Exploring the New River Gorge National Park
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
4
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Beckley,
West Virginia,
United States
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
After drying off from our wet adventures on the Gauley River, we decided to stick around a few more days and explore the area. The New River is one of the oldest rivers on the continent, and strangely the origin of the river's name is unknown! We stopped by the Canyon Rim visitor center within the New River Gorge National Park to inquire about activities and camping. We left the center armed with a backpack full of brochures, trail maps, and advice from the friendly park ranger. The National Park offers a handful of *free* campgrounds along the New River. How could we newly unemployed travelers resist the opportunity to camp for FREE along a scenic riverbed?
The park offers several hikes with scenic views along the rim of the Gorge
Blue Point 2
. That morning, we took in a few of these scenic walks. The photo at the left is the New River Bridge, site of an annual bridge-jumping (by parachute) festival in late October (we were too early, darn!). The New River Bridge holds the title of the worlds 3rd tallest bridge at 876 feet (267 meters). Spanning 3030 feet (924 meters), it also held the title of the worlds longest steel-arch bridge for many years. The photo on the right is DJ Frankie C resting during a hike, enjoying the view of the rock formations and high canyon walls. The Devil made us do it. After hiking for a few hours, hunger set in and we realized we had no lunch food in our cooler. Famished, we drove to the nearest grocery store. Prior to this trip, we swore we would never, ever be caught in a Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, Starbucks, and McDonalds were taking over the world (including China!) and we didn't want to help fund this hostile takeover. But here we were, in West Virginia, starved, tired, and dirty (shall we add homeless to that as well?). We were desperate, and there it was - the oasis called Wal-Mart. Tossing our principles aside for a loaf of bread and some lunch meat, we cruised down the bright, open aisles of Wal-Mart. Wow - only $2 for Pepperidge Farm Cookies? Only 76 cents for a head of broccoli? Only $2 for a propane canister that costs $5 at REI? Two pairs of running gloves for a buck-fifty? We were sold - into the temptation of the devil named Wal-Mart
Blue Point 1
. We are ashamed to admit it, but Wal-Mart became our best friend during this trip. Beckley & Fayetteville, West Virginia. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. North Carolina. Northern Georgia. Southern Georgia. We stopped at EVERY Wal-Mart we stumbled on! What has happened to us?!?! With our bellies full, we decided to squeeze in one more hike before setting up camp. Kaymoor Mine is an old mining village located along the gorge walls of the New River, which is now part of the National Park. The area offers several scenic walking and biking trails through the abandoned village ruins that overlook the river. Since the sun was going to set in a couple hours, we decided it would probably be wisest to choose the shortest hike. A short, but difficult 1-mile zig-zag down the canyon wall to the mines and back. No problemo. Once we arrived at the bottom, we couldn't resist an additional hike nearby - a staircase of over 820 steps leading further down the gorge wall to more ruins at the base of the canyon. 820 steps EACH WAY. Once we arrived at the bottom of the 820+ stairs, we couldn't resist bushwhacking off trail for an another vertical 1/4 mile down to touch the river itself. The return trip was incredibly tough, but it was well worth the reward of relaxing on riverside boulders with not a soul in site. The photo on the left is a self-portrait along the river at the bottom of the trail
Blue Point 3
. The photo on the right is an old coal train and mine entrance at the Kaymoor village. Returning to the truck, we realized the sun was going to set soon so we high-tailed it to our *free* scenic campground at Stone Cliff. There are about 8 campsites in Stone Cliff, all set along the beach of the New River. Gorgeous! We were surprised to find nobody else there. How lucky, we thought! We choose a site on the riverside beach, at the bottom of a tree-filled slope hoping the trees would provide shade and privacy. We setup camp in the dark, made dinner, and relaxed by the riverside.
Strangers in the Night. About midnight, we both heard a truck slowly drive into the campground. Lights on, then lights off. Then nothing, all is quiet. Are they campers? Robbers coming to steal our marshmallow sticks? A few minutes later they leave. We both doze back to sleep, only to be woken up an hour later. Same situation. They drive up, turn the truck off, wait a few minutes, then leave. Is someone stalking us? We fall back asleep, then wake up a short time later to the same thing. Enough already! Stop stalking us! We don't even have jobs! Frank looks at Kay and says "I'm going to check it out". Kay says "I'm not staying here alone". So we put on our battle gear (pants and a shirt) and make a mad dash up the slope to the truck. Locked safely inside of Big Red, "Okay, what do we do now?". We drive drove out of the empty dark campground and along the river road towards town (Town is a relative term here... about 20 shacks dotted along the river). Nothing. Just houses with their lights off and cars parked alongside. We return back to the campground and notice a shiny orange thing on the road. Wait - that's our stove
Blue Point 4
! What's it doing out here? As it turns out, there are no Goblins in the Gorge. We found out days later that it was a park ranger making his nightly rounds. And the stove? It just fell out of the truck when we peeled out of the campsite so quickly from fear. Oh we are in for a long journey.... The next morning, we woke up to rain. Not very good hiking weather, so we decided that today was the perfect day to spend indoors and running errands. First stop was to get the truck checked out. Since we had brake problems on little Skyline Drive, we were worried about problems in higher mountain ranges, like the Rockies... So we dropped the truck off at a brake specialist and killed the next couple hours reading at the local Starbucks. A couple hours later, the mechanic finished and said the brake system was a-okay and that the brake pads had 50% left. Onward to the ANOTHER Wal-Mart for water & gloves (it was getting cold in WV!).
