Today I drove 198 miles traveling from Elkins, West Virginia to Fayetteville, West Virginia.
Nine minute video of my visit to the state capitol in Charleston, West Virginia. |
Forty-nine minute video from the New River Gorge National River. Today's stops include Kanawha Falls, Hawks Nest State Park and the New River Gorge Bridge. |
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Hello folks, It was another gorgeous day in West Virginia. I left my hotel in Elkins around 8:00 this morning and drove 130 miles to Charleston. Charleston is the capital and most populous city of West Virginia. I took a short "walk" around the capitol grounds. Below is a picture of the state capitol building. Unfortunately the dome is covered with some kind of a tarp. I asked them if they could remove it until after I took my photos, but they declined.  Also on the capitol grounds is the West Virginia Veterans Memorial honoring more than 10,000 West Virginians who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending the nation in twentieth century conflicts.  Next I drove over forty miles east to the New River Gorge. On my way while I was driving on U.S.Highway 60 just outside Glen Ferris I passed Kanawha Falls. Kanawha Falls is the largest waterfall in West Virginia and an important natural landmark. Just downstream from where the New and Gauley rivers converge to create the Kanawha River. {Click HERE to watch my video of the falls.}  My next stop was at Hawks Nest State Park. Here I rode the tramway down to the New River and boarded a jet boat. In the picture below you can see the tram starting down and the jet boat coming back from a trip.  The picture below is of the New River Gorge Bridge. It is a really awful picture but it is the only one I got from the bouncy jet boat. The New River Gorge Bridge is a steel arch bridge 3,030 feet long over the New River Gorge. With an arch 1,700 feet long, the New River Gorge Bridge was for many years the world's longest single-span arch bridge; it is now the fourth longest.  Below is another picture taken from the jet boat of the New River. Despite its name, the New River is one of the five oldest rivers in the world geologically.  Rick, the driver of the jet boat, is an interesting character. If I'm not mistaken, he was driving the boat when I was here back in 2003.  I rode the tram back to the top after the jet boat got back to the dock. A mile down the road I got a nice view of where I had just been on the jet boat from one of Hawks Nest State Park's scenic overlooks some 750 feet above the gorge below. {Click HERE to watch my video of Hawks Nest.}  Next I drove over the New River Gorge Bridge. It's going to be Bridge Day here on Saturday. Bridge Day is West Virginia's largest single-day festival and one of the largest extreme sports events in the world. Held annually on the New River Gorge Bridge, this is the only day each year thousands of spectators can walk across the bridge and watch as serious BASE jumpers get their chance to fly 876 feet into the Gorge below and rappellers ascend and descend from the catwalk. The lady at the jet boat told me that 200,000-300,000 people attend the event each year. Below is another lousy picture of the bridge looking straight into the setting sun.  I ended my day about 3 miles from the bridge in Fayetteville. I'm staying at a Quality Inn here. After getting settled at the motel I went to get my dinner at Tudor's Biscuit World.  That's it for today. Have a good evening. Tim |
I drove 198 miles traveling from Elkins, West Virginia to Fayetteville, West Virginia. |
Click on the arrow above for tomorrow's adventures.
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