The Adventure Project: Part 3: The New River Gorge

Day One

On Thursday April 2nd, my Dad and I packed up the car to begin the five hour journey out to The New River Gorge. A place I have been wanting to go for a very long time. Although the first three hours of the trip were nothing special, the second half was great. We stopped at Buc-cees, a place I had never been to but have been wanting to go to because of what I have heard about it. It lived up to my expectations, but also kind of surprised me. It was the kind of place I never want to visit again. I got some of the classic food they sell there and a t-shirt before getting back in the car to finish our journey to the New. Once we finally arrived I stretched and wanted to immediately get to climbing. I could not climb until the next day. My first impressions were that the town was beautiful. We were staying in Fayetteville which is the main town of the gorge. Once we arrived we got unpacked and checked out our house for a little bit. It included an espresso maker and a hot tub which was very exciting for me. The espresso maker did not work well so I decided not to use it and I was so busy I never had time to use the hot tub. There were also many climbing guides that I found very interesting. After unpacking and getting somewhat settled in we decided it was time to explore. We left the house and made our way into the town. Most of the shops were closed except for one. We went into the one shop that was not closed and bought some cool items to remember our trip. My mom got a shirt that she really liked. I got a 3D printed strawberry shaped spider for Alice, a mothman magnet for myself, and a New River Gorge sticker, which is now on my climbing wall. After we shopped around for a little while we made our way to the house and got into the car. We made our way to a popular overlook that my mom had found online. It was called the Canyon Rim Visitor Center. After walking down a series of steps and wooden paths you end up at a beautiful overlook of the gorge and the famous New River Gorge Bridge. Although I came to the NRG for the climbing I had heard a little about the beauty of the bridge. After seeing it for the first time in person, I was shocked. It was magnificent. It is 800 feet above the ground and 3,000 feet long. It is the largest bridge of that type in the world and I can not wait to go to the gorge to see it again. After our time at the overlook we made our way into the town to go try the famous pizza place “Pies and Pints.” I was told by many people that it was very good pizza and that it is one of the best places to get food in the gorge. I got a pepperoni pizza and I’m not just saying this to say it but it was the best pizza I’ve ever had. I’m not a food critic so I can’t give a good description of it but it was very good pizza. After our dinner we made our way home to finish off day one.

Day Two

Now day two has come along. A day I have been waiting for for a very long time. I’m finally going to get to sport climbing in the New River Gorge. After having my daily morning espresso and breakfast, which was from biscuit world (overrated in my opinion). We made our way to the New River Guide’s meeting spot. First we met with Matthew, who was a guide who I was familiar with. He was not our guide for this specific day but it was still cool to talk to him for a little bit. A few minutes later Brian, who was our guide for the day, came out. We talked to him a bit about what we should get on and what we were looking to do. I told him that we wanted to do some lead and top rope, and learn more about outdoor climbing. My dad didn’t have a preference on what he wanted to do but he knew he wasn’t going to lead. Brian decided it would be best for us to go to Butcher’s Branch which was in Kaymoor. I was super excited. I had read about Kaymoor and seen videos of the famous climb there called Lost Souls (5.12 I think b?) Brian was an awesome guide and I hope I get to hang with him again soon (Thanks Brian). Once we arrived at the Kaymoor top parking lot we headed down the quarter mile trail to Butcher’s Branch. It was amazing once we arrived. The walls were much higher in person and I was super excited to try them. Brian thought it would be best for us to try Flight of the Gumbie which was a 5.9+ and the easiest thing at Butcher’s branch other than a 5.6 trad crack rated R. Brian led it first for me and my dad to top rope. I went up after. The climb was interesting. It was about 80 feet and went around a blocky area. The climb wasn't too hard on top rope other than the first move which was a V3 boulder problem. After I came down from my flash on it, my dad gave it a go. He was happy with how high he got and now it was time for me to lead it. I had the first 2 draws preclipped when I went up. Since this was my first time leading outdoors I did get scared towards the anchors and took at the last draw but was able to finish it out from there. My dad tried to top rope it one more time before Brian went up to clean the route. Once he came down he showed me, on a little set up he made, how to clean anchors. It was very informative and I was glad I could learn. Without even realizing we had already been on the climb for about two hours. The time went by very fast. After our time on Flight of the Gumbie we moved over to Low Voltage (5.10b). My goal for the trip was to get a clean send on a 5.10b so this was going to be perfect. I decided that I wanted to place the draws on this climb. So once we preclipped I began. I was flowing through it pretty nicely but a little over half way up I was getting pumped and I took a fall. I asked brian to lower me and he finished the rest of the route. We took a little break after this and had some snacks and water. The weather was a bit wonky so it was getting hot and also drizzling a bit so we went under a little overhang so we wouldn't get wet. After all the draws were placed I went up for another attempt hoping to hang dog (climbing from clip to clip figuring out all the moves) the climb before going for a send attempt. The top was quite spooky. You go from a pretty crimpy undercling into some large edges while making your way up to this long thin horn. This horn looked like it was going to fall off at any moment so it took me a while to trust it. Once I decided to trust it, it was a high foot leanover into a chossy area where you can clip the anchors from a standing position. The scariest part is that there was about a 15 foot runout from the last clip to the anchors. Finally after another short break I was successful in getting a clean send on it. Before we headed back to the parking lot Brian thought I should try the Green Piece (5.10c) which was right next to Low Voltage. I was gonna do a few attempts but decided to only do one. I fell about ¾ of the way up and came down. After some consideration and talking with Brian we decided that we would take the long hike back to the parking lot and learn some stuff about outdoor climbing. We stopped at the White Wall and Brian showed me how to use trad gear. The hike back to the parking lot was beautiful and I was very happy with the day. We parted ways with Brian and got back in the car with plans to head home for a bit before going to Tacos and Tequila for dinner. Dinner was good and we went for a walk before ending our day.

