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THE WALKING PLACE

.....Walking is not just one of my pasttime activities. It is a part of my life. A number of years ago I saw myself in a church homecoming vidio and said, "Mercy! Is that Me!" I made up my mind to walk, but I knew that I would have to set a goal. That first year, I set what I thought was a hugh goal: One thousand miles. By June I had walked my one-thousand miles and I was still going. That first year, I walked more than three thousand miles, and, at some point during the first year of walking, I set another goal. I wanted to walk the distance around the world, about 27000 miles, by the year 2000. A lot of miles have disappeared under the soles of my feet, and most of my rear has gone away also. Except for my right leg, which sometimes lets me down, I am still going strong. For two years in a row, I walked more than 4000 miles.

photo by Okey L. King Jr.

These hipaticas were blooming on "Der Konigsberg."

MY WALKER'S COMPANION

.....I found my "walker's companion" in the back of my deacon's pickup truck. It was an old hand-carved handle of some farm implement, and my deacon was taking it and some other things to the dump. I asked, "Can I have this thing?" He said, "Help yourself." I rescued it, took it home, painted it red, padded the top, and began to carry it on my many joureys through all kinds of weather. My companion is my third leg in rough spots back in the hills, my help up those hills, and my "Don't mess with me! I've got a stick stick." A walker's companion is a must for every serious walker.

Hike West Virginia's many trails.

photo by Okey L. King

.....The view from the rocks on White Rock Ridge looking toward Fairlea with Coffman Hill in the middle ground. To reach this lookout point, you have to make a steep climb from the railroad over loose rock. An outcrop of rocks lies along the top of the first and steepest slope of White Rock Ridge. From the top of the main ridge, the view is even more spactactular. This ridge has a prominent place in my first novel which is yet unpublished.

photo by Okey L. King

An array of sarvis (serviceberry) along the trail on Greenbrier Mountain.

photo by Okey L. King

I know what this plant is. Do You?

photo by Okey L. King

One of Carolyn's irises.

photo by Okey L. King

I photographed this dwarf trillium on Spruce Knob. The Greenbrier River From under the Caldlwell bridge, and Bluehole on Howard Creek. Photos by Okey L. King.

photo by Okey L. King

.....I photographed this doe while walking in February in Pipestem State Park in Summers County. Winter might be the best time to walk in the wilderness. You don't have to contend with all of the "flying critters" and the "creepy crawlers."

photo by Okey L. King

This is the road to the "Konigsberg" in the early Spring.

photo by Okey L. King

This fantastic scene was revealed to a group of friends and me as we were on a "hayride" near Organ Cave in Greenbrier County.

photos by Okey L. King

I captured these beauties while walking the Cranberry Glades.

YOU MAY VISIT THE PLACE WHERE THESE FLOWERS GROW BY VISITING THE WEST VIRGINIA WET LANDS PAGE ON THE WEST VIRGINIA PAGE.

photo by Okey L. King

You won't see this view of Indian Creek in Monroe County from the window of your automobile.

I made this photojust a few miles from my home (Okey L. King).

photo by Okey L. King

.....On a spring day in the wilderness of northern Monroe County, we are looking southeast from near the top of Jones Mountain.