A Few Pics from Our Bridge Day Weekend Trip

Saturday October 18th Bridge Day 2008



We parked our car on Rt 19 in a sea of cars about a 1/2 mile away from this point. Vehicles were parked end to end on both sides of the road and filling in the grass island in the middle.. As you can see by the amount of poople here--why this is so. We could of parked much closer had we arrived earlier. This scenario plays out on the opposide side of the bridge also.

There are vendors on both sides of the bridge, we are on the North side. The Bridge itself is 3030ft long, which is nearly 3/4 of a mile across. Very impressive views from the river indeed.

From the Bridge you can really get a beautiful glimpse of the fall colors (click the pic fora larger view) in the New River Gorge.

Down below you are seeing the Fayette Station Bridge and the Class IV rapid with the same name. One the left side of the river on the railroad tracks you can actually see one of the CSX trains.

A bit unnerving to be hanging over a bridge that is 876ft straight down!

I poked my head under the guard rail for this pic--to get a better view of the BASE jumpers "diving board" so to speak

Some of these guys waited til the very last second to pull open their Chutes, leaving the spectators to let out a loud gasps, there had been 3 deaths total in the history of bridge day. There was one last year when a chute failed to properly open

Click on this pic for a larger view. There are 2 guys jumping here

You can see the small landing beach 876ft below. There were rescue boats in the eddy below--to rescue numerous jumpers who wound up landing in the river. There was one jumper who landed in the river above the rapid and wound up swimming the whole rapid with his chute dragging behind him. Thankfully he survived his ordeal

Fayette Station Rapid and a bunch of rafts enjoying the spectacle

I REALLY love the panoramic feature of my camera--its stitches the pictures seamlessly. Just wish it was a little less overcast. Click this pic to fully appreciate

Mark, Mark Jr and Jayson at the Fayetteville end of the Bridge


You can see a bit of the arch from this shot

One last pic on the Bridge--we got hungry and walked to Fayetteville and ate lunch at Dirty Ernies Ribpit. What better way to walk off your lunch?

Back at our home for the weekend----hanging out with Aaron and Missy Thompson, Jo-Anne, Sue Paul, Lindsey and Ark in the Pines at the former Mountain River Tours/AMR. Bonfires rule!!

The aftermath of Mark Jr, eating one of Aarons hottest homegrown peppers. Markie inadvertantly picked the Habanero. Habaneros are describedas causing intense prolonged oral suffering. (Ya think??) He was told to just take a nibble, however when do teenagers listen. He ran for the spigot and nearly drowned himself trying to put out the fire in his mouth. Then when that didnt work, he stuffed his mouth full of crackers--which he is proudly displaying for your enjoyment.

You really can't call this firewood---more like stacks of tree trunks. It was supposed to drop down in the 30's tonite. BRRR---looks like we are going for a late morning launch on the Gauley

tomorrow.

The cold air clashing with the warm waters of whats left of Summersville Lake

Our boating buddies for the day, Ark and Jo-Anne in the cataraft

Ark and Jo-Anne surfing it up in a hole at Conestoga Rapid

Will post more pix later. I am buying pix from Whitewater Photography of Jayson and Mark Jr jumping off Class V+ Pillow Rock and will post them when i get them

Here are some awesome pix taken of us by Jo-Anne !
Thanks Jo-Anne!! You Rock!

The Adams clan merrily row, row, rowing the boat


I think this is the pool above Class IV Bud's Boner


Click on this pic for a close up---This is the top section of Class V+ Insignificant--we are the grey raft "STUCK" on the rock way upstream. The blue raft is about to get hammered in that nasty pourover.

Cori's going for the cool hit on the rock. Pillow Rock Class V+
What kind of mom takes thier kids down World Class whitewater anyway??
Hey! My kids LOVE THIS STUFF!



Great shot of Captain Ark

What Is Bridge Day???

Bridge Day is the largest extreme sports event and the largest gathering of BASE jumpers in the world, held on the third Saturday in October every year in Fayetteville, West Virginia, USA.




450 BASE jumpers, hundreds of rappellers, and up to 200,000 spectators are expected to attend this year's Bridge Day on Saturday, October 18, 2008.




The New River Gorge Bridge, 876' tall and the world's second longest single arch bridge, is the launch point for at least six hours (9am-3pm EDT) of legal, safe BASE jumps.

Spectators are permitted to walk the length of the bridge and watch jumpers leap from the bridge railing, enjoy the fall foliage, or patronize hundreds of vendors who sell everything from handmade crafts to funnel cakes.



The New River Gorge Bridge is normally closed to foot traffic and stopping your vehicle on the bridge is prohibited.


After five daring parachutists were permitted to jump at the first Bridge Day back in 1980, it soon became apparent that watching the jumpers would become the major attraction. In the early 1980's, the crowds increased and hundreds of BASE jumpers flocked to the area to enjoy six short hours of legal BASE jumps.

