New River Gorge National Park

After a great (and long overdue) visit to Ithaca and an equally great (and equally overdue) stop outside Philadelphia to visit my best friend from college, it was off to West Virginia to check out our newest national park -- New River Gorge.

I'm always skeptical of national parks that prominently feature manmade elements -- I'm looking at you, Gateway Arch.  But the New River Gorge Bridge is truly impressive and fits in fairly well with the natural surroundings.

I arrived at the park in late afternoon and still squeezed in two hikes.  The first was a 2.7 mile loop of the Endless Wall Trail, where the sun was doing cool late afternoon things through the trees.

Pretty neat "tunnel" formed by the foliage -- rhododendrons, maybe?

The wall was not as endless as advertised, but the overlooks provided great spots to take contemplative rest breaks.

And the views of the gorge were as stunning as any Colorado summit.

(Equally so in portrait orientation)

Next it was across the bridge to the three-mile, out-and-back Long Point Trail for sunset.  Except there wasn't much of a sunset thanks to some late-arriving clouds.  Still, a pretty cool spot.

The next day I was up early and back on the road, heading south through the park on my way to Tennessee.  Along the way I passed the aptly named Grandview, which was oddly devoid of any other people on a beautiful summer morning (if a slightly overcast one).

My last stop in the park was Sandstone Falls, which vastly exceeded my expectations.  I had feared a limited view from a fenced boardwalk, but instead got to scramble over quite a bit of the namesake sandstone and really explore the area. 

I spent an hour here changing locations and compositions, looking for just the right shot of the beautiful cascades.

I'm not sure I ever got "just the right shot."  But I got a heck of a lot that I'm pretty happy with.

Like this 36-image HDR panoramic, for instance.

After I had "finished" shooting and was headed back to my car, sweaty and satisfied, I hopped off the trail one last time for one more shot.  And I'm glad I did.

I highly recommend New River Gorge, and look forward to coming back sometime in the future!