Gorge-ous Views!
I’m a member of THE Bridge Club—and I have the certificate to prove it. In fact, prior to opening day in 1977, my family often took pilgrimages to the New River Gorge to watch the bridge being built. I think back often to that day when the bridge was officially dedicated by then-Governor Jay Rockefeller. We piled into our yellow Monte Carlo parked outside of our trailer in Two Run before sunrise—because my dad always believed in being early. My mother packed a picnic lunch and swaddled my baby brother in layers of blankets. I remember complaining that I had to wear my winter coat, as I struggled to zip it up, worried that my new Dorothy Hamill haircut left my ears too exposed.
The air was crisp and fog had settled into the canyon like a gossamer curtain. People showed up from near and far—40,000 people—documenting the experience with Polaroid or Kodak Instamatic cameras. It felt like something akin to the momentous moment when man landed on the moon. It was a day to celebrate man’s ingenuity and West Virginia’s march into the future. The New River Gorge Bridge was the longest single-span arch bridge in the world and, at 876 feet above the New River, it was the highest bridge to be traversed with automobile traffic in the world. Even at 6 years old, I knew it was a moment that I needed to safely tuck into that protected pocket of memories. We were all so proud to be West Virginians that day.
Although my certificate given to me by The Charleston Gazette says that it is for the First (and Last) Walk across the New River Gorge, it would not mark the last time I would walk across the bridge. I would never have guessed then that, 34 years later, I’d walk across the bridge again—but this time on the catwalk beneath the roadway, giving me another perspective on the monumental engineering feat. Little did I know that I’d actually celebrate many milestones at the New River Gorge. Not only have I plunged headlong down the New River on a whitewater raft as I looked up at the towering bridge, but I’ve flown over it upside down in a World War II open-air biplane. I’ve hiked the trails that are now part of the New River Gorge National Park to scenic overlooks that took my breath away as the sun settled over the canyon with my husband. And I’ve climbed the stairs from the overlook while carrying my own children, albeit sans the packed picnic.
In the January 2022 Edition of Wonderful West Virginia, we share a story looking back at the first year after the important designation of the New River Gorge National Park. I couldn’t help but think about all the work and time it took to achieve national park status and wonder what the next 10 or 20 years will bring as a result. And just like all those trips I made as a child watching the heavy beams swinging over the deep ravine as they were placed in exacting order like a gangplank, it certainly will be wonderful to watch. The creation of the country’s newest national park is yet another momentous occasion for which West Virginians should be very proud.
Wishing you a wonderful New Year!
NIKKI BOWMAN MILLS, Editor-in-Chief
wonderfulwv@newsouthmediainc.com
Follow me on Instagram!
Instagram: TheWVEditor