Day Three

I did not have expectations for day three to be as awesome as day two was, but it ended up being pretty cool. I started the day with a hike at the Kaymoor Mine Trail which was quite close to where we had climbed the day prior. The hike was pretty amazing. It started going down a simple trail from the parking lot. You eventually reach a small set of stairs where you get a great view of the river and of the Endless Wall. After making your way down the miners trail you come to an area which opens to a large metal sign that says “YOUR FAMILY WANTS YOU TO WORK SAFELY.” The open areas lead to the main part of the hike. It is a large staircase that has 821 steps going down what used to be the old Kaymoor One Mine’s cart track. As you walk down the stairs you can see the remnants of what used to be different mechanisms used to take all the coal down the gorge and bring tools up it. At the bottom of the stairs there are many old buildings that are encased in a long fence. There were some openings in the fence that me and my dad went through to see the inside of the building. This place was absolutely sketchy. We didn’t try to go into the other building which was in the process of collapsing. It seemed like the one falling down was used to hold machinery. The one we were in was likely used as storage because of all the coal we saw on the floors and in different compartments. There was a large iron door that looks like it was likely used as some sort of office at one time. As we walked down the trail further we found a large dome shaped structure. These also looked like some sort of oven because they had a chimney on top, I'm still not exactly sure what they were. If anyone knows please let me know! The hike back up was pretty miserable and my legs were burning on my way up the stairs again. Once we arrived back at the parking lot we made our way to pick up the crash pads we rented and got some coffee. We got back to the house to pick up my mom before heading to the Hawk’s Nest to boulder. The Hawk’s Nest is a very interesting spot to boulder because it is right next to the dam and whenever it rains half the boulders get covered in water. Unfortunately, it had rained a few days prior so we were not able to do some of the boulders. One thing I have learned about bouldering in the NRG is that it is very difficult. Most of the boulders are very old thus the grading is much different. I was slightly disappointed I didn’t get a V3 at Hawk’s Nest but was very happy with the V2s I did. We headed home from Hawk’s Nest to take a short break at home before heading back out to go to Cotton Bottom. Cotton Bottom was on a small hill. There were a few smaller boulders there that I tried. I flashed a V2 and then worked on a crack climb V3. I was unsuccessful on the V3 but was still satisfied with the day. For dinner we had homemade Mexican bowls. I went to bed on day three and woke up before leaving the house and ending my wonderful time at the New River Gorge.

B. Smith

5.14.26