jim65wagon
Well-known member
　
Day 1 Sunday July 25
Our trip to the Cranberry Wilderness started out well…..we had Saturday off and got the truck all loaded up and packed neatly into camping mode. With the GPS (Garmin 780) set for a campsite we found along the Gauley river, we set off on a predicted 6 hour drive . The trip into WV was fine, good weather, light traffic, then we pulled off the highway and started running byways and layover roads following the Garmins direction. Though a little low on fuel, small town gas prices convinced us to head into the next town before refueling. ….our layover road turned gravel……the gas light came on…..I kept driving. Gravel turned to dirt as we switch backed up the mountain……I kept driving, and driving, and driving. Now when that low gas light comes on I have about 5 gallons left in the Tundra, at even 12 off highway miles to the gallon, that's 60 miles and more than enough to find gas, right?
The little hand on the gas gauge moved down to E at a frightening pace, it moved way faster than I remember on freeway jaunts….I'm calculating, thinking I've got about 25-30 miles of gas left….my wife leans over and says “let's see… 3inches on the map at 15 miles an inch …we've got 45 miles to the next town”…..aaaagggh! Now I'm sweating bullets, too far to turn back, maybe I can coast down the backside of the mountain to save fuel? The family wants to stop and take pictures of a wind farm …not going to happen!!! I'm thinking….now I wish I carried extra gas on a cool swing out bumper like everyone else! Then Beth thinks to check the GPS for the nearest filling station…..5.6 miles…..5.6 miles! Now that I can do!
It turns out, the old (crappy)2003 WV Gazetteer we have uses different scales on different pages, the map scale on the main page is large and easy to see. The map scale on the page we were on was small, nearly hidden and hard to read especially while moving down a bumpy road…..it turns out when you read the map with the wrong scale, you get waaay different mileage estimates. We managed our 5.6 miles, filled up with a tic over 23 gallons (that left me still 3 gallons in reserve….I could have gone another 40 miles!)
With lunch at the local Dairy Queen, we decided (again) to always check the route before we leave for a trip. We also checked our route to our campsite. Back in the truck, we got onto forest roads we expected to drive on, and arrived at camp….only to find our nice, big, clean dispersed campsite taken by another family -kids dog ,blue tarps and garbage strewn about……hhhhmmmm! Our discomfiture mocked by the sounds of happy children diving into the swimming hole from the edge of the camp site. First come, first served is the National Forest rule, so we left and began a frantic search for: 1) Cell phone reception and 2) another large campsite.
Cell phone reception was found in a 100 foot long stretch of forest road and we managed to call our friends and let them know the situation. The campsite was more difficult. With minimal time spent exploring the area, we hadn't had much time for scouting out proper sites, so the mad rush began. Down forest roads, along the river, all the nice, big dispersed sites were full. In desperation we even looked at campgrounds….we haven't been in a campground for 3 years, really didn't want to, but ultimately space and location had to win out. We found a nice shady creek side site next to Tea Creek in (naturally) Tea Creek Campground. We left again to find cell phone service and ended up at a pay phone by a small food mart/gas station near Edray .We called everyone with the new location and returned to Tea Creek. The campground had only a few sites occupied, most of the sites are private, separated by trees and mountain laurel . There is a hand pump for water and pit toilets. It started to lightly rain as we set up our campsite but it stopped by the time we finished .Then we waited for our friends. They arrived in short order and good spirits, setting up their equipment in the same camp site as ours.
The signs at the check-in post mentioned multiple black bears in the area. Not normally a concern to us, dishes are always washed before bed, all leftover foods disposed of properly (usually not much with this crew), and storage boxes locked away. Our number one rule when camping - No Food in the Tent- Ever!( hopefully humans aren‘t on the menu). The campground stayed relatively empty, only a few sites with people, nice and quiet as we sat around talking. At 7:30 PM Deb sighted our first bear, it was walking through the woods across from camp about 30 feet away (that could be a bad sign).
After a nice dinner of Tacos and wine, lots of good conversation and basic catching up , we all cleaned up . There was a discussion between my wife and I about whether or not to leave our new cooler out. You see it is a Yeti cooler and is certified to be grizzly proof but my wife said we spent too much money on it to have it scratched up and get bear slobber on it just so I could see how well it worked. We put it in the truck (marriage is all about compromise), then we settled down for the night. I slept well initially, only to be woken up to car alarms and much excited yelling. It turns out, the tenants of a site a ways down from ours had left their cooler out (apparently not a Yeti) and two of the bears decided to dine there for the night; ate most of their food and left without leaving a tip. You couldn't feel too sorry for them since there were signs posted everywhere about the bears and one sign posted prominently in the restroom specifically said to put all food in the vehicle. The people were just finishing packing their vehicle when I woke up just after daylight. They were gone by 7:00 AM. Thanks to my wife, there is no report on just how Black Bear proof a Yeti cooler is….yet.
　
　
Sorry for the lack of Day 1 pics. but it was a rather hectic day, tiring, and waay too eventful. On the other side of the coin, I've got 5 more days to write up....with pics....
