#preston county

[unteriors]

W High Street, Kingwood, West Virginia.

[vandaliatraveler]

The rain returned to NC-WV this week and I couldn't have been happier. I went straight out into the showers this morning, found a suitable damp hollow, and immersed myself in dripping leaves, wet moss, and swirling eddies and bubbling pools. I was so fucking delirous, I barely noticed that I soaked my new hiking boots in a flooded brook. And to top it off, as I was enjoying a steady drizzle on the banks of Messenger Lake, a wood duck mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, a lovely apparition of mist and water willow, and a timely reminder that chance encounters in the rain are often the ones most worth remembering.

[unteriors]

Terrace Street, Rowlesburg, West Virginia.

[unteriors]

Cuzzart Road, Bruceton Mills, West Virginia.

[unteriors]

Water Street, Newburg, West Virginia.

[unteriors]

Carl Zinn Road, Independence, West Virginia.

[vandaliatraveler]

Above: A trip down the rock benches and water slides of the upper falls of Deckers Creek. This is a lovely mountain stream in the autumn, especially when the American witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blooms and the leaves of the northern spicebush (Lindera benzoin) turn deep yellow - in sharp contrast to its brilliant red berries. Additional gold filigree is courtesy of the gorgeous yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) that grows among the boulders at the stream's edge. Hard to imagine that just a few decades ago Deckers Creek was rendered lifeless by acid mine drainage. Today, after much help and love from the Friends of Deckers Creek, most of the stream maintains a healthy pH and its fishery has been restored.

[unteriors]

4th Street, Bretz, West Virginia.