Shenandoah Valley & NP

   Today we drove along the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. This drive is one section of a long drive which also includes the Blue Ridge Parkway from previous blog entries, and offers breathtaking views at every turn. I can imagine that it is strikingly beautiful in the fall, with the changing of the foliage. Now, many trees are just beginning to come out, so there is a lot of browns and greens along all of the mountainsides.

    The view from the visitor’s center just four miles into the park. 

    Looking into the Shenandoah valley. The river itself is barely visible at the middle left part of the picture. The clouds were floating by and the mountain flowers were in bloom and it was a spectacular drive. 

    These dainty flowers were part of the ground cover that spread out all along the side of the mountains. 

    We took a short 1.6 mile hike and along the way we came across this unique feature. The tree had grown from within the split rock! 

    Part of the trail crossed the Appalachian Trail and was the highest point of the entire Appalachian trail. 

    Here we are at the end of the trail at the “forehead” of Stony Man Mountain. 

    Another view on Stony Man. Note the road on the ridge at the center of the picture. There is a turn out there.

    This is the view from the turnout. Using your imagination, you can see the forehead and face of Stony Man. 

    Here is the one tunnel we came across on the drive. This tunnel goes through 600 feet of solid granite. Twice a day, workers drilled 40 holes each 12 feet deep. they packed them with 500 pounds of dynamite and blasted. Each day they cleared around 15 feet. In January 1932, they cleared the tunnel and traffic started to pass through. Initially, they had problems with water seepage and rocks would fall from within the tunnel. At one point in the winter, an ice “stalagtite” reached from the ceiling to the road below! The solution was to line the tunnel with concrete and thus it stands today.