Let's Go Places: Charleston and New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia

 

Last weekend was...you guessed it...Boy Scout camp weekend.  Hubs and the boys went to the woods, the puppy went to Doggy camp, and I went places.

If you've ever driven through West Virginia on I-77, you've seen the golden dome of the State Capitol as you've passed by Charleston.  I've driven by it many times in my life, and now it was finally up next on my travel list.

The way that this trip came about is that a few months ago a picture of a mountain surrounded by a river popped up on my Facebook feed,  The location was a place called New River Gorge in WV. 

In the meantime, I've spent the past few weeks doing some serious hiking and Leap Peeping.  With weekend after gorgeous weekend in the forecast, I wondered if my luck would hold and the fall colors would still be around for the November Scout camp.  I decided to build a getaway that would include hiking, but also give me a city option just in case the weather went south.  One option that came to mind was WV.  I could tour the Capitol and then go on a hiking binge, and I could also take care of an item of unfinished business from my Marietta (Ohio) trip last year, which was to go see a place called Henderson Hall.

I'm walking a balance between building up PTO at my new job and doing what I wanna do, and as I got further into planning I figured I could skate by without using any PTO for this trip.  Here was my plan:

• Thursday: sneak out of work a little early and drive to Charleston (3.5 hours away)
• Friday: work but sneak in a tour of the Capitol plus any other Charleston attractions that I could find.
• Saturday: go to New River Gorge NP (an hour away from Charleston) for a hiking bender.  If the weather turned, then find more Charleston stuff to do.
• Sunday: finish up any loose ends, and go to Henderson Hall on the way home.

Charleston had a decent amount of Airbnbs, and I liked the prices.  I zoomed in near the Capitol and picked a location that I hoped would be within walking distance.  Once I booked the place and got the address, I was able to confirm that it was just half a mile away.

Thursday - wheels up

Sure enough, work was calm so I blocked off my calendar and hit the road just after three.  I got myself on I-77 and headed south.  Everything was good, but I soon realized the number one reason why my travel slows down at this time of year - the early darkness really puts a damper on things.  I got to Charleston in the dark and walked in the door of the Airbnb in the pitch black.  I had dinner (leftovers from home) and got on the internets.  I saw that there were wildfires in New River Gorge NP - oops did I pick the wrong time to come to WV?  I saw that most of the comments were "I was there today, it's nothing".

Friday - work and play

On Friday the sun came up and I got my first look at Charleston and all was right with the world.  I giggled at the view down the street.  As I found out when I went to Minnesota last summer, the nice thing about staying within eyesight of the State Capitol is that you don't need GPS to get there.

The first item on the agenda was the tour.  I headed down the street and into the Capitol.  There were very few people there, and I was the only one on the tour.

The reason that WV's Capitol has a nice shiny gold dome is the same reason why Buffalo has such a lavish city hall.  It was the 1920s and everyone was bathing in money. 

Construction was finished in completely different economic times in 1932.  The gold dome was up, but the finishing touches had to wait.  The most noticeable cut was the interior murals.  The ones in the rotunda were completed in 2024 - yup right as we speak and that's what the scaffolding is for.

The ones in the Senate chamber are still TBD.  Someday a mural will go in the blank blue space.

Any rate, I was getting everything that I came to get out of a Capitol building tour, so I was happy with the day's events.  But wait, there was more!  Who wants a shaggy dog story?

We went into the press room outside of the Governor's office and I immediately saw a thing that is not like other things in State Capitol buildings.

Babydog is the First Dog of WV.  She frequently goes to work with her daddy, and took the stage at the Republican convention this summer.  She was also the state mascot for the COVID vaccination campaign.

She has her own bed in the press office.

She's also going to Washington!  Her daddy got elected to the US Senate last week.

After the tour things were still quiet at work, so I popped into the West Virginia State Museum next door.  I only had time for a quick stop, and went through a lot of WV history is a short amount of time before heading down the block and tucking in to work.

After lunch I took a break and went to the Craik-Patton house for a tour.  Once again, I was the only person on the tour - something that used to make me very uncomfortable and is now one of my favorite things.  The guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about West Virginia history, and I picked up a lot of background that I hadn't known before.  For example, I was today years old when I learned that West Virginia used to be...western Virginia.  It split into a separate state at the start of the Civil War, when the western bloc of the state voted not to secede from the Union.  

The guide mentioned in passing that there was a Native American burial mound in Charleston.  Yep, another thing that I collect on my travels (previous visits include Marietta and Leaf Peep 2023).  Okey dokey, another thing that I could probably squeeze into the workday!

I went back to work, and toward the end of the day, I headed out to Criel Mound.

