Pretty much exhausted from all the walking and riding the day before, Kellie and I lay asleep in the motel in La Grange, Kentucky on Day Two until a late 6:15 AM or so. Yes, you read that right, LATE 6:15 AM. We were not on the road again until nearly 8:00. That is so unlike us.
This day, our driving took us through Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio and then east to Pennsylvania and the Allegheny National Forest. We passed diagonally through the heart of the Allegheny National Forest, and, in all honesty, the Allegheny Forest wasn't much to see--at least the sights are not much different than driving from Allison on Highway 14 to Push Mtn. Road and on to Norfork. The one main difference is that the roads were straight--Oh! and there aren't many oak trees.
Just outside of a town called Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania and on the edge of the Allegheny National Forest is a state park called Kinzua Bridge State Park so named because of the Kinzua Bridge Viaduct that stands and lies in the heart of the park. The railroad viaduct (seen in its current state in the picture above) was the longest and highest (260 feet) railway viaduct in the world for many years after its construction in 1892. The viaduct was built in only 92 days! The railway was used to haul iron, coal, and timber from western Pennsylvania to ports at Lake Erie and to other cities in New York. It was used until 1959 when it was deemed unsafe and too expensive to repair. In 1963, the area around the Kinzua viaduct became a state park. Forty years later in 2003, an F1 tornado toppled the middle of the bridge structure, but left the south side of the bridge intact. This side was made into a pedestrian "skywalk." The skywalk has a glass floor at the end where visitors can look down 167 feet to the ground--or you can just look over the rails. Again, you can see the end of the skywalk, the toppled bridge, and the north end of the bridge in the picture above.
What a joy it was when we arrived around 4:00 PM or so and found only four or five other cars sitting at the visitor center. No crowds! We essentially had the park to ourselves, and we took advantage of that. Our first foray was to the main attraction, the skywalk. Here is a picture from the skywalk--but not through the glass bottom. All that I could see through the glass floor was grass, weeds, and the bridge itself. Kellie, with her fear of heights, did not step on nor look through the glass. Anyway, here is a picture from the skywalk looking north. Make sure to click on the picture and look at a big picture. It's amazing!
Ironically, our adventure on the skywalk was somewhat interrupted by a family who spoke French and who decided that the six of them needed the whole platform for their viewing and picture-taking activities. That was okay because we decided to walk down some well-maintained trails to the creek at the bottom of the valley. The walk was gorgeous. I have to be very aware of my storage space for pictures here in WIX, but I will tell you that I took three times more pictures here than at any other stop. The woods were full of beautiful, big ferns. The open spaces glittered with patches of yellow daisies and clusters of blue vervain. This was a forest to rival the beauty of the Blanchard Spring area though it was interestingly different. The wreckage of the bridge, close up, was like being on the set of a Star Wars movie or something. It was almost like a alternate reality experience. Heck, here is a picture. That is the skywalk in the background.
So, we walked among the wreckage for a while, taking pictures of the wreckage, flowers, and the creek. Then, it was back up the steep and winding path. When you descend 260+ feet, you must climb back up 260+ feet. It was hot too. You know, you think that as far up north as we were that the temperature might have been cooler. It wasn't while we were there. I believe the temp was in the low 90's this day though a breeze consistently blew because the remnants of Beryl were on their way north.
At the top of the hill, we walked around the visitor center, which had closed during our hike, then decided that to get in our daily 10,000 steps, we needed to take another hike. This time, we hiked on the trail where the railroad tracks used to run. Because it was the former railroad path, the trail was level and made of a soft chat surface. It was also heavily shaded, and the breeze seemed to follow the path as well. I think we walked a little over half a mile before turning back. If we had such a level, soft trail here, I believe I could walk 10 miles a day easily.
Now, I am not a travel guide. I am just a traveler who wants to give an honest account of a personal trip. The dog leg that we made to visit Kinzua Bridge State Park was 120 miles out of our way, and it made our trip to Niagara Falls three to four hours longer than what it would have been otherwise, but it was well worth every mile and every minute. I do not think that Kinzua Bridge State Park could be a destination for family trip or even a road trip. I cannot see how anyone would spend more than four or five hours exploring the park once arriving here. However, if you are going through eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, especially if you are headed north, this is a wonderful place to visit. Out of the way, yes! But you won't see something like the Kinzua Viaduct Bridge again in your lifetime.
By the way, the proof of Uncle Boog and the Dogfight as a stand alone story was waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home.
I am about 95% sure that I will not publish the collection of Dewey Lynn stories with the pink cover that I shared earlier. I will probably maintain the book as a proof for my editing, but I will separate the stories into their own books or combine them in different ways. I have been working like crazy editing since we have been home, and I am currently on page 169 of 203. Hopefully, by next week, I will have Uncle Boog revised. Then, it could be ready for sale and distribution in a few weeks or a month. Keep your eyes open.
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