NP#63 - New River Gorge National Park
Chapter 63 -New River Gorge July 14, 3031
New River Gorge located in southern West Virginia became our country’s 63rd major national park when Congress added HR 4610 to the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which was primarily aimed at providing economic stimulus for pandemic relief.
White Sands, the country’s 62nd national park was earlier upgraded from National Monument status to National Park status compliments of the National Defense Authorization Bill.
That’s how government works. Congress people horse trade their votes with other congress people for the inclusion of their pet projects deep within a variety of House and Senate Bills! For a very insightful look at how government works, read The Waxman Report by Henry Waxman!
Because our Life Plan included the goal of visiting all of our country’s major national parks, (the ones with the title National Park) Terry and I were compelled this year to visit numbers 62 and 63. (We visited #62 - White Sands National Park in mid-June)
New River Gorge was originally established as a National River in 1978 to protect 53 miles of the New River and its surrounding gorge. By the way, we learned that the “New River” is actually the second oldest river on the planet! Not quite sure how they came up with that designation…but we’ll take their word for it!
July 5th – July 6th
After dropping of the doggies at Roy and Micki’s house on Monday night, we began our journey to New River Gorge with a redeye flight from Phoenix to Charlotte, NC and then on to Charleston, WV. Normally, I can sleep on airplanes. But this is the first time I’ve had to have a mask covering my face when flying. As of today, all passengers are required to mask up for the entire airport/airplane experience. Masks make my nostrils itch! I understand the why we are required to wear one…however; it still made for a very uncomfortable flight!
Nevertheless, we made it to Fayetteville, WV where we would be staying at a VRBO named Lafayette Flats. Terry found this lovely vacation rental online and we’d highly recommend it to anyone heading to visit the Gorge.
Co-owners Amy McLaughlin and Shawn Means converted a 100-year-old cut-stone building into four lovely apartments overlooking downtown Fayetteville. The units are smartly decorated with a variety of artwork from a diverse array of West Virginia artisans.
We stayed in the Corten unit – a one-bedroom rental fully equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable stay. As we would soon discover, the word “Cor-Ten” refers to the type of steel used to construct the famous bridge spanning the New River Gorge. More on the bridge later.
Our first stop was to the Visitor Center located on the east side of the river where we would inquire about the best TTD’s (Things To Do) for a three day visit. Along with purchasing our Park Pin to add to our collection, we learned of the many hiking trails, rafting trips and scenic drives that are featured throughout the park.
After checking in to our unit, we ventured out into Fayetteville to purchase “Croakies” for our rafting trip on Thursday and vino for our room! We were told Studio B had a decent selection of wines and it was just a “short walk” from our basecamp. The local “vicinity map” indicated that Studio B was right around the corner…so off we went in search of wine!
Maps can be deceiving! What appeared to be a very short stroll turned out to be a long and treacherous trek on a hot, humid afternoon down a very narrow road without sidewalks and fast moving traffic coming at you in both directions with little room to dodge the speed demons!
One of the locals we passed warned us to “Be careful! This is the most dangerous road in Fayetteville!” We survived our trek to Studio B. Bought a couple bottles of vino and headed back up the Road from Hell to the safety of Lafayette Flats.
Next up was deciding on what to do for dinner. The owners of our unit recommended a place called Pies and Pints - a pizza joint with craft beers. We opted to do take out and bellied up to a overcrowded bar while our pie was baked. Surprisingly, the choice of beverages was of high quality and with much variety. I sampled the North End Tavern Roedy’s Red – an amber/red ale from Parkersburg, WV. Terry tried a taste of the Bad Shepard Not your Momma’s Berry Pie that had her puckering up! She immediately changed course and ordered a pint of the Swilled Dog Wild Berry Cider.
After the 45-minute wait for our Pie, we headed back to the Corten, cracked open a bottle of Stags Leap Chardonnay and noodled. It was a long, sleepless day and we needed some rest!
July 7th
Up at 6am plotting out our day’s itinerary. Terry still gently snoring in the bedroom. Our hosts recommended the Cathedral Café for breakfast, which didn’t open up until 8 am. Funky joint with all kinds of stuff for sale. Wines. Tee shirts. Games.
Here we met a most unusual human being. A genuine conspiracy theorist from Naples, FL who, when not driving his Semi is informing people that mankind is doomed. He is convinced that the military already has bases established on the moon and on Mars in preparation for the mass exodus from planet Earth!
