Luray Caverns

According to a Luray Cavern brochure, this cave is the "largest and most popular in the East"  John and I were tempted to pass on seeing it, as we have toured quite a few caves over our lifetime. However, our son Dan seemed determined to go, and so we went just because most caverns have not failed to thrill us.  Luray Caverns were no different in their awe factor.  Seemed to me they were exactly as National Geographic once described them as "a fairy land in stone".
The caverns were discovered in 1878 by a tinsmith and local photographer.  Cold air rushing out of a limestone sinkhole atop a big hill blew out their candle.  They dug out the rock around the hole, took a rope and slid into a large cavernous room.  The cave is noted for such large rooms, because of that there are paved walkways easily traversed, no steep stairs which we are use to encountering in many caves.  In fact, a lady in our tour group managed well in her wheelchair.

Pictured above is Saracen's Tent, one of the most perfectly formed drapery structures in the world.  Just imagine making a grand entrance through that opening in the middle of those stalactites!

Above is the Wishing Well, a pond where people have tossed coins since 1954.  Once a year the coins are removed and deposited in a special bank account for various charitable organizations. In some of the other ponds in the cave there are beautiful reflections of the towering stone columns and shimmering crystalline stalactites hanging above.  It is very much a fairy land of delicate beauty!

In the cavern there is the world's largest musical instrument, the" Great Stalacpipe Organ".  It makes concert-quality music from the surrounding formations which cover more than 3 acres.  The day we were in the caverns there was no organist to play it, but our tour guide did turn on a recording of a hymn played on the instrument.  We were sure the real thing might have sounded better!
We drove back to D.C. that afternoon, and the next day John and I took a southerly route back home.  We wanted to take the scenic by-way along the New River in West Virginia.  It made our return trip a bit longer, but was well worth it!

Shenandoah National Park

What little time we had on our trip out east, John and I spent most of it in this park.  The national park has been know for its Skyline Drive, 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  According to the park brochure along this drive are 75 overlooks, offering many impressive views of the Shenandoah Valley.  We did not traverse by car the entire drive, but spent some time on it taking time to stop and enjoy the fantastic sights spread out below us.

In the view of the Shenandoah Valley above the two white splotches in the midst of the picture above
is mist arising from the valley.  On our second day the view over the valley was hazy with patches of mist arising from it.  Most of the trees were still green yet, and had not yet slipped into their fall colors.

 

On the first day in the park we were anxious to hike on one of its many trails, so we chose Stony Man.  Our trail guide described him as appearing to be "reclining on the slope of the Blue ridge, gazing over the Shenandoah Valley to the west".  It is the second highest peak in Shenandoah National Park.  Viewed from the north the mountain resembles the face of a bearded man.   Pictured below is our group at the summit of Stony Man, which gives you another view of the rocky peak of the  mountain.

The hike is  a 11/2 mile round trip, the path is well cleared but still strewn with small rocks.  On our walk down the mountain John just happened to look up and did not see a rock at his feet, falling flat on his face and breaking his glasses.  Once we cleaned up his scrapes, however, he was good to go- with no broken bones fortunately.

Except for that one mishap, we had a wonderful walk on Stony Man; with a park booklet in hand we were able to take notice of some of its more interesting features.  Pictured above is yellow birch that is determined to split a large slab of rock in two with its roots.  At one time oaks and chestnut trees were the primary trees in this forest.  About in the 1930s an Asian fungus decimated the American chestnut trees, now it is the oak which dominates the forest.  Also tall evergreens add to the forest canopy.  We did see some chestnuts, mostly as logs lying alongside our trail.  They do not decay and still can be found, serving as a host for various bugs and other small creatures.

There was a trail marker near the rocky site pictured above.  In the rocks seen along the trail is the presence of various minerals, old scattered copper mining sites can be found on Stony Man.  In the 1800s nuggets of  native copper were found on the forest floor.After our day on the mountain we still had some time the next day to visit Luray Caverns which are located in the Shenandoah Valley region.

A Trip East

John and I have had a busy fall season so far.  Two weeks ago we took a cabin at Meramec State Park, joining our daughter and her family who were tenting there.  This past week-end we took a road trip to Washington D.C. to visit our son Dan and his wife.  On highway 68, across the northern top of Maryland, we saw the brilliance of reds and yellows in the fall colors.  Seemed a bit early for them to appear, but we were driving in mountainous areas.

A day after arriving in D.C. we drove with our son Dan and Amanda to the Shenandoah Valley where we rented a cabin belonging to the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.  The first day we hiked around the immediate area and saw the usual remnants of old farm sites, which included low stone walls as well as home fireplaces.

Our cabin had an interesting feature, a bridge to nowhere in particular.  The family who built their vacation home here, in the 1970s,  liked the artist Monet.  The lady of the house had a bridge reconstructed in her yard, similar to the one found in some of Monet's paintings.

According to a journal in the cabin, written by past visitors to the home, a black bear had been spotted in the yard in July.  All we saw of wild life were some wild turkeys- our son and his wife did see a pileated woodpecker while sitting on the porch.  And we hear many birds chattering in the trees, that alone was quite pleasant during our stay!  One last picture here is that of Virginia Creeper, whose leaves are now turning red.