We had planned several months ago that we were going to return to Hatfield & McCoy, but this year we were going back to the Matewan Bed and Breakfast. We had enough people going this time to book out the whole Bed and Breakfast. Terry discovered the Bed and Breakfast a long time ago, and trust me, I was a little leery of it because of some of his past choices, but it’s great and is one of our go-to places when riding the Devil Anse area.
We decided that when we arrived Thursday evening, we would ride Outlaw Trails, go see the Matewan horses, and visit Wilmore Dam. Once we arrived and became semi-unpacked, we were off.
There is a really neat way to get there, next to the train track for a good portion of the way, following down the river. We were able to have a train go by, which was very cool and long, and then we were able to stop by the side of the river on the way to look at the old train trestle.
We got up to the area where the Matewan wild horses are and scouted a little bit but didn’t see them on this trip. However, we were able to take in some awesome views. We then were off to Wilmore Dam via Outlaw Trails.
With Hurricane Helene’s aftereffects, there were some downed trees here and there that locals had cut, but I wasn’t sure we would make it, so I tried taking a shortcut down to the road to see if we could get there that way. It was dark by now, and this trail was overgrown, so I turned around to try and take the normal trail and see if we could make it through. In this area, it was kind of smoky and had a peculiar smell. I think some locals may have been cooking meth, but we left that area rather quickly.
We were getting very close to Wilmore Dam, about a mile from dropping out by the baseball diamond, and finally reached a spot that the locals hadn’t cleared yet. It was later in the night, dark, and everyone looked defeated. I decided, at this point, looking at Joe and his wife, Terry, James, Tammy, Casey, and Nicole’s tired faces, we would call it quits and go back. We dropped out on the nearest road and navigated back to the Bed and Breakfast. No Wilmore Dam for everyone this evening. On the way back, I thought we would just go by road tomorrow after the normal ride I had planned from Matewan to Williamson, as it would be a little shorter anyway and would work out.
PICTURES
Direct Facebook Link:
Be the first to comment on "Group Ride 10/3/2024"