Day 1 Sunday July 25
Our trip to the Cranberry Wilderness started out well…..we had Saturday off and got the truck all loaded up and packed neatly into camping mode. With the GPS (Garmin 780) set for a campsite we found along the Gauley river, we set off on a predicted 6 hour drive . The trip into WV was fine, good weather, light traffic, then we pulled off the highway and started running byways and layover roads following the Garmins direction. Though a little low on fuel, small town gas prices convinced us to head into the next town before refueling. ….our layover road turned gravel……the gas light came on…..I kept driving. Gravel turned to dirt as we switch backed up the mountain……I kept driving, and driving, and driving. Now when that low gas light comes on I have about 5 gallons left in the Tundra, at even 12 off highway miles to the gallon, that's 60 miles and more than enough to find gas, right?
The little hand on the gas gauge moved down to E at a frightening pace, it moved way faster than I remember on freeway jaunts….I'm calculating, thinking I've got about 25-30 miles of gas left….my wife leans over and says “let's see… 3inches on the map at 15 miles an inch …we've got 45 miles to the next town”…..aaaagggh! Now I'm sweating bullets, too far to turn back, maybe I can coast down the backside of the mountain to save fuel? The family wants to stop and take pictures of a wind farm …not going to happen!!! I'm thinking….now I wish I carried extra gas on a cool swing out bumper like everyone else! Then Beth thinks to check the GPS for the nearest filling station…..5.6 miles…..5.6 miles! Now that I can do!
It turns out, the old (crappy)2003 WV Gazetteer we have uses different scales on different pages, the map scale on the main page is large and easy to see. The map scale on the page we were on was small, nearly hidden and hard to read especially while moving down a bumpy road…..it turns out when you read the map with the wrong scale, you get waaay different mileage estimates. We managed our 5.6 miles, filled up with a tic over 23 gallons (that left me still 3 gallons in reserve….I could have gone another 40 miles!)
With lunch at the local Dairy Queen, we decided (again) to always check the route before we leave for a trip. We also checked our route to our campsite. Back in the truck, we got onto forest roads we expected to drive on, and arrived at camp….only to find our nice, big, clean dispersed campsite taken by another family -kids dog ,blue tarps and garbage strewn about……hhhhmmmm! Our discomfiture mocked by the sounds of happy children diving into the swimming hole from the edge of the camp site. First come, first served is the National Forest rule, so we left and began a frantic search for: 1) Cell phone reception and 2) another large campsite.
Cell phone reception was found in a 100 foot long stretch of forest road and we managed to call our friends and let them know the situation. The campsite was more difficult. With minimal time spent exploring the area, we hadn't had much time for scouting out proper sites, so the mad rush began. Down forest roads, along the river, all the nice, big dispersed sites were full. In desperation we even looked at campgrounds….we haven't been in a campground for 3 years, really didn't want to, but ultimately space and location had to win out. We found a nice shady creek side site next to Tea Creek in (naturally) Tea Creek Campground. We left again to find cell phone service and ended up at a pay phone by a small food mart/gas station near Edray .We called everyone with the new location and returned to Tea Creek. The campground had only a few sites occupied, most of the sites are private, separated by trees and mountain laurel . There is a hand pump for water and pit toilets. It started to lightly rain as we set up our campsite but it stopped by the time we finished .Then we waited for our friends. They arrived in short order and good spirits, setting up their equipment in the same camp site as ours.
The signs at the check-in post mentioned multiple black bears in the area. Not normally a concern to us, dishes are always washed before bed, all leftover foods disposed of properly (usually not much with this crew), and storage boxes locked away. Our number one rule when camping - No Food in the Tent- Ever!( hopefully humans aren‘t on the menu). The campground stayed relatively empty, only a few sites with people, nice and quiet as we sat around talking. At 7:30 PM Deb sighted our first bear, it was walking through the woods across from camp about 30 feet away (that could be a bad sign).
After a nice dinner of Tacos and wine, lots of good conversation and basic catching up , we all cleaned up . There was a discussion between my wife and I about whether or not to leave our new cooler out. You see it is a Yeti cooler and is certified to be grizzly proof but my wife said we spent too much money on it to have it scratched up and get bear slobber on it just so I could see how well it worked. We put it in the truck (marriage is all about compromise), then we settled down for the night. I slept well initially, only to be woken up to car alarms and much excited yelling. It turns out, the tenants of a site a ways down from ours had left their cooler out (apparently not a Yeti) and two of the bears decided to dine there for the night; ate most of their food and left without leaving a tip. You couldn't feel too sorry for them since there were signs posted everywhere about the bears and one sign posted prominently in the restroom specifically said to put all food in the vehicle. The people were just finishing packing their vehicle when I woke up just after daylight. They were gone by 7:00 AM. Thanks to my wife, there is no report on just how Black Bear proof a Yeti cooler is….yet.
　
　
Sorry for the lack of Day 1 pics. but it was a rather hectic day, tiring, and waay too eventful. On the other side of the coin, I've got 5 more days to write up....with pics....
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