Monday, April 20, 2015

Hungry Mother State Park, VA

Hungry Mother State Park, Campground B
Monday, April 20, 2015, Hungry Mother State Park, Marion, VA - 176 miles, 1121.7 for the trip.

Last night was exciting. I was listening to the radio & every 10 minutes the Emergency Broadcast System interrupted the programing to announce the counties that could expect severe thunderstorms (with 60 MPH winds, etc). Of course, the problem is I have no idea what county I'm in. They did mention some towns towards the end of the announcement, but Townsend wasn't one of them. Never the less, we did have lots of thunder & lightning, a bit of wind (and more branches falling from the trees) during two storms overnight. I watched them come & go on the Weather Radar app on my phone...

By 7:00AM, all was quiet. I finished packing up the trailer & headed out. The original plan was to head for a KOA about 200 miles up I81, but I saw a sign for Hungry Mother State Park, and had to know how it got its name. Since it has a couple of campgrounds, I decided to do a bit less that 200 miles & stay there. The Camp Burson campground it like any commercial campground - trailer in a parking lot, but the B campground is more typical of state parks. Water & electric for $41.86, a bit steep but a pretty location. There are reservable sites, most of which are along the river, and a number of first come sites. The bathrooms are a bit of a hike from my site (they are next to the host site) but include a laundry, private showers, and a kitchen sink. I'm in site 2 at the recommendation of the campground host - a level pull through. So far I'm the only person here besides the host. I took a few extra photos of the campground...


If the weather holds (more thundershowers are predicted) I'll have a couple of hot dogs, but if it rains, it will be a pot pie cooked in the toaster oven.

Oh, and for those wondered as much as I did, the name of the park comes from a legend that when Indians destroyed several settlements along the New River, Molly Marley and her small child were among the survivors taken to the raiders' base. Molly & her child escaped, and wandered through the wilderness eating berries. Molly finally collapsed and her child wandered down to a creek where she found help. The only words the child could utter were "Hungry Mother". The search party found Molly dead at the base of a mountain that is today named Molly's Knob, and the stream became Hungry Mother Creek.

Until tomorrow -

2 comments:

  1. I really like my weather app on my smartphone...I had numerous storms on my recent trip and the app kept me very informed, especially the live radar...GREAT looking campground and enjoyed the story of how it was named...thanks for sharing...safe travels...Horst sends

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  2. Your trips are never just a yondering up a fwy. Thanks for the meaning of the park.

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