He goes on to tell us that humans now have the mind power to stop tsunami’s by creating plastic walls by simply thinking it to be and it will. Voila! He honestly believes humans are capable of building a plastic wall to stop an ensuing tidal wave from destroying a city by using the power of their mind! Whoa! A genuine Space Cadet sitting next to us at the Cathedral Café! Check please! Time to go visit the park!
Our first stop is the Endless Wall Trail – a 2½-mile loop through densely forested terrain. The trailhead is about 4 miles from our VRBO. Parking is limited! We find the last available “legal” spot and off we go to discover the Endless Wall. When researching this newest of parks, we discovered that not all West Virginians were in favor of upgrading the area from National River to National Park.
Their primary concern is that this newfound notoriety would bring hoards of tourists (like us) to an area with limited infrastructure to handle the influx of recreation-starved humans! There are very few hotel accommodations in Fayetteville. Very limited parking at trailheads. And not a large number of restaurants to choose from.
The trail itself is rated moderate – meaning there are a few minor hills to contend with. The main destination is the Diamond Point Overlook, which offers up a great view of the Gorge, the river below, a glimpse of the Bridge and the “endless” rock wall that defines the upper reaches of the gorge.
If you choose to do the entire loop, you will have to navigate about a half mile of paved road similar to that which we experienced trekking to Studio B! We opted for an out-and-back experience in order to avoid traffic.
Most of the scenery along the trail is dense green trees of many varieties. For color, Mother Nature threw in a lovely collection of Mountain Laurel in full bloom.
When we emerged from our hike, we found the parking lot overflowing with vehicles all jockeying for a space, of which there were none! A rather large RV was camped on the road, blocking entry and exit! A group of hikers helped the RVers back out of the parking lot allowing us to head out to our next destination – the Sandstone Visitor Center at the south end of the park.
One of the recommended activities at New River is to take the “Scenic Drive” around the entire circumference of the park. It takes you on a tour of the Nuttalburg Mine Site, the Grist Mill at Babcock State Park, the Sandstone Visitor Center at the south end of the park, Sandstone Falls, Grandview, Thurmond Historic District and back to Fayetteville.
We were able to take in most of this drive…until the skies opened up and biblical amounts of rain came down upon us. So much rain that we literally had to get off the road due to the fact our wiper blades could not keep up with the downpour!
Highlights of this drive for us were the Sandstone Visitor Center, Sandstone Falls and Grandview.
The Sandstone Visitor Center serves as a model for state-of-the-art green design and construction. One of the visually stimulating features of the building is the tile flooring, which depicts a map of the New River watershed. The New River is one of the rare rivers in North America that runs northerly.
It joins the Gauley River just north of Fayetteville and eventually merges with the Kanawha River. The Kanawha flows into the Ohio, which eventually empties into the Mississippi. So waters that originate near Blowing Rock North Carolina find their way into the Gulf of Mexico!
New River is estimated to be between 10 and 360 million years old. To me, that’s quite a large gap in time. So, which is it? Ten million years old? Or 360? Or somewhere in between?
After spending some time at the Visitor Center, we ventured down to Sandstone Falls – the largest waterfall along the New River. The drive from the Visitor Center to the Falls will take about a half hour, yet it is the only scenic riverside drive within the park boundaries.
Sandstone Falls spans the river where it is 1500 feet wide. Here the river drops between 10 to 25 feet. A wooden boardwalk and bridges that span two islands will take you to several of the Falls viewing points.
Our next stop is Grandview – said to be one of the best places to view the Gorge. It might possibly be all that it was touted had it not been for the ever-growing gray skies. The Main Overlook at Grandview is 1400 feet above the river and on a clear day it is said that “you can see directly into the heart of the park, including seven miles of the New River and its watershed.” Here you will have a good view of the horseshoe bend in the river.
We drove to the Turkey Spur Overlook and hiked up the 128 wooden steps to the three landing decks to view the river and gorge below. Unfortunately, the view from Turkey Spur was no different than from Main Overlook. We experienced gray skies shadowing a massive green forest that blankets the hills that make up the Gorge. Winding through the Gorge is a clear view of the railroad tracks that follow the direction of greenish-brown river meandering through it.
Once we departed Grandview, we intended to visit the Thurmond Historic District; however, we experienced a violent thunderstorm that literally forced us off the roadway as our windshield wipers were no good against the downpour. After waiting out the storm for about 20 minutes, we limped back to Fayetteville and the comfort of our flat!
