Yes. I’m hauling my camper all the way out and back. I may regret it, but right now I’m looking forward to it.
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Summer hiking thread
- Thread starter Swayin
- Start date
Check this story out, summer hikers!
https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/this-oregon-teacher-climbed-washingtons-100-tallest-peaks-in-51-days/
https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/this-oregon-teacher-climbed-washingtons-100-tallest-peaks-in-51-days/
That's like 2 peaks a day. insane.
I know!! The top two things to do that I don't have:
1. The fitness (who does)
2. The ability to plan such an endeavor.
Even if someone is physically able to do that the logistics involved to pull it off is quite an accomplishment in it's own right.
FurmanCock
Grand Poohbah
Great hiking read, Following Atticus by Tom Ryan.
As I had mentioned earlier, my wife and I had planned to go to South Dakota to do some sightseeing and hiking, but when my dad passed away, and my mom was in the hospital, we had to do a lot of cleaning, and remodeling to get her house ready to sell, or be more accessible for her. That took 3-4 weeks, during which time I was hardly working at all, so we had to re-do our plans, which meant moving the trip back and shortening it. We decided to go to West Virginia, instead of South Dakota. We went to Fayetteville, and parked the camper at a little campground about two miles from the New River Gorge Bridge. The gorge became the focal point of our hiking, and did not disappoint. That area is absolutely gorgeous.
We hiked down Long Point Trail, which is a very easy trail that overlooks the gorge, and you can see the New River Gorge Bridge across from you. I am afraid of heights, so I did not get near the cliff edge. Some of the pictures required a lot of concentration on my part, because I was closer to the edge of dropoffs than I care to be, and the heights were dizzying. The center of the bridge is almost 1200 feet from the river, and some of the areas we were in had drops anywhere from 100' to 800'. That scares the crap out of me, especially when my dog stood on the edge and looked down about a 500' drop. I thought she was going over.
We also hiked down to Nuttallburg, which is an old, abandoned coal mining town in the gorge. It operated from the 1880's to the 1950's. Not much remains now but the coal chute and tipple, (the mine was halfway up the gorge, and the coal had to be transported down to the rail line at the bottom of the gorge, that ran beside the river) and the foundations of the buildings and houses. I stood for quite a while looking at the piers of some of the houses, thinking about the people who were born, lived and died in that area, and no one knows who they are, and all that remains is the foundations of the houses in which they lived. It's just kind of sobering when you think about it.
We also went to Babcock State Park and looked at the grist mill, and did a little more of a walk than a hike.
The pictures of the New River Gorge Bridge don't do it justice. It is so enormous, and the engineering, and execution of the construction is mind-blowing. How they could do that is amazing. I highly recommend seeing this.
Here are some pictures of our adventures.
I have tried to capture some of the color and beauty, but it doesn't come through. I have tried to edit and add descriptions of what they are, but can't seem to make it work. For instance, the picture with my wife standing beside the rock, is trying to show the amazing structure of the shale, and how it formed in a circular pattern. My favorite picture I took won't load for some reason, but I'll see if I can get it to work later. One of the pictures shows a door, and that was the door to one of the 80 coke ovens in Nuttallburg, and I climbed inside to get a picture of the inside of the oven.
We hiked down Long Point Trail, which is a very easy trail that overlooks the gorge, and you can see the New River Gorge Bridge across from you. I am afraid of heights, so I did not get near the cliff edge. Some of the pictures required a lot of concentration on my part, because I was closer to the edge of dropoffs than I care to be, and the heights were dizzying. The center of the bridge is almost 1200 feet from the river, and some of the areas we were in had drops anywhere from 100' to 800'. That scares the crap out of me, especially when my dog stood on the edge and looked down about a 500' drop. I thought she was going over.
We also hiked down to Nuttallburg, which is an old, abandoned coal mining town in the gorge. It operated from the 1880's to the 1950's. Not much remains now but the coal chute and tipple, (the mine was halfway up the gorge, and the coal had to be transported down to the rail line at the bottom of the gorge, that ran beside the river) and the foundations of the buildings and houses. I stood for quite a while looking at the piers of some of the houses, thinking about the people who were born, lived and died in that area, and no one knows who they are, and all that remains is the foundations of the houses in which they lived. It's just kind of sobering when you think about it.
We also went to Babcock State Park and looked at the grist mill, and did a little more of a walk than a hike.
The pictures of the New River Gorge Bridge don't do it justice. It is so enormous, and the engineering, and execution of the construction is mind-blowing. How they could do that is amazing. I highly recommend seeing this.
Here are some pictures of our adventures.
I have tried to capture some of the color and beauty, but it doesn't come through. I have tried to edit and add descriptions of what they are, but can't seem to make it work. For instance, the picture with my wife standing beside the rock, is trying to show the amazing structure of the shale, and how it formed in a circular pattern. My favorite picture I took won't load for some reason, but I'll see if I can get it to work later. One of the pictures shows a door, and that was the door to one of the 80 coke ovens in Nuttallburg, and I climbed inside to get a picture of the inside of the oven.
Last edited by a moderator:
FurmanCock
Grand Poohbah
Great pictures, Cockyandproud. Thanks for sharing.
