Photo link:
https://goo.gl/photos/oasSFNe42Vz2uWLF9
The drive from the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania, down
through the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia was a new experience. These
mountains seemed different as there were small, steep mountains surrounding
deep valleys and gorges. Fortunately, most of the drive was on interstate,
which we prefer not to take, but was our only option for hauling the travel
trailer. It was a long, up and down, curving drive, with some very amazing
mountain views. We finally arrived at the New River Campground, near Gauley
Bridge, WV. This place was right on the riverfront where we could look out our
back window at the river and the opposing rocky walls of the gorge. Just a mile
upstream is the convergence of the Gauley River and the New River, which forms
the Kanawha River. A few miles upstream on the Gauley River are white water
rapids, ranging from Class V to Class II. There are many outfitters to shuttle
kayakers on the river.
One of the main attractions for us was to visit the New
River Gorge National River and the Gorge Bridge, which is run by the National
Park Service. The New River Gorge Bridge is a steel arch bridge 3,030 feet long
and 876 feet above the New River near
Fayetteville, West Virginia. With an arch 1,700 feet long, the New River Gorge Bridge
is now the third longest single span bridge in the world. This bridge is closed
to vehicular traffic the third Saturday of every October for “Bridge Day”. This annual
festival day allows BASE jumping, climbing and repelling. We missed Bridge Day
by two weeks; it would have been a blast, but just didn’t work into our
schedule. Also, we would have had to book a campsite months in advance. It was
just wonderful to see the bridge, the gorge and the river. Beautiful country!
We also found a highly rated mountain bike trail system
south of Fayetteville, Arrowhead Bike and Hike Trails, part of the New River
Gorge National River region. We spent one day there riding the trails; not very
technical, but very fun to ride. We wished we had another day to ride again,
but it was not in our schedule. At this point we are slowly heading south to
make it back to Florida by the end of October.
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