Now this is a tiny campground! 21 sites in all, most of them rather small, but well separated. You won’t find any 30+ footers in here! It’s all dry camping (no hookups for you tenderfoot TLs), but they do have rather new and well kept bathrooms/showers. The location though…. Now this is something to think about! The campground is right of the highway, just outside of Highlands. So yes, there’s plenty of TL traffic during daylight hours. Ah but the Highlands itself. A mountain rainforest this – getting around 90 inches of rain each year. It’s make for very interesting habitat – High altitude, cool/cold temps and wet. Very different from many of the places we’ve been.
We took a shortish walk/hike here, along what was billed as the “Cliffside Vista” trail. No cliff, no vista. And a fair amount of deadfall…of magnificent proportions. These were the trees ”of a certain age” that lost their battle with wind and rain. A challenging obstacle course for the TwoLeggs – The Toad, of course, hopped through without a second thought. On we went, confident of our mountaineering skills. That is, until we reached the downhill side, near the end of the loop, where the trail crosses a little mountain creek. Which a beaver had recently dammed, forming a small micro pond. Which covered the trail for the rest of the (admittedly limited) visible way forward.
But you know this crowd – we’re an improvising sort. We improvised – and turned ourselves around! With rain on the way, the TwoLeggs were decidedly against getting any wetter than the incoming rain promised. Having passed by a shorter return route, we opted for it this time. Naturally, it too, was blocked by an even greater barricade of deadfall. Making matters worse, it was obvious that no Forest Service or Volunteer Trail keepers had been along in quite some time. There was no discernible trail beyond the fallen trees. Oh my.
Yes, the Toad toad them: “Follow me, Two Leggs, I’ll get you out of here!” And back yet again we went. The Toad remembers all things, you see, including the third option to complete the loop. Once again, the intrepid TwoLeggs sallied forth! And almost made it back to camp before the downpour began. Almost. Good thing I have hearty TLs to travel with! We scrambled back to the Great Escape, dried off, and settled down for a scrumptious dinner, courtesy of Carlos, Chef Extraordinaire.
Next up: New River State Park! Stay tuned, and hope for good cell service so we can continue to post!
Rollin' with a Road Toad 