West Virginia, Mountain Momma, Take me home, country roads.

The weather was kind of crummy when we went since it rained a lot but we did do one trail at the New River Gorge National Park. I was not very inspired by this park to tell you the truth compared to the other parks we have visited in terms of views. However, there is a lot of history especially surrounding mining which unfortunately still affects one of the oldest rivers in West Virginia. When I think of West Virginia, I think of coal mining but visiting has opened up my mind, and now I see there is a lot of beauty in nature that this state has to offer. Although there is still a lot of opportunity to make it better, especially with dealing with the remnants of the effect of mining on the land/rivers around it. Over the years visiting the state, I have seen a lot of beauty through the Monongahela National Forest when we tried our backpacking skills for the first time (we were rookies and did not know what we were doing but the scenery was beautiful).

One of the most iconic views of this recently dubbed as a National Park site is this large bridge near the Canyon Rim Visitor Center (the most northern visitor center of this park). The bridge cut down the commute from one end to the other from 40 minutes without the bridge to just minutes. From 1977 when it was built till 2003, it was the world's longest steel bridge. We drove across it, and it was kind of thrilling and scary especially after looking at it this grand old structure from the bottom up. There appears to be a "Bridge Day" here in Fayetville, West Virginia where the bridge resides, and every third Saturday of October a bunch of crazies (I mean thrillseekers) jump off of it!

This park is known for its white water rafting which I hear even professional levels come to flex their skills here. Also, they have great rock climbing here too, but I am not a huge fan of outdoor climbing (did it once and realized it is ten times harder outdoors than indoors; I was only able to do one route).

It also houses about 50 species of amphibians, like these large salamanders (almost the size of dogs since they grow to be about two feet long) nicknamed hellbenders. Unfortunately, these hellbenders need a clean river to thrive in and there have been many samples in the river containing runoff, sewage, human fecal matter, and remnants of mining. See a picture of a hellbender here. Weirdly this press release came out today as I was writing this blog post, even though we went to the park on Memorial day, a couple of months ago indicating unfortunately the lawsuit to recognize Hell Bender as an endangered species was denied. West Virginia does not have an endangered species act in the state.

This image below was taken on the boardwalk near the river, which is the main attraction here, the New River which, do not let the name fool you because it is one of the oldest rivers in our country. It definitely is worth passing through especially if your passion is white water rafting, climbing, and learning about mining history.

Today what inspired me to write about our visit here, was an article I came across in the National Parks Magazine I subscribe to had a story about one of the most incredible human beings. This stout elderly woman was a force to be reckoned with in labor organizing, dubbed Miners' Angel in this article and referred to as Mother Jones, Marry Harris born sometime in the 1830s, went from a teacher, dressmaker, to one of the hardest working and successful labor organizers of our time. She met the miner's plight in West Virginia at the New River Gorge and was sent by the United Mine Workers of America to come to a resolution involving over 16,000 coal miners. Despite being shot at, arrested, and imprisoned for three months at an elderly age, she rallied, protested, and organized for coal miner's safety and rights. Didn't see any information about her at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center but hopefully, she is mentioned at the others or commemorated somewhere in West Virginia. For now, my ten readers (lol at my subscriber list) will hopefully be acquainted with her!

Thanks for reading!