This will be the final entry in the RTOD series,I should be able to wrap everything up in this last post.If you missed the first two posts in the series feel free to to take a minute and catch up.So the final morning found us back in the Monongahela National Forest Ranger office.I was again put in touch with a very helpful Ranger who was kind enough to give us a nudge in the correct direction.My goals had already been reached for the road trip.I scouted some new areas in a new state,I caught trout,smallmouth and other assorted fish and I got to spend some time with one of my brothers in an awesome setting.So the plan for the day was easy,go out on a limb and see what happens.The amount of public access fishing in the Elkins,WV area is quite ridiculous and you definitely need more than a few days to fully enjoy it.I'm not rich and I can only afford a few days in this outdoor paradise.So into the truck,cooler filled up,sandwiches purchased,map in hand and we were off.
Following the directions given by the friendly Johny green jeans we rolled through the mountain roads and into Parsons, WV about 20 miles north of Elkins and onto the Cheat River.The Cheat River,in this stretch,is easily twice the size of the stretch of Shavers Fork River we had fished the previous few days.We tried wading it at the given access point,the amount of water moving was a bit on the dangerous side.We did however find a guide service on the opposite bank from where we were fishing.This falls into the good to know category and we wrote down the name and number for next time we find ourselves in West Virginia.We headed down the road to the other given access point.Finding ourselves on a gravel,one lane,mountain road was a bit sketchy but I wasn't about to turn back.The truth is I would have but there was nowhere to turn around.Following the Cheat river for a few miles,stopping at every access point and finding it to be a bit to dangerous to wade.The amount of water moving,rapids,being unfamiliar with the river all a recipe for disaster.We did however manage to get a line wet and we did catch a few very small fish.This means five days of fishing and we caught fish every single day,we would not have starved.As we took a few minutes sitting on the tailgate in the shade we watched the river roll by and ate our sandwiches.Across the river was one of many islands and on this island out of the brush came this guy.
A huge bear?No,not at all.The first bear I have seen in the wild?No,not at all.The first bear I have seen in the wild without looking for bears?Oh Hell Yes!You can't possibly imagine how thrilled I was to turn around and see this absolutely wild bear,in the middle of nowhere within 200 yards.SO I took a few pictures and watched him stroll around the island until he decided to cross the stream and climb up the other side.Mother Nature continues to impress me after 32 years on this great planet.So we drove around for a few hours,headed back to the hotel and decided we it just wouldn't be American if we didn't go to the local dirt track we saw a sign for.It was Friday night after all and could be more relaxing than watching a bunch of rednecks going around in circles on a dirt track in over powered late model cars.So that was it,the RTOD was over.A nice 6 hour drive home,then a few days to rest up and it was back to work.As I type this the sweat is still dripping off my face,the radio is sure to blast in my ear any second and it will be time to go make the benjamins.Are there things we could have done differently to make this a better trip,most certainly.Could it have gone much,much worse,oh yeah.I'm happy with it,we got out of state,aught fish in waters we had never seen before,spent five days in the mountains,didn't break any expensive gear,nobody got hurt and we didn't run out of beer.So until next time folks,thanks for reading and get outside!
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