8 May 2017, Monday
After breakfast at the Morgantown Quality Inn we are once again heading westward. The sky is a bright and cloudless blue and the mountains are decked out in their new spring finery in every shade of green. About 174 miles down the road G suddenly realizes she left her coat with wallet and ID back at the motel. I call and explain what happened to Clint, the young man at the front desk. He assures me they have the coat and wallet and will keep both safely locked up until we pass through Morgantown again on our way home next Sunday.
On we travel, stopping only to change drivers and once at a Kroger’s grocery store to stock up on extra carrots, apples, nuts and chocolate for G. We arrive at Natural Bridge State Resort Park (all state parks in Kentucky appear to be called State Resort Parks) and find our tiny campsite. Although it is small, it is quite clean, the restrooms are nice and have hot showers and there is a picnic shelter right next door which may very well save us hanging the tarp in the coming rain.
After setting up camp we head down the road a few miles to get dinner at the Red River Rockhouse. Online recommendations praised the establishment’s beer selection and food. We pull up a steep gravel drive and park Vincent as best we can. We get some strange looks from the somewhat scruffy-looking, but friendly, rock climbers sipping beer and having snacks at the outdoor picnic tables. I think they don’t often see vehicles like Vincent in this parking lot. One guy offers O his pick-up truck in an even trade for Vince. O turns him down. At any rate, the beers are, indeed, excellent…a malty brew for O and G and a Pale Ale with “a malty backbone” for me. The beers are accompanied by two giant burritos, one for G and one for me, and for O – one of the best veggie burgers he’s ever had.
After two days of driving and our big meal, we all agree a warm-up hike is in order this evening. We walk up to the park Lodge from Whittleton Campground to begin the “Original Trail,” a short, but very steep, half mile climb up to the Natural Bridge (actually a natural arch, because it was not carved by and does not cross water.) We hope to be able to view the sunset from the arch, but clouds are moving in. The arch itself is quite impressive. There are narrow stairs carved into the back side of the arch so that one can actually climb up to and walk across the top of the arch. The view in all directions is beautiful, with rock ridges poking out of the tree-covered hills. We cross to a lookout and find the Laurel Ridge Trail which takes us to another cliff overlook, from which we can look back to view the Natural Bridge in the distance. It is a perfect time of year to be here. The laurels, after which the ridge walk is named, are in full bloom. On our way back to the bridge we stop to watch a flock of warblers. G is fascinated by their song, a ‘perfect chromatic ascending fourth’ I believe she called it, although the last note was a bit sharp! (We check out Cornell’s Ornithology website when we return home and learn it is the Prairie Warbler, which does not actually live on the prairie!)
We confirm that there will be too many clouds for a bright sunset so we head down the Balanced Rock trail to return to the campground. We pass cliff faces undercut into rock shelters with latticeworks of shallow depressions carved into the rising rock walls. By the time we arrive at Balanced Rock we can see only its silhouette against the darkening sky. We arrive back at camp after 9 pm. Time to turn in for the night – umbrellas at the ready.