New River Gorge Bridge Walk

We had a beautiful day for the start of our vacation in the Finger Lake area of NY, but FIRST we stopped in WV in the newest National Park...New River Gorge National Park, so that we could walk across the catwalk under the bridge - 800+ feet above the gorge.  Since we arrived with time to spare, we took the one-way road down to the old bridge and the bottom of the gorge.  We were hoping for a little more color, but even so, the views were beautiful!

And, yes, we will be walking way up there!

We were fortunate to see a pontoon (?!) kayak, along with a couple of other kayaks, go through these small rapids.  Can you spot the pink pontoon kayak in the two pictures below?

When the New River Gorge Bridge was completed on October 22, 1977 it reduced the time required to cross the river by 45 minutes.  (More fun facts later in the post.)

And yes, we did drive across the bridge!

Our lunch spot down by the river was so peaceful...

Then it was back up to the Visitor Center area for a couple of more pictures before we headed over to the outfitters for our walk.

All kitted out and ready to go...

Our group of nine plus guide Dreama (who was excellent, by the way) headed out.

This was our access to the catwalk...

All the steel (44,000,000 pounds of it)!  And the neatest system we were hooked in to....didn't have to unhook and hook back up every time we came to a support...just glided right on through.

There are a MILLION (yes, a million) of these bolts in the bridge and only fifty men did the work...25 on each side working toward the middle.

And the views!

Most of these photos were taken very quickly as we walked along or stopped for a couple of minutes for Dreama to provide us with more interesting narration.

One of my favorite shots...

These rafters had just run the rapids in the above photo before landing at this small beach take-out area.

Can you see the next group already coming through?

The view in front of me most of the way...

When you stand at the midpoint of the bridge you can see both ends due to the curvature necessary to allow for the curvature of the earth!  It is the longest single arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere and we did have the opportunity to sit down at the midpoint of the bridge...

Think I'm lovin' this?  (Along with my ever-present strap)

Some more fun facts before we get back to the view...

The bridge is the second highest vehicle-carrying bridge in the United States and the 5th in the world! 

It is the 3rd highest bridge in the U.S. and the 5th in the world. 

There are 2300 bolts used in the largest joint construction.

Height of 876 feet and length is 3,030 feet, weighing in at 88,000,000 pounds!

Truly an engineering marvel.

After a long, exciting and wonderful day we made our way to our AirBnB.  First time we've stayed in an RV since we settled in NE TN.  Brought back some memories to say the least!

For more information check out   Bridge Walk.

And tomorrow we head for our cabin the woods in Hammondsport, NY.  See ya' later with more of our adventures.  Sleep well!