Grandview is GRAND (West Virginia)

One place we visited on our West VA trip in April of 2010 was to the southern end of the New River Gorge National River area.  That is when we saw Sandstone Falls (click HERE).   SO, because of that beauty, we knew we wanted to go back and see more of the New River Gorge area.

On our trip last month,  we did go back and visit two other areas of that scenic river...  Today I will feature my very favorite viewing area along that river...  This area is called Grandview ---and we were thrilled at the views we had there...  IF this particular area had a lodge or cabins,  I'd come back here in a heartbeat and stay for a week!!!!!  There are amazing trails to hike and they even built a huge platform at the very end where we could almost see 360 degrees!!!!  Yes---there were lots of steps to climb --but being up there made us feel like we were just a little closer to heaven. It was awesome.

I cannot tell you in words how beautiful this area is... There are miles and miles of pure forestland  and mountains---with very few towns in that entire area..  IF you enjoy being out in nature without all of the other life distractions,  you will love this place... Put it on your bucket list!!!!! I'm not sure I've ever been anywhere any prettier than Grandview.

The pictures are good---but this is just one place you have to experience in person to get the real effect...   The picture above shows how well-maintained the paths were to all of the different overlooks..  The morning started out cool--but it didn't take long for us to shed our jackets.

This is from one of the overlooks ---looking north at the river and surrounding areas.  See the rapids on the river below.  In some areas,  people enjoy kayaking and rafting on that river.

Railroading is still very important in West VA ---and we saw at least two, maybe three, trains traveling down there, paralleling the river.

This is George standing at one of the overlooks.   We were there on a very clear and beautiful day.

This photo shows our view while looking straight ahead.  I love how the river winds around the mountains with the railroad beside it.   That is just SO West Virginia.  (Can you imagine how gorgeous that area would be at the peak of the Fall colors????  WOW!)

And this is George standing at the end of one of the overlooks...  Now can you understand why we thought we were on the top of the world?  I don't know for sure --but think our elevation here was about 4500 feet.   I loved seeing these mountains --without cabins and homes and other distractions (even though I'd love to stay here)...  This is 'virgin' land ---and it is awesome.   I'm so glad that West Virginia has claimed this land for preservation.

We met a couple on one of the overlooks who had come back after a few years...  They had been to that exact overlook several years ago to drop his father's ashes over the edge.  The father had lived in West VA all of this life and worked for the railroad... His wish was that he be scattered somewhere over the New River Gorge area...  How awesome would that be!

This is looking south from one of our overlooks.  The views everywhere were great ---but looking into the sun didn't make for good pictures.  Here you can see more rapids below. You may wonder how they keep this area so pure... WELL---it's a national park and it's also so mountainous that there are almost NO roads going into the area, and very few people living around here for miles and miles...

Finally,   a blog post wouldn't be special unless I showed a picture of the two of us together at one of the overlooks... ha ha ha ......

I have more pictures to share from Grandview ----but in a word,  all I can add today is that it is marvelous!!!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful  day.
Hugs,
Betsy

Horseshoe Falls, Colorado

I don't think I will ever finish doing blog posts from our June trip out west...   Counting this one,  I have done 25 different posts from that trip ---and there's still more to come!!!!!  What a fabulous trip that was... That is one trip we'll be talking about for years and years to come.

Today,  we're going back to the gorgeous Rocky Mountain National Park.  As I think I mentioned in a previous blog,  we entered the park on June 25th from the north entrance (north and west of Estes Park).  We first visited the Sheep Lake/Meadow area.  Then we stopped at the Alluvial Fan area to hike to Horseshoe Falls...  Our elevation here was 8.800 feet.  This waterfall, believe it or not,  is VERY high, probably about 1000 feet... BUT--from this area,  we could only see about 300 feet of it total...   Even that was awesome --especially for us waterfall lovers!

On July 15,  1982,   Lawn Lake Dam (14 miles north of the national park) broke.  This dam which flowed into Cascade Lake caused huge flooding in the park and also in the town of Estes Park nearby. Two hundred and twenty million gallons of water flowed south into that area.   Three people died ---and this flood caused over 31 million dollars of damage to Estes Park. 

After that flood,  Horseshoe Falls was buried under rocks and mud.  It is now a very steep waterfall,  cascading down the scars of the flood....  Here are some of our pictures from Horseshoe Falls.  The one above showed our view of the falls once we hiked to the little bridge crossing the falls...  As I said,  there is MUCH more of this waterfall above our vantage point.

Here is a very happy girl standing there admiring this waterfall from the bridge.

We hiked up to the steep part (I'll call it the crook)---if you look back at the first picture above.  We hiked up on the rocks to get some closer shots.   George took this one... Nice, huh?

George was as happy as I was --to be here. He wandered around all over those rocks taking pictures.... What JOY!!!!

This picture was taken from the bridge where we were standing... You can also see the bridge below (which is where the cars pass over the cascades).   Now--remember these three things:  car bridge,  hiking bridge,  and the crook... You'll see why soon!

This is another picture showing the mountain (which we went to later that day)...  You can also get a better view of the car bridge in this picture!!!!!

Here ----from way up on the mountain  (shown above) is a great long-distance photo George took of Horseshoe Falls.... I marked the things I wanted you to remember...  The crook is what I showed in picture 3.   The hiking bridge is where we were in picture 1,2, and 5.   AND ---you can see the road and the 'car bridge'....  Isn't this just awesome  to see a waterfall up close (or at least part of it) and then from far up on the mountain!!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed seeing our photos of  Horseshoe Falls in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Have a glorious weekend and I'll see you on Monday.

Hugs,
Betsy