Back on October 12th, I set off on another RoadRunner Magazine tour, this one starting in Hancock, Maryland. It looped westward, then southward down into West Virginia, then eastward and northward back to Hancock. I had been on some of the roads on the BMW R1200GS, but most of them would be new to me.
After following my old friend, scenic Route 40 parallel to Interstate 68 for a while, the route turned south on Woodmont Road and then back north on Exline Road. There I found the first of many "haunted houses," suitable for use in concocting hair-raising stories for the purpose of scaring the daylights out of impressionable children (or BMWBMW readers):
Across the street was a dilapidated barn that could soon be a collapsed barn. At the right end, there wasn't a whole lot holding it up anymore.
As I motored along, I began to notice more and more patches of Fall colors. Virtually every spot of water just demanded that I stop and get a picture.
Sideling Creek didn't have much water flowing in it, but it did offer a long-unused set of stone abutments. Thus, it qualified—barely—as the first of many rickety bridges that I would encounter on this trip.
At the top of Town Hill Mountain sits the Town Hill Inn (naturally). It was built in 1920 and was the first hotel in Maryland constructed for the purpose of serving motorists. It still operates today as a bed & breakfast.
It also offers this view of this valley, with Sideling Hill and its famous Interstate 68 pass visible in the far distance.
Before long I encountered another crumbling bridge. This one, over Town Creek, hasn't been used for roughly the last 10 years. It was safe enough to walk over, and I probably would have parked the Z4 there for a picture if the old road hadn't been blocked off by barriers.
Rounding a corner on Town Creek Road, I happened upon a trio of "forest rats." One ran off into the bushes, but these two stopped to admire the beauty of the Z4 (or to gawk at its weird, picture-takin' driver, perhaps). Okay, I admit that they're beautiful, graceful animals—it's just that they are too dang many of them, and it's become downright unsafe for drivers and riders alike.
I much prefer my roadside animals to be domesticated and tucked safely behind a fence, such as this wee gray burro here:
At one point I ventured off of Town Creek Road a ways to see where "Shawnee Arrow Drive" led. This narrow dirt road promptly went into a private, rustic, resort community of sorts, which included yet another rickety bridge—this one warning sternly not to drive anything weighing more than 6,000 lbs over it. While that's enough to handle almost two complete Z4's, I still listened carefully to a cacophony of wooden squeaks and groans as I crossed over. (On the way back over, I drove much faster to keep from stressing any one board on the bridge for very long!)
On the outskirts of Oldtown, MD (a place well worth visiting in its own right—see George Washington Slept Here (and Here, and Here, and...), I found a scenic, split-level culvert of some sort. It invited further exploration upstream, to see what was on the other side and to figure out why there were several different levels. Did I mention that it was only 45 degrees on October 12th and that I was already fairly cold from driving around like an idiot with the top down, so that I could see everything better? I'll save the covert culvert exploration for another day.
One of the best parts about Oldtown is the infamous low-water bridge across the Potomac River. It costs 50 cents to cross, so plan ahead. Way back in the days, Indians, settlers, and the occasional army forded the Potomac here.
This next picture requires a word of warning: Kids, don't try this at home! Approaching a railroad crossing outside of Green Spring, WV, I felt compelled to stop the Z4 on the railroad tracks and take a picture of this moving train. No kidding, that's exactly what I did.
Did I mention that the train was only a pair of locomotives and that they had already crossed the road and were traveling away from me? Well, it made a more exciting story to leave that part out... Here's a slightly earlier picture of the first locomotive as I was approaching the crossing. Note that there aren't any automated crossing lights, barriers, etc.—just the RR crossing sign. So, the next time you think, "Nothing ever uses these rural tracks," think again!
Another short excursion on an unnamed road brought me to this très petite haunted house in the middle of nowhere...
...and, more importantly, to this beautiful little setting alongside the South Branch Valley railroad line. Between the little stream, the tracks, the Fall colors, and a glorious amount of foliage, texture, and overall Good Vibes, I would have been happy to sit there and take it all in for several hours.
Soon enough, however, I was back on the road. I detoured yet again to investigate this very long elevated (and rickety) train bridge. (In view of my various unplanned detours and stops for pictures, you'll understand why I averaged all of 33 mph on this day-long trip.)
This haunted house looked downright scary. Evil spirits had been at work here, and I had no interest in hanging around any longer than necessary.
The tiny town of Three Churches, WV, sounded and looked much more appealing, even if I could only find two churches. This one is the Branch Mountain United Methodist Church, dating back to roughly the late 1800s based on its cemetery.
Have you ever traveled on a road, thinking that you've never been there before, only to spot something that makes you realize that you have, in fact, been there previously? That had happened to me before in this region of West Virginia, and my memory was triggered by a particular abandoned house. This time, I decided to follow a side road to see if I was remembering correctly and would find the house right around the corner. Well, I didn't! I kept going, however, and finally located it after 10 miles or so of fun, winding, mountain-crossing road. Remarkably, despite its frail appearance, this particular haunted house hasn't deteriorated noticeably in 5 years. It was spooky to look in through the broken corner of the house and see furniture still inside.
I was deviating from the RoadRunner route, incidentally, because I'd been through Romney, WV several times, and I wanted to try something new. Rather inadvertently, I ended up on the romantically named "County Route 3/3" and then its sister "County Route 2/2." These proved to be very narrow (but paved) paths through the forests and over the mountains of extremely rural West Virginia—and that's saying a lot.
There were virtually no houses along these roads, and of the few that appeared, most were abandoned.
Wild, scenic, and a feast for the eyes around nearly every corner. It's hard not to love West Virginia.
As usual, in the complete middle of nowhere, something unexpected usually turns up. In this case, it was this abandoned factory or mill of some sort. It was completely empty inside (apart from an impressive collection of empty beer bottles), and its construction suggested that it wasn't terribly old. So what was it, and what happened?
Eventually, further signs of civilization began to appear—and the road even acquired a proper name (Spring Gap-Neals Run Road, to be specific). I found the Bethel Methodist Church perched on top of a small but very steep hill. It showed signs of regular services, fortunately. If it had been abandoned, it would have made a perfect haunted church.
Near Largent, WV, I found another old friend—the Cacapon River. I canoed much of this beautiful river many years ago with my father, and it's always a pleasure to see it again.
Farther downstream (north, in this case), I pulled over just to admire its beauty further.
After further meandering on Route 9, I approached the town of Great Cacapon, where the Cacapon River flows into the mighty Potomac. Near the confluence, I spotted ... the Goodyear Blimp?? Yes, there it was, some ways in the distance. I have no idea what the occasion was.
What I was expecting to spot near the confluence—namely a railroad bridge—was thankfully there as well.
I'll leave you with one final shot, from the famous and much-admired Route 9 overlook near Berkeley Springs, WV. This view of the Potomac (and Great Cacapon in the distance) never fails to inspire.
From there, it was a quick romp back to Hancock and then back home. The total distance was 331 miles, which (at my pace) required 9 hours and 55 minutes to traverse, including approximately 300 stops for pictures (
). If anyone is interested in the specific route, let me know. It's well worth a visit, whether or not Halloween is right around the corner.Rick F.
