New River Gorge, WV - Part 1

It started with a phone call, "Hey Kevin, do you want to go climbing in West Virginia?"
I told her I had other plans, but that was just me being lazy, not wanting to put forth physical effort and do something productive.
"Well I am going, so you can come if you want."
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed to get out of Dayton.
So I quickly called back, "On second thought let's do it!"
There was no way the beat up '93 Camry was going to make it, so we packed the Escape, and prepared for our adventure.
"I don't really know where we are going, Joe sent me directions via email."
"Who's Joe?" "You'll meet him when we get there."
If this guy is like any of Ashley's other camp friends, I am wondering what I might be getting myself into.
So we drove. And drove. Toward the mountains, through the valleys, through two giant mountain tunnels. Then uphill. New River Gorge here we come. If we don't get lost.

Unknown to us, the day of our arrival was also the day to jump of the New River Gorge bridge. Adventure #1, detour!

Adventure #2 realizing that we had no idea where the campsite was. Enter Joe's email.
Joe's email had directions from Stella, a current campsite resident. So needless to say we were a little confused.
Did we find it one the first try? Absolutely not.
Fortunately, we made it before dark and pitched our tent. Unfortunately, the campsite was sloped. You would think being from TN, we would be used to this. Not yet.
For some inspirational food ideas, some of which we used on this adventure check out:
www.campfirefeast.blogspot.com
Enter Joe and his brother Michael. They camped in their mini-van. Ultimate bachelor pad. Enough said.
Enter Stella. Same story. Ultimate bachelorette pad, climbing themed.

Climbing day 1
Stella take us all to a sweet spot for learning to lead climb, and to let Joe & Mike get their feet wet since it's been a while.
Could we get back to spot if we wanted? Probably not.
Lead climb successful? Oh Yeah.

Climbing Day 2
see next post...

Have you ever seen so much of the milky way? If not, you are missing out! These were taken from our campsite in Fayetteville WV.





P.S. Bring a warm sleeping bag or a cuddle buddy for this adventure in the fall!