In Driving the 300 miles from Columbus, I encountered rain as soon as I entered West Virginia. I believe it’s rained every time I’ve been in this state. As it was getting dark when I arrived in the area, I choose to camp in a Mennonite campground just north of Harman. I had first tried Canaan Valley State Park, but the campground was full. At the Mennonite campground, I was the only camper. The rain stopped long enough to set up my tent.

The next morning it stopped raining long enough for me to take down my tent. Actually, I didn’t see any more rain in West Virginia, just a lot of fog.

Near Judy Gap, I found the right road to head up the mountain to Spruce Knob. After about 2 miles, the paved road turned to a well-graded mud road. About 8 miles later I arrived at the top. There were a couple of other cars parked there, but the only other people I saw were a couple getting their backpacks in order for a long hike. I took the short walk to the observation tower on the summit. There was fog everywhere, so I had no views. The summit is correctly named because there are spruce trees everywhere. I was able to locate the benchmark for the summit.