Cloudy Skies and Campfires
On June 23rd 2016, several men, one woman, and a baby came together at Tea Creek Campground, West Virginia. This outing was launched to raise awareness around making the Birthplace of Rivers a national monument in the Southern Monongahela National Forest. That cool Wednesday evening, we sat around the campfire looking forward to our three day backpacking adventure. I listened to veterans and elders who’ve all traveled the world share their stories around crackling campfire. The conversations were meaningful and enlightening; they ranged from tales of being a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, to one volunteer working at a university in South Africa, to struggles of survival the jungles of Vietnam, and the dangers of being a sniper in the mountains of Afghanistan.
Each person brought their own unique experience to this outing. This is a testament to the power of the outdoors and its ability to bring together people form all ages and backgrounds. We were an awesome crew of misfits; from Sierra Club Outdoors Director, Stacy Bare and his dad, to the Rocky Mountain Director for the Vet Voice Foundation, Garett Reppenhagen and his family, to new Sierra Club adventurer and Army veteran, Joe Canavan. We all didn’t know at the start of this outing that we would bear witness to Mother Nature’s Fury.
The Eye of the Storm
The second day at Tea Creek Campground, the rains that came early that morning refused to subside. We planned to do some hiking, and fly fishing that day. Park rangers quickly warned us, "stay at the camp grounds at our own peril" due to potential statewide flood warnings. It wasn’t any indication that this would be one of the most deadly and devastating floods in recent memory for West Virginia. We heeded the Forest Service Ranger’s advice and decided to head for higher ground. We arrived at Elk River Inn Lodge during the early afternoon to dry out and avoid the coming waters. We all got dry, settled into our cozy log cabin, and checked out merchandise at the Inn’s visitor center store. Sierra Club Outings and Project Healing Waters leader, Paul Wilson showed us all how to properly cast a fly fishing rod. I don’t think many of us are experts like Paul, but I plan to give it another shot one day soon. All this was happened while Garett’s baby boy; Ocean, kept us all entertained with his high energy and playful antics.
This was the calm for before the storm. The two creeks surrounding the Inn began to flow more intensely as the day went on. The owner of Elk River Inn came out to see two different creeks churn rapids of flowing white water. He stood at the edge of the bank and laughed then he said, “Those two bridges have survived plenty of floods in there day.” Just one hour later, the larger of the two wooden bridges had been taken by debris and furious flood waters. We watched in fear, and amazement has the two creeks merged into one raging furious river. We saw snakes; lizards, giant spiders, and a star-nosed mole all try to flee the rapid rushing white water. This left our cars stranded on the other side of the mountain.
We settled in for a long night and had a wonderful dinner with the Elk River Inn owner. Good food, great conversations, and spotty cell service kept us content that night. As we tried to piece together what was happening in the outside world. The next day we were all tasked with hiking a mile and half to our stranded cars. This was accomplished thanks to the great folks at Elk River Inn. We even hiked through a lumber yard and one of the SC leaders had a chance encounter while passing through:
“When we crossed the lumber yard’s property; I am sure everyone saw all of the pollution there. I had one of their employees tell me how they routinely dump solvents, hydraulic fluid and diesel onto the ground and into the river. I sent a message to the WV DEP to report them. I felt it was the right thing to do after the employee told me about everything. I did not mention his name in the report. Actually, funny how I meet him, I sold my canoe to him and when we talked, he remembered us passing through the property, earlier that day. Guess it was meant to be.”-Mike
Receding Waters and Goodbye West Virginia
Garett and family left on Friday morning taking baby Ocean’s jovial personality away from us old folks. Our crew had dwindled to four thanks to the nasty weather. We were still determined to achieve our mission. It seems accomplishing goals is engrained into us veterans. We went back to the Tea Creek campground, hiked and fished on that day then headed out on Saturday morning. The campground had avoided the flood waters; our fantastic Military Outdoors leader’s tents were surprisingly still-standing after the waters receded. We didn’t get to backpack like we all hoped, but we did see some the beauty that the West Virginia backcountry had to offer. We saw rolling clouds on the green mountains that decorated the West Virginia landscape, waterfalls, and snakes that called this rural state home. Mike showed us some of the oldest glades in the Mid-Atlantic region, the Cranberry Glades. On that Saturday long and scenic drive back to Charleston, I thought about the crazy adventure I just had and all the wonderful people I had just spent the last three days with.
This was no doubt different story for many people who call West Virginia home, that weekend flood waters did massive damage and took the lives of 25 souls. We at the Sierra Club Military Outdoors wish the people of West Virginia a speedy and quick recovery. Our thoughts, prayers, and hearts go out to the people of West Virginia has they rebuild their homes, communities, and their lives. It was an honor to spend three eventful days with wonderful veterans, their family members, and a baby. Hopefully, our outing is the start to the battle for preservation of the Birthplace of Rivers to become a national monument in West Virginia. With some luck and a lot of grit this place will continue to stay wild for generations to come.
