Appalachian Tater
05-19-2008, 10:33
http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/lifestyles/features/article/backyard_adventures_escape_across_the_james_river_ foot_bridge/4913/
By Susan Pugh ([email protected])
Published: May 15, 2008
Sometimes, we all need a prescription.
A chilly, rainy Sunday afternoon after a rollercoaster week, and the couch, movies and a little escapism beckon. The body knows better, though. It’s Rx: endorphins.
It’s time for a dose of the body’s own opioids, chemical cousins of opiates. Our brains produce endorphins during periods of strenuous exercise and excitement. The result is an all-natural analgesia and — the goal here — a sense of well-being.
No surprise, maybe, that the choice is to set off to do a little hiking. The destination is the James River Foot Bridge and the Appalachian Trail. The bridge can be found just north of the intersection of U.S. 501 north and Virginia 130 in Snowden.
The pedestrian bridge spans the James at a picturesque point where the river cuts through the mountains. Slopes rise on either side of riverbanks. On this day, fog feathers the mountainsides like fingers running through hair.
The bridge has easy access. There’s a capacious gravel parking lot, with the entrance to the trail at its southern end. The trail leads under the railroad tracks, which follow the river, to a set of stairs up to the footbridge.
The footbridge can be a destination in and of itself. Indeed, two other day hikers park and walk to the middle of the 623-foot span, the AT’s longest pedestrian-only bridge. They stop, lean elbows on the rails, gaze out across the water and begin what appears to be a heart-to-heart talk.
And a fine place for chinning it is. The bridge offers views upriver to the turns in the river’s course through the mountains. Downriver, the vista is of a pond-like surface created by a hydroelectric dam.
The bridge exists largely thanks to the efforts of the late Bill Foot. The appropriately named Foot and his wife Laurie were avid hikers, which earned them the nickname of “The Happy Feet.” The Foots, or Feet, hiked the AT’s entire length from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin, Maine, and the Lynchburg couple were the first people to hike and bike the 5,000 American Discovery Trail from Cape Henlopen, Del., to Point Reyes, Calif.
Foot, while battling cancer, did the work that made the long-dreamed-of pedestrian bridge across the James a reality. After his death at age 53, the bridge was called — another appropriate name — the James River Foot Bridge.
At its far side, the bridge gives onto a well-trodden section of the AT. It leads almost immediately to a thin trickle of a waterfall whose stream makes its way down from rocks several stories high, as the water seeks the river on this little part of its journey to the ocean.
Rhododendron in bloom add a pale fuchsia to the forest palette of green leaves, grey rocks and brown wood.
The trail takes a sharp turn north and parallels the river. The trail provides a fairly flat walking surface, roots aside, for a couple of miles.
The tree canopy offers shelter from the rain, and frames views of the river where raindrops ping on the water’s surface.
The world we usually inhabit seems far away. From here, cars on 501 whisper.
The walk awakens the senses while giving time for the mind to wander as if in a waking dream. Thoughts tumble free without daily life’s regulation.
The rain slows, then stops. Sunshine breaks through clouds, sparkles on the river’s ripples and dapples the forest floor.
If you’re going
-- WHAT: James River Foot Bridge and Appalachian Trail
-- WHERE: Just north of the intersection of U.S. 501 and Virginia 130
-- INFO: Visit the Appalachian Trail Conservancy at http://www.appalachiantrail.org (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/), call (304) 535-6331 or e-mail from the link on the Web site. Also contact the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club, http://www.nbatc.org (http://www.nbatc.org/).
By Susan Pugh ([email protected])
Published: May 15, 2008
Sometimes, we all need a prescription.
A chilly, rainy Sunday afternoon after a rollercoaster week, and the couch, movies and a little escapism beckon. The body knows better, though. It’s Rx: endorphins.
It’s time for a dose of the body’s own opioids, chemical cousins of opiates. Our brains produce endorphins during periods of strenuous exercise and excitement. The result is an all-natural analgesia and — the goal here — a sense of well-being.
No surprise, maybe, that the choice is to set off to do a little hiking. The destination is the James River Foot Bridge and the Appalachian Trail. The bridge can be found just north of the intersection of U.S. 501 north and Virginia 130 in Snowden.
The pedestrian bridge spans the James at a picturesque point where the river cuts through the mountains. Slopes rise on either side of riverbanks. On this day, fog feathers the mountainsides like fingers running through hair.
The bridge has easy access. There’s a capacious gravel parking lot, with the entrance to the trail at its southern end. The trail leads under the railroad tracks, which follow the river, to a set of stairs up to the footbridge.
The footbridge can be a destination in and of itself. Indeed, two other day hikers park and walk to the middle of the 623-foot span, the AT’s longest pedestrian-only bridge. They stop, lean elbows on the rails, gaze out across the water and begin what appears to be a heart-to-heart talk.
And a fine place for chinning it is. The bridge offers views upriver to the turns in the river’s course through the mountains. Downriver, the vista is of a pond-like surface created by a hydroelectric dam.
The bridge exists largely thanks to the efforts of the late Bill Foot. The appropriately named Foot and his wife Laurie were avid hikers, which earned them the nickname of “The Happy Feet.” The Foots, or Feet, hiked the AT’s entire length from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin, Maine, and the Lynchburg couple were the first people to hike and bike the 5,000 American Discovery Trail from Cape Henlopen, Del., to Point Reyes, Calif.
Foot, while battling cancer, did the work that made the long-dreamed-of pedestrian bridge across the James a reality. After his death at age 53, the bridge was called — another appropriate name — the James River Foot Bridge.
At its far side, the bridge gives onto a well-trodden section of the AT. It leads almost immediately to a thin trickle of a waterfall whose stream makes its way down from rocks several stories high, as the water seeks the river on this little part of its journey to the ocean.
Rhododendron in bloom add a pale fuchsia to the forest palette of green leaves, grey rocks and brown wood.
The trail takes a sharp turn north and parallels the river. The trail provides a fairly flat walking surface, roots aside, for a couple of miles.
The tree canopy offers shelter from the rain, and frames views of the river where raindrops ping on the water’s surface.
The world we usually inhabit seems far away. From here, cars on 501 whisper.
The walk awakens the senses while giving time for the mind to wander as if in a waking dream. Thoughts tumble free without daily life’s regulation.
The rain slows, then stops. Sunshine breaks through clouds, sparkles on the river’s ripples and dapples the forest floor.
If you’re going
-- WHAT: James River Foot Bridge and Appalachian Trail
-- WHERE: Just north of the intersection of U.S. 501 and Virginia 130
-- INFO: Visit the Appalachian Trail Conservancy at http://www.appalachiantrail.org (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/), call (304) 535-6331 or e-mail from the link on the Web site. Also contact the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club, http://www.nbatc.org (http://www.nbatc.org/).