I finally started to feel a little bit better on the day we left Seneca Rocks. Fortunately, we were headed to another climbing area in WV- New River Gorge (more on that later). Adam had previously figured out a way to mount our bikes on the roof of the car, and on the morning we left he managed to strap the front wheels of the bikes down to the roof as well so that we could have what we liked to call a "high visibility day"- meaning we could see pretty well out of the back of our car because we actually packed efficiently!
We took the scenic way west across the state, which was very pretty. We stopped at one scenic overlook and got to see a thunderstorm rolling in, which was pretty sweet! Until we were driving down the windy mountainous road when it hit us, complete with hail- that was not as sweet. Fortunately it didn't last too long. We tried to stop at a few restaurants, but the first one was closed, and then the second one was closed as well, despite the huge sign advertising, "Yes, we ARE open!". Lies, West Virginia, lies.
So instead we got lunch at the National Radio Astronomical Observatory's Green Bank Telescope! It's the largest steerable object in the world, and boy, is it huge. Adam and I amused ourselves greatly in the telescope science center- I think it may be meant for children, but it's just as good for two "grown-up" engineers. =P
Green Bank is located in a radio dead zone (which includes cell service dead zone) because the telescope is so sensitive to interference. We read one story that the engineers at the observatory even bought a local dog a new electric blanket, because his old one had a short circuit that was showing up in their signal! They even use diesel cars on site because spark plugs can also cause interference if the car gets too close to the telescope.
When we made it the rest of the way to New River Gorge, we camped for one night at a free small campground near a dam. It would have been a pretty nice campground, with the least offensive-smelling pit toilets we've ever encountered, except that a few of the other campers staying there had apparently gotten in a shouting match earlier, and the state police kept looping through the campground. We did manage to make friends with another climbing couple and their little girl who took an immediate liking to me and kept giving me hugs. Nevertheless, we rolled out with all our gear the next morning to switch campgrounds.
We met up with Adam's friend Mike to do some climbing. We started at Summerville; it was mostly sport and all single pitch, but with the huge perk of being situated right on the water so that you could cool off from climbing by swimming! We climbed a few 5.7s-5.9s, and as expected, the boys blew me out of the water. On the last climb I fell, swung, and hit my ankle spraining it a little, so I was done for the day, which was frustrating. Fortunately we ended the day with pizza and beer (root beer for me!).
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| Four Sheets to the Wind |
The campground we moved to was behind a gear shop- Mike knew a group of climbers from Pittsburgh that had gotten a group campsite there for the weekend. There were a LOT of them! We met up with some of them the next day at the Junkyard, which was a better day of climbing for all of us. Mike and a few friends aced "Four Sheets to the Wind", a 5.9 with a giant corner roof that if you fell out from under it, you swung out at least fifteen feet (which was what I did, with a giant shriek). We also got some practice crack climbing on a 5.9, where Adam showed off his jamming skills. I even invented a new move on the most awkward 5.7 corner/chimney climb- Adam dubbed it the "Back That Thang Up" move (Genevive, you'd be proud!). Overall it was a pretty solid day of climbing. We finished up the day back at the campground with burritos, slacklining (I finally made it all the way across the line! But only because it was about a 15 foot line), and light-up frisbee catch.
The next day, Adam and I made the long trek back to the Northeast (10 hours!) to plan the next portion of our trip- we're going international! We did make sure to stop and see the New River Gorge bridge on our way back though- it was an incredibly impressive and TALL bridge over the gorge.
There aren't too many pictures in this album- I kept forgetting to grab the camera- but if you care to see a few more, check out the new album on the pictures page!
Stay tuned for our upcoming overseas itinerary!
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