Grandview and the Castle Rock Trail

West Virginia Travelog #5
New River Gorge National Park - Sat, 16 Sep 2023. 5:30pm

While hiking at Sandstone Falls earlier today we temporarily forgot that we'd flown a red-eye from California— and then drove several hours hours. When I walk in beauty I forget how tired I am. The adventuring day wasn't done when we finished visiting the falls, though. While we were in the southern part of New River Gorge National Park we wanted to visit Grandview. As we got back to the car from this hike our late second wind was spent.

We started with a short walk to a lookout point.



Grandview is the highest point in the park. Here the ridge is some 1,400' over the New River in the gorge below.

Visiting the main lookout point atop the ridge wasn't a hike. It was just 100 meters or so from the parking lot. As tired as we were we decided we had it in us for an actual hike. I laced up my boots, and Hawk switched from her street sandals to hiking sandals, and we set off on the Castle Rock trail.



The Castle Rock trail drops down slightly from the top of the ridge. It winds beneath eroded layered rocks that form the top of the ridge. The views of the gorge weren't any better here, but that wasn't the point. Walking below the castle-like rock walls was.

After 0.6 mile the Castle Rock trail ascended back to the ridge. We hiked the ridge-top trail from there back to where we started. Along the way were several more outlooks over the gorge 1,400' below us. All were... not as compelling as I hoped they might be... due to (a) the late afternoon casting part of the gorge into deep shade, and (b) trees growing nearby partly obstructing the views. Dangit, those trees are spoiling my enjoyment nature! 🤣

In beauty I walk.

Settling In to the Hotel

West Virginia Travelog #6
Beckley, WV - Sat, 16 Sep 2023. 9:30pm

After a long day of adventures— and it really is a long day, basically one that started yesterday at 6:30am Pacific time with more of a 3 hour nap than a night's sleep on the red-eye flight to the east coast— we are settled in for the night.

After visiting Grandview and hiking the Castle Rock trail we drove straight to our hotel in town. We had tried checking in around lunch time. Usually hotels has a room or two ready early, and with my elite status they'll let me in well before check-in time. No dice this time. Probably they're full up for the weekend.

The benefits of elite status came through, though, this evening. The hotel gave us a small but meaningful room upgrade to a mini suite. It's maybe 25% larger than a regular room and has a door that can close off the bedroom from the living room area that has a small sofa and a large TV. That will be helpful later this trip if one of us is having trouble getting to sleep or wants to do a bit of work without disturbing (or being disturbed by) the other.

The elite status this trip is Hawk's, BTW. These three nights are on points from her account and her Platinum status. She has both basically the same way I get them nowadays— from a credit card.

We didn't spend long in the suite before heading back out for dinner. We found a promising looking Mexican restaurant a few blocks away. Yes, Mexican food in West Virginia. There's actually a choice of a few Mexican restaurants nearby, The food had on the bland side, likely accounting for local tastes, but it more than got the job done.

Now we're back at the hotel. I just got back from taking a dip in the hot tub. And then a relaxing shower to clean off. I'm ready to hit the hay now. It's been a long day: a red-eye flight this morning, then driving 324 miles today, and doing two hikes. I plan to get a full night's sleep tonight.