After driving for what seems like an eternity, as the first few days of traveling are always a bit trying, we landed at the Chestnut Creek Campground in West Virginia. Our objective for staying in this location was because Bernie had mentioned several months ago while we were planning our itinerary, but he wanted to see the New River Gorge Bridge.
The campground itself was very primitive, meaning no electricity or hookups for RVs, etc., which was perfectly fine with us. Another place that we found on HipCamp. It did have a nice bathhouse which was a short walk away from our campsite located under two large sycamore trees. The temperatures were very cold but we did enjoy watching the full moon rise through the trees as we warmed ourselves around our Outland FireBowl.
We did hear some sort of wild critter in the woods that was making a very scary sound sort of a growl and a screech sound that fit in perfectly with the full moon rising and the feeling of Halloween in the air. We found out the next morning that it was some animal that wanted something to eat, as our little garbage bag had been strewn across the front area of our site. We had a good night sleep and after packing up all of our stuff to travel again, set out to see the New River Gorge Bridge.
The proprietor at the campground told us about a spot that was a very good location to view the bridge and to take photographs. He said it was a short hike up the Bridge Buttress Trail. As we approached the area, we were in awe not only have how winding the road was through the viewing area, but at the shear height and expanse of the bridge. We found the trailhead which seemed quite easy to do as they were stairs going up with a handrail. It quickly turned into a rocky path that was very difficult to navigate. Bernie had to turn around to go back, as the hike was too aggressive. Gertie and I forged ahead, and made it to the end of the trail which was no great shakes.
On the way back down the trail Gertie jumped on a rock and slipped down about 20 feet, fell off the rock and tumbled about another 60 feet down a steep gravel hill and landed at the bottom with a huge thud. I screamed and ran down the trail to see how hurt she was. She did jump up and run after she landed so I knew at least she was alive. When I found her she was very upset and had scrapes all over her body. I was screaming and crying and we immediately took her to a local vet about two miles away.
After much prodding and poking the vet discovered that she was perfectly fine and subscribed prescribed some antibiotics and pain medication. And the people at the vet's office were extremely professional and helpful and put both Bernie and I a tease as we were very very upset and to the point of shaking. The vet do the series of tests to check on her electrical system in case of a traumatic brain injury and also took X-rays and did some tests to make sure she was not bleeding internally. I cannot go on about this anymore as I am still very much in shock.
But this was a great wake-up call to me to not take my two most beloved things people in my life on dangerous hiking trails!
We did manage to pull ourselves together and get back on the road and head for my brother Adam's Place in Pleasureville, Kentucky.
Thank you for reading and God bless you all and be sure to follow the blog post by entering your email in the slot below. There is a slight glitch with the Google capture functionality, so please roll with it. It works! Next blog from Brother Adams Place in Kentucky. Bye for now.
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