Reading this week:

• Dark Voyage: An American Privateer’s War on Britain’s African Slave Trade by Christian McBurney

The central irony of the New River is that of course it is one of the oldest rivers. They explain this is the lovely video in the visitor’s center, though in the video they, for inexplicably humble reasons, like to emphasize it was really the Teays. Then again as I have pointed on this blog before in deference to Heraclitus, how old can any river be if no man can step in the same river twice?

We pondered this as we arrived for breakfast at the Cathedral Café (they did not use the website’s tagline “feeding your mind, body, & soul” anywhere in the restaurant itself as far as I can recall, but it is a good one). Tell you what if you are going to go, go early. That line was way out the door even by the time we left. I guess given how early the river itself appeared on the geological landscape, it makes sense that the overall theme of any visit to the gorge should be to arrive early. After breakfast we proceeded directly to the parking lot for Endless Wall Trail, another misnomer along the lines of “New River.” We had wanted to do something resembling a hike, though having become city slickers by default we were equipped with neither the shoes nor technical pants to go on any hike that was particularly strenuous. And so we chose this trail which is not Endless but only a couple miles long and pretty flat.

Like I said, make sure you arrive early. The trail was pretty sparsely populated when we were hiking on it but by the time we made our return the parking lot was rapidly filling up. Although there was a lot of rain during our stay new New River Gorge on this morning the weather was gorgeous with the sun shining and illuminating the deep valley. The hike takes you along various viewpoints where you can look down at the river and the riverside railroad tracks and long for a train to come by to complete the scene. It can make you forget yourself, as evidenced by the coffee cup that someone forgot which I then, as an environmentalist, picked up and hiked out with. I am such a good person.

At Diamond Point itself the view spans a shallow bend and if you go to the very pointy end of the point you can see the bridge off in the distance. The best part here was looking down at the birds soaring around through the valley. I think these were peregrine falcons, which I base off a thing I later learned where the bridge had been suffering corrosion early on due to an overabundance of acidic pigeon poop. Peregrine falcons were later reintroduced to the valley, significantly cutting down on the pigeon population. They were gorgeous to watch.

Having gotten in the nature portion of the visit with the hike, it was now time to indulge in some history, and for this we took the drive on down to Thurmond. Thurmond was historically a town down deep in the gorge and back in the day was the very center of hustle and bustle in the valley. It was the major rail yard and a town sprung up around it, including a popular if potentially bawdy hotel. Today it exists as a scenic stop for Amtrak with a few preserved buildings. It is worth a visit but frankly the best part was the drive, winding through a very green valley as you descend to river level. I had been expecting something more akin to Harpers Ferry, with the buildings being used as a museum themselves, but not so much. I am sure the people enjoyed their hometown but I think Thurmond must have been a frightful place back in the day, with far fewer trees and coal smoke billowing everywhere. While we were there a freight train did come through though which was exciting and lent a bit of historical realism to the site.

Having had our walk around the remaining buildings we got back in the car and re-ascended the 1000 feet to Fayetteville for a lunch of pepperoni rolls and explored the town. There were a number of vintage shops and at one little artisan co-op where we wound up getting some cookies because the proprietor (and the baker’s father) had so thoroughly explained the local sites and how the baked goods helped support their small farm. Prompted by his suggestion, we eventually departed on one last adventure to Cathedral Falls which are worth another winding drive. They are right by the road so no hiking is involved but they are gorgeous. The falls are ensconced in an appropriately cathedralesque semi-circle of rock topped by trees, and cascade down further domes of rock to beautiful effect. We spent some time admiring them before departing one final time for Fayetteville proper.

After that it was only really a matter of enjoying one final night surrounded by the sounds of rain and frogs and then the drive back the next day. That drive featured more Americana, namely a breakfast at Tudor’s Biscuit World and a lunch at Buc-ee’s, which is something approximating the opposite of Diamond Point. But it is all these things that make us what we are I suppose, and each are to be celebrated in their own way.