Summer 2016 - West Virginia, New River Gorge

Friday, September 30^th – Monday, October 3^rd

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.

Summer 2016 - Pennsylvania, Raystown Lake

Friday, September 23^rd – Thursday, September 29^th

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/Nskxo7rZU3hrEHu6A

After some great times in New York State, we headed to Pennsylvania. When we were in New Hampshire, we had met a gentleman at a mountain bike park that had Pennsylvania license tags. We asked him to recommend a great place in his state to visit. Knowing we were mountain bikers, he highly recommended Raystown Lake. This Army Corp Project is the largest lake in PA and near the town of Huntingdon. One of the best features of the lake is that there is no commercial or private development along the waterfront, so the whole lakeshore is left in the natural state; except the Army Corp campgrounds and marina. When we arrived at the Seven Points Campground on Friday, the campsites were first-come first-serve. We were not able to get a waterfront site that day, but on Sunday when most of the campers left, we moved to the best waterfront site in the campground. It was well worth the move. The campground was mostly empty by that point and we allowed the dogs to roam the campsite and waterfront. They really enjoyed some freedom from the leash.

The primary reason we wanted to stay here was because of the mountain bike trails. The Allegrippis Trails were built by the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA), along with the Army Corps, local conservation groups and volunteer laborers to create a multi-use trail system for mountain biking, hiking, running, snowshoeing and cross country skiing. These trails were some of the best engineered and maintained trails that we have ridden. We spent almost every day riding some of the various trails and truly enjoyed the experience. We would love to go back one day to camp and bike ride at this special place.

While camping there we also got our kayaks in the water and took the dogs for a paddle. The weather was wonderful up until the last two days. A storm with heavy rains and high winds whipped through the area and kept us hunkered down inside. Ugh, we really hate those days, but we used them to get some maintenance and cleaning issues taken care of.

Our time at Raystown allowed us to ride great trails and to also relax in such a beautiful lakeside environment. This Army Corp campground was one of the best we ever stayed in. Also, with our Federal Senior National Parks pass, we receive a 50% discount on the campsites, at $17 per night. There are some advantages of getting older!