The Lost Texans: October 2014

Last weekend was the 35th Annual Bridge Day in Fayetteville, WV where 450 BASE jumpers gathered to jump off the 876 foot tall New River Gorge Bridge, one of the world's longest steel single-span arch bridges.

The third Saturday of every October is the only day all year that BASE jumpers -- whose acronym stands for these fixed points: building, antenna, span and earth -- can legally jump off the bridge. The jumpers carry parachutes designed to deploy quickly, softening their landings.

The Bridge Day Festival is billed as the largest extreme sports event in the world and attracts nearly 100,000 people to Fayetteville.

Here's a view of the New River Gorge Bridge which illustrates
the 876 foot drop from the roadway to the ground/river.
When the bridge was completed in 1977,
it was the highest vehicular bridge in the world.
Currently, it is the 3rd highest in the United States.

About 450 BASE jumpers leaped off the bridge 903 times at last year's festival, and about 80,000 spectators packed the bridge and surrounding area to watch them.

For the second year, a smaller group of jumpers got to use a human catapult system in 2013 to get flung off the bridge.

Vendors surrounding the bridge will offer snacks, crafts and other ways to celebrate the jumpers in a much less strenuous, daredevil fashion. Speaking of fashion, you can rest assured that we did indeed get our souvenir Bridge Day t-shirts at the first vendor booth we saw.

And then we ventured further into the throngs of people towards the middle of the bridge where the jumping platform was located. Yeah. Maybe Mosh Pit is a better way to describe the human congestion. All in the name of good times and good pictures!

Battling waves of claustrophobia we ever-so-slowly inched our way forward to get a better view of the crazy daredevil BASE jumpers.

Ready...

Set...

Go!!!

That's crazy!!! Talk about an Adrenaline rush!

Another thrill seeker takes the plunge

All I can say is…

that is a looooong way down!

Sure hope that parachute is in working order...

…'cause I'm free…free fallin'!

Yesss! We have parachute deployment!

That's one WILD ride.

And they keep coming back for more.

The day after Bridge Day, we hiked Long Point Tail, a 3.2 mile round trip hike that traverses a relaxed level forest trail, followed by a short, steep descent heavily wooded with Rhododendron (the West Virginia state flower) and Mountain Laurel. At the end of the trail, you are greeted by an impressive panoramic view of the New River Gorge and the New River Gorge Bridge.