Walking the Catwalk

This is a great place to stay.

 

Our morning view after it rained last night.  We didn't know if we would have a good view from the bridge walk but the clouds parted and the sun made a beautiful day for us.

The entrance to the park is lined with this blooming tree.

First stop today was this park.

This is Delaney our bridge walk guide.  She is only 17 years old but knew so much information about the bridge and anything bridge-related.  We were so lucky in that Carol and I were the only ones on this tour.  It was just Delaney and us.

This is the New River Bridge.  This bridge allows people to cross the river gorge in 45 seconds rather than the hour it would take to drive down one side of the gorge and then back up.

The metal bridge at the bottom of this picture gives access to the catwalk.

This picture and the two that follow were taken by Delaney and emailed to us.

The catwalk.

The catwalk.

This picture and the one below are of the old New River Bridge.  A car/truck would drive down a steep winding road to the bottom of the gorge, cross this bridge and then drive up the other side of gorge on another steep winding road.  This trip would take nearly one hour.

The rapids on New River are a magnet for canoes, kayaks, and rafts.  This blue raft hit the rapids as we were on the catwalk.  

After the bridge walk we drove to another part of the New River Gorge Park called Nuttallburg

Nuttallburg was founded in 1873 and was abandoned in 1958.  During this time period, Henry Ford brought the mine to provide coal for his factories.  After eight years, Ford relinquished his ownership.

This is called a "tipple" and was used to carry the coal from the mine at the top of the hill to this small building.  Then the coal was sorted into size and put on railroad cars to transport out of Nutetallburg.

 

This is the foundation of the company store.  The were paid in "script" which could only be used at this store.  Our walk guide told us that the miners carried debt at the store and if the miner died before the debt was paid, the debt became a family member's responsibility.  It was like a form of slavery.  This reminded us of the old Tennessee Ernie Ford song "16 Tons"  
"You load 16 tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St. Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store."

These miners owed their soul (and more) to the company store.

Another view of the company store.

These are coke ovens.  They are used to separate coal gas, coal water and tar.  This makes a hotter burning product.

Partial foundation of a house.

Partial foundation of another house.

Saw several waterfalls along the road that lead to Nuttallburg.  

Steep walls on the road to Nuttallburg.  Most of the road was only wide enough for one car at a time.  Four times we had to back up to allow another car to pass by us..

This is a sticker that we were given when we got back from the BridgeWalk.  I was nervous about the walk because I didn't know what to expect.  Carol was nervous because he has a fear of heights.  It was an awesome experience and we are both glad that we took the walk.