Facing a monster

This was originally written on June the 10th of this year. 

It’s only been a day ago since I finally faced that magnificent rust-clad metal monster that rules the New River Gorge, and completed the walk across its deck truss. Admittedly I was somewhat nervous about doing so, especially when I first rode across it and could see the lay of the land and the deep void below. And then when I stopped at the scenic overlook I was totally thunderstruck by the unbelievable scale of the bridge and the landscape around it. This monster truly dominates its environment in every sense of the word. I could barely believe that soon I would be strolling along that catwalk hundreds of feet above the river, taking in the epic view.

I arrived at the building where the tour starts and not long afterwards our small group, including our tour guide, were on a bus heading towards the end of the bridge where we would enter the catwalk. All four of us (not including our guide) were secured by a safety harness that would be attached to a cable that ran the length of the catwalk. In my mind I knew I was safe, but upon following the guide onto the catwalk I noticed that my mouth had gone totally dry…and it wasn’t my allergy medicine that was causing that! The distance was so vast and the curvature of the arch of the bridge was enough that the other end disappeared into an ever vanishing horizon, not unlike like looking into an infinity mirror. All around us were huge struts and crossbeams above and to the side, looking like giant steel rafters in the attic of some enormous building. As I was walking along, I looked down, and the support columns seemed to almost vanish into the foliage below. With each step, the height became more and more extreme, the ground below getting further and further away. I could feel myself breathing faster than normal as I stared down into the chasm, and so I would instead look straight ahead for a bit before looking down again. After walking a good ways, we finally arrived at the dead center of the bridge, where the top of the arch meets the deck truss. The scale here was truly breathtaking; it was like being inside the steel skeleton of a monstrous skyscraper! At this point both ends of the catwalk could be seen, way off in the distance, as this was the highest point of the bridge.

Our guide invited us to have a seat on the walkway and hang our legs over the edge, and then he took pictures of each of us with the vast gorge far below. There is really no way to describe just how huge this structure is – pictures and videos simply do not do it justice.

And then there are the sounds….the whistling of the wind and the high pitched droning of the traffic passing across the road deck above. A very specific noise unique to this bridge, I would imagine. I found it to be kind of spooky and ethereal with all of that noise echoing around in the vast metal frame of the deck truss. Finally, this beast of a bridge almost seems to come alive with movement – it shakes, bounces, and shudders! This is even more pronounced the closer you are to the center, which is between the two expansion joints. Walking on that catwalk was not unlike walking across a vibrating fun house floor – an open air fun house 851 feet above ground! It was totally epic in so many ways. All in all it was a very surreal and unforgettable experience unlike any other.