Springtime is HERE!!!!

As I sit here this morning at home, writing this, birds are serenading me outside the window.
I am looking out and watching them land in my backyard, along with the ground moles and squirrels foraging for food. Up on the hillside, you can see evidence of deer, if you know what to look for. To quote the late, great Johnny Cash, the hills are "forty shades of Green."
You know what that means!
It is Springtime at last on the Hatfield-McCoy Trails!
Southern West Virginia is blessed with four distinct and vivid seasons and two of the most popular are Springtime - when Old Man Winter finally bids a hasty retreat and the area returns to the "Green Mansions" look, to borrow a line from a classic old novel, and our Fall season, when the temperatures cool and in addition to a break from humidity you see the hills covered in yellow and red leaves. Spring and fall folliage are remarkable things to see!
I noticed a few weeks ago that purple and pink dogwood trees were blooming and that the once grey hillsides were rapidly "Greening Up."
I also noticed that in the afternoons, warm weather was returning.
With the warm weather I also noted more wildlife, more beautiful folliage and of course more riders coming to the trails and into our towns.
You, our riders KNOW WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT!
Sadly, I have to admit many people who have lived in this area all or most of their lives (as I myself have) far too often take our beautiful hills and nature scenery for granted! Sad but true. I find it ironic that the people who appreciate what this area has to offer for nature lovers tend to be our Hatfield-McCoy Riders! Which is why ol Big Jim enjoys meeting you guys, talking with you and getting your messages on the Riders Community page!
For some people, a beautiful spring day in Southern West Virginia is "just another day."
I guess they never got out much as kids, never hiked or camped as Scouts and never had to read "Walden" in school.
But for other people like us, we know that a beautiful spring day fulfills the old saying "almost heaven, West Virginia!"
And I thank heaven that so many of you riders feel the same way I do about West Virginia's natural beauty! We get it!
Speaking of riding, I figured I would give a few hoary old tips about spring riding for any newcomers to this page. Many of you experienced folks know these things by heart, but it never hurts to brush up on the basics when it comes to outdoors activities, right?
The big thing to remember in the Springtime when outdoors in Southern West Virginia is that things can change fast and that if you are prepared properly it is not that big of a deal when they do.
In the mornings and evenings it can still sometimes get rather cool. It's not uncommon to have weather in the low 50s this time of year in the early morning, only to have weather in the 80s in the afternoon. Then to see the temperature drop off again when the sun goes down.
That's why spring weather is still a good time to wear layers of clothing you can doff throughout the day. For example, if I were riding yesterday, I would have worn a t-shirt and pants or bibbed overalls as my base layer and maybe a light jacket and another pair of pants over that, which of course would have been disposed of by 1 p.m. yesterday. By the time I would have been coming in from the trail, the coat probably would have been back on as it got cool yesterday evening.
In fact, it got so hot the past few days, I may have had a pair of shorts on and stripped down to those and a t-shirt. When you see ATV riders in shorts and cut offs, often it is locals, like myself who are familiar with weather patterns (and who take it slow through the woods!)....
Now, as a former Boy Scout, when I ride, I often take an emergency kit with me that is full of uselfull items to have when in the woods. When I put this thing together a few years ago, I did so for hiking, but the things in it are handy to have anytime you may be outdoors because you never can tell when your best laid plans will "Gang aft agley" (go astray in Gaelic) as the great Scottish Poet Robbie Burns once said.
This pack is housed in an old camera bag I used to use at work. It has a poncho, a space blanket, water purification tablets, compass, extra maps, first aid kit and other essential items that could come in handy were I to get lost or stranded due to a mechanical breakdown or accident. I also take LOTS OF WATER!
Now the only time I have ever needed any of this stuff was once, I got into an overgrown path that had a lot of briars and used a folding knife to trim them back. But still, it is better to have this stuff and not need it than to need it and not have it. Especially if you are one of those odd birds (like me) who is prone to riding alone, at times.
And if you do ride alone, please let somebody know where you are at, when you expect to be back and who to contact if you don't make it out, JUST IN CASE!!!!
Of course it is always a lot more FUN to ride with friends. And safer too. If riding solo, you might also want to take it easy on the "extreme" style riding. Remember, there is no reason to show off if there is nobody around to see it. We want you to have a FUN time on the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, but we want you to have a SAFE TIME too.
With the popularity of television shows such as "Man vs Wild" and "Dual Survival" you can often find ready made outdoors safety and first aid kits in stores or via mail order. Or, if you are an experienced backpacker, hiker, hunter or general outdoorsman, you can put together your own kit based on your own experiences. These are good things to have.
Also, if you leave behind some needed peice of riding gear, fear not, as many of our businesses in this area have such items. You can even get spare gloves and ponchos at many of our Trailheads!
One more thing to keep in mind. This time of the year we get lots of "Spring showers" but unless it rains non stop, often a trail head can dry out in as little as an hour and a half to the point where you might not even know it has rained. So don't let a little precipitation cause you to miss out on some fun riding on the world famous Hatfield-McCoy Trails!
I hope each of you gets the chance to enjoy this beautiful spring weather and scenery this season and come on down and hit the trails!