(Old) Chain of Rocks Bridge

My mother grew up in St. Louis, so every summer we headed south from Chicago on Route 66 for a week of visiting relatives. Crossing the one-mile long Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi River was definitely a highlight of the drive. In the mid-1960s Route 66 was replaced by Interstate 55 (in Illinois) and Interstate 270 (the New Chain of Rocks Bridge), and the old bridge was abandoned. It turns out it was too expensive to demolish, so it remained, and in 1998 was turned over to a local group to renovate and operate. You can get all the details from Wikipedia. Once I learned that it was possible to walk or bike over the old bridge, I had to make the trip!

The eastern portion of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge as seen from I-270 on the New Chain of Rocks Bridge.

The New Chain of Rocks Bridge (as seen from the old bridge) is an unremarkable modern highway bridge. No one even calls it "New Chain of Rocks Bridge", it's just the "I-270 bridge".

Entering the Illinois (east) side of the bridge. It's really difficult to imagine that this narrow roadbed carried heavy two-way traffic, including trucks.

The most notable feature of the bridge is the 22° bend in the middle, allowing for easier navigation through treacherous currents and around two water intake towers that supplied water to St. Louis.

The bend.

It's not apparent at first, but the roadbed rises significantly to the middle of the bridge.

The St. Louis skyline is visible downstream.

The two water intake towers just downstream of the bridge. These predate the bridge and made the "Chain of Rocks" stretch of the Mississippi River tricky to navigate, especially so after the bridge was built. Eventually, the Army Corps of Engineers built an 8.4 mile long canal to bypass the hazards.

High Trestle Bridge at Night

Sunday, 4 August 2019

Two years ago, we rode bikes over the High Trestle Bridge between Woodward and Madrid, Iowa, during the day. We wanted to come back and see the bridge at night. So this year we got to see the bridge at night, followed by riding the entire High Trestle Trail the next day A 50-mile round trip from Ankeny to Woodward and back again.

We got to the parking lot just after sunset, and the brilliant red sunset dimmed as we walked the 3/4 mile to the bridge.

A crescent moon hung above the bridge. The illuminated section is half-way across the bridge - the blue arch in the middle of the bridge deck. The bridge is a half-mile long and about 130 feet above the river.

The illuminated section. The bridge had quite a few visitors. Most were walking, but there were quite a few cyclists, as well as rollerbladers and skateboarders.

Another view of the illuminated section.

The west end of the bridge has an observation platform where the whole bridge can be seen.

Red River Gorge (Kentucky) - Miscellany

Tuesday, 30 July 2019

We managed to get in one more short walk between thunderstorms, but mostly we decided to drive around the area.

We knew the road went through Nada Tunnel, but what we didn't know was that it was just barely large enough to get a vehicle through it. According to Wikipedia, the tunnel is only 12 feet wide and 13 feet high. We thought our rear-view mirrors were going to touch the sides!

Wikipedia says that the tunnel is 900 feet long. All I can say is that it was a challenge to drive a full-size pickup truck through it.

A pedestrian suspension bridge crosses the Red River.

Another look at the suspension bridge.

Overlook along the road to Sky Bridge. The rain showers were creating fog in many places.

When we got back to our campsite, we found our tent sitting in about a 1/2 inch of water. We seemed to have found the only campsite that didn't drain.

Rather than sleep in a half-inch of water (with more storms on the way), we decamped to a hotel for the night!

A good source for information on hiking in the Red River Gorge, go to "to Red River Gorge.com".

Red River Gorge (Kentucky) - Gray's Arch

Tuesday, 30 July 2019

After a leisurely start to the day, we took a 4-mile loop that took us by Gray's Arch in the middle of the Geological Area.

Overhanging cliffs along the trail to Gray's Arch.

Bands of color in the cliffs, and two large trees with their root systems firmly embedded in the rocks.

The cliff right next to Gray's Arch.

Gray's Arch is large and substantial, but very difficult to photograph.

Interesting patterns in a sandstone boulder.

On our return to the parking lot along Rush Ridge Trail had several nice overlooks, but approaching thunderstorms made us keep up a steady pace.

Along the ridges, the trail looked as if it had been covered with sand. It is covered with sand, but only because repeated footfalls have cleared overlying organic matter from the trail and help crush the sandstone into sand.

We got back to our truck just as the rain started to get intense. For the rest of the day we dodged thunderstorms.

Red River Gorge (Kentucky) - Silvermine Arch

Monday, 29 July 2019

On our way from Pittsburgh to Chicago, we decided to take a short two-day camping detour to the Red River Gorge Geological Area in eastern Kentucky. The area is a complex system of small canyons with over 100 natural arches carved into the sandstone base.

The Red River Gorge is in the Daniel Boone National Forest, so it's actually difficult to see the geology through the thick forest. The photo above shows an overlook of the Silvermine Arch canyon. It would be much more photogenic from late fall through early spring, although the trails could be treacherous with a dusting of snow and/or ice.

Most of the trails use long staircases to traverse the steep cliffs. This one was 79 steps straight down (and straight up on the return).

The trails wind along 50 to 100 ft tall cliffs.

Silvermine Arch is not particularly tall!