As a lifelong outdoorsman, there are places in this state that are special to me and hold a very valuable place in my mind and heart.
A prime example is my hunting mentor’s farm in Ritchie County, where I cut my teeth on the sport of bowhunting. I can close my eyes to this day and smell those woods on a warm, fall afternoon, when the leaves are falling fast and the woods take on the smell of a fresh pile of leaves.
I can hear the crunch of the leaves as a deer is coming around the mountain on a game trail leading to my tree stand perched high in an oak tree. I can recall the trembling in my knees and the knot in my stomach as I tried to remain calm and motionless, in hopes the deer wouldn’t hear my pounding heart and my heavy breathing.
There is a section of the Elk River where I learned to cast a buzz bait to summertime smallmouth bass that changed my life as a smallmouth fanatic, simply because of the setting of where the fish lived — a weed-lined riffle where the oxygenated water falling over rocks could be heard and smelled.
I am reminded of that section no matter where I am when I smell the warm rocks and see the water moving quickly. I chased that feeling and memory across this state from the Greenbrier River, the New, the South Branch of the Potomac and others, simply to find and repeat that feeling.
I can go on and on about places that have moved me in this state — the stars in Green Bank on a clear night, the vistas from the Mon National Forest highlands, the magic of winter in Canaan Valley, the thrill of running a rapid on the Upper Gauley River and, of course, my hillside farm in Fayette County, where my kids learned how to drive a truck in the fields, became lifelong hunters and learned the appreciation of nature and all things wild.
Last week, I was asked to volunteer my time and energy by the West Virginia Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.
According to their online page, they are a group that aims to be an advocate and guardian for the 1.7 million acres of public lands and waters in West Virginia, to be a voice for the sportsmen who use those lands and waters, and to be a catalyst for the education and recruitment of tomorrow’s sportsmen.
They asked me to spend an afternoon participating in a scheduled river clean-up on a trout stream in Fayette County.
The trout stream just happened to be one of my very special places in West Virginia: a creek that a dear friend of mine, who passed away way too young, and I spent nearly every Sunday afternoon fly-fishing for many years; a creek where my son caught his first trout; a creek where my son learned not only how to cast a fly rod, but quickly became an accomplished fly fisherman and someone who has chosen to chase rising trout and trout waters for the rest of his life; a creek where I have hosted family and friends from all over in search of summertime wild, brown trout.
During the cleanup, we spread out and each took a section of the creek, removing unnatural items that were either deposited by high water or from the road that runs adjacent to the creek.
In the section of the creek for which I was responsible, I couldn’t help but pause and take a deep breath and take in the feeling and memories that only a special place in your soul can provide.
I fell in love with the creek even deeper than before. I didn’t think that was possible.
Thank you, Backcountry Hunter & Anglers, for inviting me to your river cleanup. I appreciate it more than you may ever know.
Chris Ellis is a veteran of the outdoors industry. His book “Hunting, Fishing and Family from The Hills of West Virginia” is available at . Contact him at chris@elliscom.net.