Although 876 feet is extremely high it is a quick 8 seconds from the bridge to the water of the New River! Most will fall from the bridge for 3-4 seconds before deploying their parachute. Then they’ll spend the next 20-30 seconds floating down to the designated landing zone located at the water’s edge.



BASE Jumping is an acronym for the four types of fixed objects that are utilized for these foot-launched skydives: (B)uilding, (A)ntenna, (S)pan, and (E)arth. BASE jumpers first skydive hundreds of times from aircraft before attempting to BASE jump, which is undoubtedly the world's most extreme sport.

With nearly 1000 jumps made at Bridge Day each year since 1980, there have only been three fatalities.

In addition to the festival itself, there are many beautiful places to see and plenty of exciting things to do in the Fayetteville, WV area, including: mountain biking, fishing, hiking, camping, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and canoeing, to name just a few!

For all this info and more go to this great website: http://www.bridgeday.info/

The River is Calling My Name , , , ,

Setting priorities:
List of things to do around the house:

1-unclutter the garage by getting the raft, frame and oars out on the lawn
2-inflate raft
3 add frame and oars
4-turn on hose at full blast

and VIOLA!! --realize that lawn rafting isn't as fun as the real thing sooooooooo .....

looks like we will be headin' south next weekend for Bridge Day and the last Upper Gauley trip of the season---WHOOHOO!! the crowd goes wild!!





TAKE ME TO THE GAULEY RIVER NOW!!!!!!

Imax Trailer: Grand Canyon River At Risk--AMAZING, BREATHTAKING FILM! A MUST SEE!

Please hit pause on my music jukebox in order to watch the trailer

New Grand Canyon Imax Film Now Playing at the Tropicana in Atlantic City for a Limited Time

MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More

Information about the movie from IMAX in Atlantic City webpage:

Set against the immense backdrop of the majestic Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon Adventure will take IMAX Theatre audiences on an exhilarating river-rafting adventure down the Colorado River in the company of a team of explorers who are committed to bringing awareness to global water issues. One of the world’s mightiest rivers, the Colorado no longer reaches the sea. Every drop of river water is allocated to agriculture and populations along the way, many of whom don’t even realize their connection to the river. No water remains for the river’s end -- the Colorado Delta -- once a thriving estuary that supported the most diverse biosphere in North America. How do we balance our needs with nature’s? How do we provide enough freshwater for everyone who needs it, not only along the Colorado River, but everywhere on our planet? As the expedition journeys down river, audiences will learn about the challenges we face and the many opportunities that exist for conserving and restoring our watersheds. There is much to be done if future generations are going to look back at this moment, not as a time of crisis, but as the turning point, when we became true stewards of the water planet we all share. We can all play a part. Combining science and adventure with some of giant screen cinema’s most compelling imagery and locations, Grand Canyon Adventure delivers a message of hope and inspiration for all people of the world. Narrated by Robert Redford and featuring songs and music by Dave Matthews Band.

Some Quotes Worthy of Pondering

Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.
~Stephen Vincent Benét

Time's flying by, moving so fast
You bettter make it count, 'cause you cant get it back.
~~Carrie Underwood from the song So Small

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.
~Author Unknown

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
~Diane Ackerman

Most of us spend our lives as if we had another one in the bank.
~Ben Irwin

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
~F. Alfred D'Souza

As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do.
~Zachary Scott

Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life.
~Michael Leboeuf

And finally one of my favorites:
Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.
~~ Patrick Stewart, from the film "Star Trek: Generations"

Living a Life of Perpetual Risk

I have a great quote from ‘Story’ by Robert McKee for you today:

“Life teaches that the measure of the value of any human desire is in direct proportion to the risk involved in its pursuit. The higher the value, the higher the risk. We give the ultimate values to those things that demand the ultimate risks - our freedom, our lives, our souls. This imperative of risk, however, is far more than an aesthetic principle, it’s rooted in the deepest source of our art. For we not only create stories as metaphors for life, we create them as metaphors for meaningful life - and to live meaningfully is to be at perpetual risk.”

Who would of thought I would have watched Survivorman, bought a pair of crampons on ebay then go to Alaska and jump ontop of this glacier. And as a bonus we found the ice cave below. Risky? Yes Adventurous? Yes Is it worth taking chances despite the inherent risk? Absolutely!And we'd do it again in a heartbeat!

That last sentence really jumps out at me. ‘To live meaningfully is to be at perpetual risk’. When you stop to think about it though, that is the essence of adventure. And the truth is we all crave adventure. Somewhere deep within us, we want our lives to be part of something larger than ourselves, something with meaning.

The reality however is that we typically end up settling for cheap imitations. Instead of living a life of adventure we cover up the desire with watching just enough movies or playing adventure games on the PlayStation. But the truth is, there’s nothing like being in an adventure yourself.

If living a life of perpetual risk is what it takes to have a meaningful, adventurous life, are we prepared to go there? It’s so easy to end up choosing the easiest, safest, most comfortable option. I hope to use my life both to live on an adventure and inspire as many people as possible to do the same.
What do you think?