First Trip to the New Property

On August 2nd, a few days after closing on the property, we loaded the boys and the dog in the mini-van and headed back to the Cacapon. The weather was overcast most of the time, and it sprinkled on us at night as well as a few times during the day, but the air and river were warm.

Home on the River - 1972 Coleman Pop-up

Before we even had the pop-up set up, the boys had changed clothes and were in the river. That was exactly what we hoped would happen. One of the major reasons we wanted a place like this was so that our boys had a place to go where they could just play and be boys and learn how to be comfortable in the woods.

The Boys - Exploring an Overflow Channel

 

 

 

Exploring the Main Overflow Channel

And once we had the camp set up and had a chance to explore the area, we quickly realized how lucky we were. It turns out that our property is the absolute last outpost of civilization. Beyond it is only woods and river. Being there feels as if we have hundreds of acres to ourselves. We didn't really understand this - how private and isolated it would be - when we bought it.

Before we made an offer on the property, I did a fair amount of research on the area. One of the Cacapon River's claim to fame is that it is the cleanest river in West Virginia. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the most obvious one is that the river is still surrounded by forested land without a lot of development. This means that the runoff entering the river is not carrying large amounts of silt and sediments. We expected the river to be clean, but what we found was water that was sparkling, almost crystal clear.

And the fishing... I have never before caught so many fish on the first cast. The first Smallmouth I hooked jumped out of the water three or four times before I landed it, putting on quite a show for my boys.

My First Cacapon Smallmouth

 

Exploring the Islands in the Stream

A little farther upstream we found a nice slow-moving pool. The sunfish were hungry for the little green beetlespin, and my son was able to catch a few of them.

 

Every evening we gathered around the campfire to dry things off and warm up. After cooking marshmallows, the boys poked at the fire as much as they wanted to. 

 

 

 Even after three days with no hot water or flushing toilet, we didn't want to leave. Although the fun was ending, it made the packing up a little easier when we remembered that this place was ours, and we could come back anytime we want! And we did, three weeks later...