Once the rain subsided we headed back to Pies and Pints for an early dinner. The Char-grilled Hotwings and Spinach Salad with creamy Gorgonzola dressing were delightful as the main course. As were the pints of craft beer we drank. But the highlight of dinner this evening was dessert! The Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Terrine was out-of-this-world yummy! This coming from one that’s not particularly fond of dessert!
July 8th
Today we float the New River! Adventures on the Gorge (the company we signed on with) offers several different whitewater rafting experiences. We’ve been down class 3, 4 and 5 rapids in the past so on this trip we chose to do a leisurely “float” rather than tackle the more challenging whitewater.
We booked the Upper New River float that courses through several class one and two rapids (dinks) and one Class Three that did get several of the floaters tossed into the drink! There were 44 rafters on our trip including several young kids and a dozen or so teenagers who had no clue as to how to paddle a Duckie! (A Duckie is an inflatable 2-person raft shaped like a kayak.)
The all day trip included transportation to and from the river, a sandwich lunch on an overcrowded beach that we shared with two other rafting companies, and all the gear needed to float the river.
Scott was our Trip Leader. Ed the Driver of the Bus. Both looked like recycled Hippies from another era. Both seemed to really love their laid back jobs!
This float was a great way to view the Gorge from the river’s perspective! The trip launched from the Thurmond Historic District and took out at Cunard – approximately 6 miles upriver.
Terry and I followed “Mother Duckie Tanner” most of the float. When we were about to approach the only Class 3 rapid, Mother Duckie told all floaters that if they wanted to stay dry, stay left with her as she descended down into the rapid.
She said to all those who wanted to get launched into the river, to stay about 15 feet to the right of her. We followed Mother. The Teens veered 15 feet to the right and got wet! As for the Croakies we bought a couple of days ago to save our glasses from drowning in the event we were tossed from our Duckie…we really didn’t need to invest in them!
Just as we were about to reach our final destination, it began to rain. Not the biblical sort we experienced yesterday. Just a steady gentle downpour. Back to the Flats, a hot shower, a glass of Malbec and off to dinner.
Guess where we went to dinner this evening? You got it! Pies and Pints for the third straight night! And the main reason for this lack of culinary variety was to come back for more of that incredible Brownie!
Each night we sat at the bar and watched tennis. Wimbledon was in its late stages and we were treated to some excellent matches. I can’t remember having ever watched more tennis on TV than we did the three nights we sat the bar at the pie shop!
July 9th - Departure Day.
We awoke to another drizzly day. Leftover pizza and coffee for breakfast. We have the whole morning and afternoon to further explore the Gorge. Our first stop was back to the Canyon Rim Visitor Center to take advantage of views of the New River Gorge Bridge. There is a wooden Boardwalk that leads you to one of two viewing platforms. The first platform offers an ok view of the Bridge. The second platform is located about 150 steps down into the gorge and offers a great view of the Bridge. The rain has scared the tourists away. Terry and I are the only one’s on the boardwalk.
The Bridge is definitely one of the key points of visual interest when visiting this park. Most of the literature advertising the park includes a picture of this structure. Construction of the 3030 foot steel arch bridge began in July of 1974.
The material chosen to build the bridge, rust colored Cor-Ten steel, was chosen due to its strength, flexibility, maintenance qualities and its ability to blend in with the natural environment. Cor-Ten steel produces its own durable rust coating thus does not need to be painted. Painting the bridge was estimated to cost about $1 million each time.
The bridge’s official Grand Opening took place in October of 1977, a little over 3 years from the commencement of construction. It has been said that the completion of the bridge reduced a 45-minute commute across the Gorge to 45 seconds!
We tested that theory and upon leaving the Visitor Center, we ventured down the Fayette Station Road to the bottom of the Gorge and crossed the Tunney Hunsaker Bridge, which was one of the original crossing points. Most of the road is one way, very narrow and loaded with hairpin turns. At the bottom of this 100-year old road, you’ll get a great view of the New River Bridge and the river itself. We were in no hurry, but do believe that it would have taken close to 45 minutes to go from one side of the gorge to the other via this old road!
All in all this proved to be a very enjoyable experience. We’re not quite sure that it measures up to true National Park status…but what do we know! It gave us a chance to get out of Peoria and see a part of the country we’ve never visited before.
Happy trails my friends and keep on Trekkin’!
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