We did a full day of riding, hiking, and sightseeing and only managed to log a paltry 108 miles of traveling; most of that done in the last three hours of the day.
Our first stop was the New River Gorge Bridge. What should have been an hour-long excursion ended up occupying roughly five hours of our day, but it was worth every minute of the time spent.
The New River Gorge is an awesome sight in and of itself, but the bridge over this chasm adds an interesting and photogenic aspect to an already awe inspiring vista. The bridge and gorge are a national park so we stopped at the visitor's center for information and photos. The first two photos that appear below were taken from the overlooks at the visitor's center.
Leaving the visitor's center, we made our way down into the gorge. The ride down is just as impressive as the views of the gorge and the bridge. The road to the bottom of the gorge is a narrow, twisty, and steep challenge for any vehicle, including motorcycles. But, the views that one gets at the bottom of the gorge make all the white-knuckles and sweaty palms worth the trouble of making the ride.
We spent quite a bit of time down in the gorge taking photos and just generally soaking up the impressive sights of the gorge, the river, and the bridge. When it came time to make our way up the other side an interesting development unfolded.
An older gentleman walked up to Paul and asked if he could get a ride to the top of the gorge. Paul jokingly said, "Sure, hop on." Then to his surprise the guy did exactly that...climbed aboard Paul's Harley for a ride to the top. This guy's name was Kyle and he had to be every bit of seventy years old. Come to find out, Kyle had hiked down into the gorge that morning as he is prone to do as hiking several miles a day is his hobby. And, it turned out, Kyle proved to be quite the tour guide. We spent the next two or three hours hauling Kyle up the gorge and then to various sights around the gorge where he assured us we could get better views of the bridge. And he was right! We had a good time with Kyle and meeting him proved to be an interesting, colorful, and fortuitous development for us.
Eddie bought Kyle's lunch as a little token of our appreciation for all his expertise as a guide. After lunch Paul gave Kyle a ride to his home where we thanked him for his guide services and wished him adieu before continuing on our journey.
Heading northward we rode through some good countryside that brought us into the heart of Hawks Nest State Park where we stopped long enough to take in the impressive sights of an overlook located just off the highway.
Continuing on we turned southward and made our way down to Babcock State Park where we got some photos of the famous grist mill located along the river that runs through the park.
That was our last stop of the day as by that time it was moving on into late afternoon and we all wanted to be out of the forests and off the road by dark. We made the curvy run south on SR 41 back into Beckley for the close of a good first day's riding in West Virginia. A sampling of the day's photos appear below...
Our first stop was the New River Gorge Bridge. What should have been an hour-long excursion ended up occupying roughly five hours of our day, but it was worth every minute of the time spent.
The New River Gorge is an awesome sight in and of itself, but the bridge over this chasm adds an interesting and photogenic aspect to an already awe inspiring vista. The bridge and gorge are a national park so we stopped at the visitor's center for information and photos. The first two photos that appear below were taken from the overlooks at the visitor's center.
Leaving the visitor's center, we made our way down into the gorge. The ride down is just as impressive as the views of the gorge and the bridge. The road to the bottom of the gorge is a narrow, twisty, and steep challenge for any vehicle, including motorcycles. But, the views that one gets at the bottom of the gorge make all the white-knuckles and sweaty palms worth the trouble of making the ride.
We spent quite a bit of time down in the gorge taking photos and just generally soaking up the impressive sights of the gorge, the river, and the bridge. When it came time to make our way up the other side an interesting development unfolded.
An older gentleman walked up to Paul and asked if he could get a ride to the top of the gorge. Paul jokingly said, "Sure, hop on." Then to his surprise the guy did exactly that...climbed aboard Paul's Harley for a ride to the top. This guy's name was Kyle and he had to be every bit of seventy years old. Come to find out, Kyle had hiked down into the gorge that morning as he is prone to do as hiking several miles a day is his hobby. And, it turned out, Kyle proved to be quite the tour guide. We spent the next two or three hours hauling Kyle up the gorge and then to various sights around the gorge where he assured us we could get better views of the bridge. And he was right! We had a good time with Kyle and meeting him proved to be an interesting, colorful, and fortuitous development for us.
Eddie bought Kyle's lunch as a little token of our appreciation for all his expertise as a guide. After lunch Paul gave Kyle a ride to his home where we thanked him for his guide services and wished him adieu before continuing on our journey.
Heading northward we rode through some good countryside that brought us into the heart of Hawks Nest State Park where we stopped long enough to take in the impressive sights of an overlook located just off the highway.
Continuing on we turned southward and made our way down to Babcock State Park where we got some photos of the famous grist mill located along the river that runs through the park.
That was our last stop of the day as by that time it was moving on into late afternoon and we all wanted to be out of the forests and off the road by dark. We made the curvy run south on SR 41 back into Beckley for the close of a good first day's riding in West Virginia. A sampling of the day's photos appear below...
1 comment:
Thanks, Ace. Glad to be able to ride along via computer.
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