far left in this channel" and "Run right channel." It was great to have this piece of paper on board today!

Denisa took some pictures of the Class 1 rapids that kept us on our toes. But we were a little too busy during the Class 2 sections for photography.

The Jackson River is floatable all summer, but it is shallow in places. So we were always looking to avoid rocks sticking out of the water, and rowing away from the shallowest parts of the river.

The Jackson River is part of the Alleghany Highlands Blueway, and we loved the clear cool water! We have wandered into another of God's wonders! While we liked the faster water, we also enjoyed the flatter, more serene sections of the river.

That's when we could spot the wildlife along the river--like this mother Merganser, leading her adolescents across the river.

Mom is sporting the traditional mullet hairdo, while the young ducks haven't grown into that style yet.

A little further down the river we found a single adult merganser, herding 16 young ducklings! Either she is duckling-sitting today, or she gets the proficiency award for mothering this summer.

We were half-way down the river when we got to the Petticoat Junction Bridge. That's when we saw the first paddlers on our journey. This is the put-in spot for the shorter and easier section of the river.

So that means we have less Class 2 rapids, and more time to take pictures. That would include a picture of the classy Class 2 rudder man . . .

and the 100-foot tall cliffs that now surround the river.

While most of the cliffs are covered with trees, we see that some cactus have rooted into the more barren rock walls. There's a splash of yellow color among the cliffs, because the cactus are blooming now.

In our 9.9 mile kayak trip, we floated by some Canadian geese. They kept their young birds closer to the shore to protect them from us.

We also saw plenty of duck couples out for a swim. The ducks didn't seem to mind, but we couldn't help but notice that the clouds were thickening. The clouds were an uneasy color of gray by the time we pulled into our take-out spot at Intervale Park in Covington. We were grateful that it didn't start raining on us while we were kayaking, but we wish we had started an hour earlier!

We pulled the kayak out of the water, and Mark jumped on his bike to make the 7.5-mile trip up the Jackson River Scenic Trail to get the pickup.

This is where the old railroad tracks used to be, and these rail-to-trails usually have a very manageable two percent grade that the old trains could pull. But Mark will tell you that it was all up-hill going up river, and there is no coasting when you ride on a chat trail like this.

This is a well-used trail, and it has good markings to tell runners and bikers when to turn around for the 5K or half-marathon, etc. As the clouds got darker, Mark rode faster. It was beginning to sprinkle. He was sure wishing that we had started an hour earlier today.

He rolled up to the pickup, loaded his bicycle onto the rack, and the rain storm let loose. If he had been five minutes later, he would have been drenched! Meanwhile, back at the boat landing, Denisa almost had the boat dried and folded up when the storm hit there. She found refuge under an awning and just hoped that Mark was safe when the lightning also started. We would obviously have to dry out the boat again, and it all turned out fine--but we sure wish we would have started an hour earlier.