First trip this year, W Virginia

[Shadow Catcher]

I have wanted to do the Cass Scenic Railroad for some years. Nancy and I rode behind a Shay locomotive on our honeymoon 44 years ago on what had been the Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Vally Railroad which became the West Side Lumber Company. We are thinking early in June and I was wondering if any one has recommendations for camping in the Monongahela National Forest near the railroad?

[lrrowe]

Shadow Catcher,

I cannot advise you at this time as that is an area in WV that Lynn and I want to go back to, but this time with our camper. A couple of years ago, we visited the area in Oct/Nov along with members of our hiking Club. We stayed in a local motel and did take the Cass RR ride to the top of the mountain. We had snow on the ground. It was great and I believe I posted some photos much earlier but I cannot find the link. We want to go back in June or July to see the Rhododendrons bloom. We will keep in touch with the local ranger station to get updates on the bloom. You should enjoy the area and I for one will be interested in your reports.

[Shadow Catcher]

Bob, Cool. We have a timing constraint, Grand child number 5 is on the way.

[lrrowe]

If you still are thinking June, and if all the weather gods are happy, you might be in the area at the beginning of the Rhododendrons bloom. Either way, that whole area is great. And take your trout fishing pole if you do that sort of thing.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rhodies ... SQ&dpr=1.1

[jandmz]

We went to Cass last September. We really didn't look into camping because we were going on to Washington DC from there. We got a pretty good deal on a room at Snowshoe. It is a timeshare resort, and some of the "owners" rent out their units on Orbitz or Expedia. You have to watch out, because some of the buildings don't have convenient parking available, and expect you to use valet parking. The Soaring Eagle has an underground garage, and that is where we stayed. It is only about 7 miles from Cass. It is a little pricey, but not bad for a special occasion. We avoided the restaurants at the resort, as they were expensive.

We also took the tour of the railroad maintenance and restoration shops. My wife struck up a conversation with one of the mechanics, and she mentioned that on our trip up the mountain the day before the fireman must not have been watching the sight glass because he had flooded the boiler. The mechanic was impressed that she knew about using the sight glass to monitor water level in the boiler and told her that he had just replaced the sight glass on #6. He dug the discarded glass out of the scrap bin and gave it to her. Thanks to her, we came away with a great souvenir.

It was a great trip.