After that I thought about getting dinner, but I wasn't super hungry.  I took a walk while there was still daylight, and went back to the Airbnb for snacks.

Saturday - let the hiking begin!

When I woke up on Saturday, I had a bit of a cough but I didn't feel ill.  I poked my nose out the door.  'Member those wildfires that I'd heard so much about on Thursday?  Well, the wind was blowing in Charleston's direction and the air was thick with smoke.  At first I thought that the moon was still up, before realizing that it hadn't been a full moon the night before.  Yep, that's the sun in full daylight and that's why I was coughing like a three pack a day smoker.

As soon as I got on the highway and headed for the park, the air got clear again.  The weather was sunny and the perfect temperature of not-too-hot-not-too-cold.  I picked the right time to come to WV!

I went to the Canyon Rim Visitors Center at New River Gorge National Park and got my first look-see at the bridge.

The story is that before the bridge was constructed, the only way across the gorge was a very long and treacherous trip on narrow mountain roads.  Then the bridge came along in the 1970s and all of a sudden there was instant access to get from one side to the other.

It would take days/weeks to see all of the park, but I'd earmarked three hikes that looked promising.

Hike #1 Endless Wall Trail

The "endless wall" is a big ol' cliff.  It's a three mile loop.

The hike takes you to the top, where there are several lookout points to the gorgeousness that is below.

Hike #2 Long Point Trail

If you only have time for one hike, this would be my recommendation.  It's a 1.5 mile out and back, so 3 miles total.  The trail is fairly easy except for the short section where you go to the cliff at the mid point but the views are so worth it.

Hike #3 Kaymoor Miners Trail

When I first read about Kaymoor I was intrigued.  It's only a mile out and back (two miles total) and there are 800 STAIRS.  When I was doing my planning I thought it might be a little ambitious to do three hikes, but the 800 stair thing was practically an invitation.  After finishing hike #2, I was chomping at the bit to do Kaymoor.

The scoop is that the Kaymoor mine and mining village were located at the top, at the midpoint, and at the bottom of the mountain.  There was an open air rail cart that folks could ride to get from top to bottom, but there were a few accidents over the years, so there were also a lotta stairs as an alternative.  What I was doing for funsies was something that the residents of the mining town had to do as a necessity.

I set off on the trail and was soon humbled by the amount of downhill.  There were some stairs here and there, but nothing like 800 so huh what was up with that.  I got to the midpoint.

Oh.  This is what 800 stairs looks like from the top.

As I climbed down I passed by some folks who were coming back up, and we traded jokes about questioning our life's decisions.

The old rail line is still visible from the stairs.

At the bottom are the ruins of the old village.

And...this is what 800 stairs looks like from the bottom going up.

Once I started on the way back up I learned the simple truth that going uphill is way easier than going downhill in the hiking world.  When you're going down a steep downhill, you have to fight gravity so that you don't go too fast.  When you're going uphill, gravity is your friend to counterbalance you.  Also the key to going up 800 stairs is not to stop.

Hikes 1 and 2 were three miles each, and they took about 90 minutes each because I was constantly stopping to gawk at the views.  The Kaymoor trail was 2 miles that took 90 minutes because...900 feet down and 900 feet up (including the 800-count-em-800 stairs down and 800-count-em-800 stairs going back up).

I finally made it back to my car and was highly satisfied with my day.  And as you might guess, I was also mightily hungry and I knew exactly what I was going to do about that.  I headed back to Charleston and rolled up to Blacksheep Burrito & Brews.

I ate the hell out of the California burrito (steak, potatoes, guac) and slurped down a Loud IPA.  Granted I was really hungry, but the food was also that good.

On Sunday I had a few ideas about places to go on the way home, but my luck had run out with the weather.  It was raining heavily, so I cut my list down to my one "must see", which was Henderson Hall in Parkersburg, WV.  Guess how many other people were lined up waiting to tour the house on a rainy day?  If you guessed zero, you are correct!

The house was built in the 1830s and the family lived there until the 1980s.  Along the way, they needed more space and built an addition on to the house.

The original house is on the left and the four story "addition" is on the right.

With that I was ready to call it a day and head back for home.

West Virginia Wrap Up

• State Capitol tour: $0
• West Virginia Museum: $0
• Craik Patterson house tour: $0
• Criel Mound: $0
  
• New River Gorge National Park admission fee: $0
• Henderson Hall tour: $15 - hey everything can't be free!

I feel very strongly that I am not done with New River Gorge, and I can see myself coming back to take on more of the trails.

Thanks for the good times, West Virginia!

Anyone got any good WV stories?  Anyone been to New River Gorge?