I don’t know if the video I’ve included will work. Living in the country has its benefits but a high speed internet connection is not one of them.

Just up the road in Preston County, north of Albright on Rt. 26, there is a small roadside park. The picnic tables sit across the road from the old Virginia Iron Furnace, which was built in 1854. Water from nearby Muddy Creek operated the 50-foot water wheel, which pumped the bellows used to keep the fire hot enough to extract the molten iron.

Down a very short path and just beyond the iron furnace, I found the picturesque Muddy Creek Falls, which eventually tumble into the Cheat River. I had planned to enjoy a picnic lunch while sitting on the rocks but there were too many bugs. Think Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, only with black gnats on steroids. It seems like just a few steps beyond normal to have bugs photo bombing my video!