The sky cleared up partially and we drove back to the campsite. We squeezed a lovely bike ride in before returning for dinner. The New River Gorge offers several scenic bike trails in the area, a handful of which were close to our campground. The Thurmond-Minton bike trail was one of the prettiest rides we have ever seen
Blue Point 5
. Unfortunately, we have no photos to share this gorgeous trail because later in the trip in Asheville, all of Kay's photos were deleted by computer malfunction. Back to the campsite to have dinner. And then the rain came. Not a little drizzle or a few drops. One that you can hear, smell, and feel the force of the winds above and you know it's not just passing through. We grabbed our PJ's, flashlights, radio, and the ever important Scrabble board and made a run for the tent. No problem, we thought. It adds a bid of romance to the night, right? Well, a half hour into our Scrabble game, we heard it over the radio. You know what we're talking about -- right when you are jamming out to an old Rick Springfield song, your nostalgia moment is interrupted with that annoying "Beeeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeeep. This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System..."
Except it wasn't a test this time. "Beeeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeep. This the Emergency Broadcast System with a message from the National Weather Service. A severe weather alert has been issued for Blahblah County. A severe thunderstorm with SUSTAINED winds of 65 mph is moving rapidly through the region. The storm is in Sophia and headed northeast. Beeeeeep. Beeeeeeep." Lather, rinse, repeat
Blue Point 6
. Repeat. We stare blankly at each other, hands frozen in midair still holding onto A, P, and Q tiles. "Where are we?" "What county are we in?" "Where's Sophia?" We pull out the regional map and study intently. "Yup, we're in Blahblah County. "I don't see Sophia. Do you?" "No." Okay, we must be out of the storm's path.
The Scrabble game continues and a few minutes pass. The Emergency Broadcast Message repeats again. We pull out the map again and continue searching for Sophia. Ah hah! There it is...that tiny little dot! And here we are. Draw a line. Uhhhh honey... we're exactly northeast from Sophia about 10-15 miles. Uh oh! The storm's headed straight for our perfect little campsite! Our perfect little campsite at the river's edge (subject to flooding) and covered by lovely large trees on the hillside (which could demolish our tent in one snap!).
We grab the radio and our pillows and run up the stairs to the truck. Deja vous. Two nights in a row we're scared out of our tent, running for the truck. We tried to call a few hotels, but neither one of us had cell phone service. The storm knocked out cell phone coverage for a day or so
Blue Point 7
. We drive up the highway towards Beckley, the nearest city (again, City is a relative term). We pull into the Fairfield Marriot. No luck, no rooms available. The kind clerk offers to call all of the other hotels nearby. Courtyard Marriot? No rooms. Holiday Inn? No rooms. Days Inn? No rooms. Finally, the Best Western across the street confirms they have a couple rooms left. What's going on? Who knew Beckley, West Virginia was a hip and happening place to be on a Wednesday night! Safely inside the warmth of a highway-side Best Western, we tune in the TV to FOX to catch the last 45 minutes of Lost (We are hooked on Lost!). The local TV weatherman gave a report that didn't look so good. Heavy thunderstorms to continue for the next couple days, and temperatures below freezing. And major snowstorms across what seemed like every state on the weather map except California and Florida. Great, just where we planned on driving to! We woke up the next day to ice. Ice on the road, ice on the parking lot, ice on the truck. Not very good camping weather, so we decided to extend our comfortable stay at the Best Western for another night...just-in-case...
We visited one of Beckley's fine tourist exhibits that day - the Beckley Coal Mine and Museum
Blue Point 9
. We gladly paid the $15 per person entrance for the opportunity of a guided tour inside an old out-of-commission coal mine. We settled into the low train with a dozen other tourists. Five minutes into the guided tour of the 4-foot tall tunnel, our guide interrupts his speech with ""Oh, by the way, I should warn you that this tunnel goes very deep, gets very dark, and is only 4 feet tall. I hope none of you are clausterphobic.". Great! We were both just fine and dandy, enjoying the tour until this reminder. Frank starts breathing heavy and Kay's hands start wringing. 10 minutes later we were begging the guide to return us back to the entrance of the spooky dark tunnel. THe rest of the group remained on the train while we ran away quickly. The photos on the left and right are from the Beckley Coal Mine. Later we returned back to the campsite to pack up our tent, which survived the storm. We went for a bike ride along the river, then packed up the truck and drove back to Beckley.
One more evening at the Best Western, sipping Cup-o-Noodles by the TV and we were itching to get out of there - fast! We reconsidered our cross-country driving plan. Since we had some unexpected problems with the truck, the weather forecast looked snowy and cold out west, and the truck was not getting very good gas mileage (we were getting about 11-13 mpg), we decided to reroute our plan - and instead head south
Blue Point 8
. Hopefully somewhere warmer, and somewhere not too far away. After checking out of the Best Western, we headed south towards Bluestone State Park in West Virginia. On the way, we stopped to see the Grandview overlook of the New River Gorge (photo next to "Strangers in the Night") and the Sandstone Falls (photos above the deer). Both offered more gorgeous views and hikes of the New River.
Bluestone State Park is on the Bluestone Lake, which is formed where the Bluestone River meets up with the New River. It is a very small state park, but lovely and quiet! Our campsite was amazing - right on the lake. We fell in love with the solitude and beauty of the lake and spent 3 days hiking throughout the park, which backed up to a Wildlife Management Area. We saw dozens of white-tailed deer and wild turkeys, and also shared in their fear of the hunters gunshots nearby! Near the end of our stay, the temperature dropped below freezing. Our neighbors dog bowl even froze one morning - 5 minutes after he filled it with water! That was the sign we needed to motivate us to pack up and head south to find more sunshine and warmer weather. The photos below and above were taken from our peaceful campsite on the lake at Bluestone State park. Next stop: the Great Smoky Mountains.
