It poured cats and dogs as we stopped at the National Park Visitor Center and tried to see the famous New River Gorge Bridge between the drops and through the mist. Any further hiking that day was out of the question, but we did take the drive down into the valley and across the old, old bridge.
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| Unexpected waterfall |
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| Bridges in the mist |
After the rain ended the following morning, we visited Bluestone Lake and Bluestone River State Park. It turns out that if you want to visit Bluestone National River (it's part of the National Park System), you can only do it by hiking in from Bluestone State Park, which we did. There may be a way to get there via the Pipestem State Park Tram once it is back up and running. Our hike along the river was quiet and serene. There wasn't another soul for miles and miles.
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| Confluence of the Bluestone and New Rivers forming Bluestone Lake |
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Bluestone Lake
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| Our Bluestone River hike |
Vincent and I shared a tandem "duckie" to float down part of the upper New River. It's the lower part that gets really rough. Even so, there were some bumps, especially towards the end of the trip. It was tons of fun. If you're looking for a gentle family adventure raft trip, this one from Pipestem State Park is something I would highly recommend.
During our final day, we stopped at the Grandview area in the central part of the National Park. It's appropriately named. We also hiked along the Canyon Rim Trail a little. Finally, we drove over to the wonderful Turkey Spur overlook.
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