Spring Springs

I participate in a couple of online photo groups. One of them has a weekly theme, and this week’s theme is “Spring.” I couldn’t resist playing with the word, so I posted four pictures today of springs, the kind where water flows from the earth.

I took these pictures today at Orkney Springs, a beautiful place on the side of Great North Mountain. It’s been a resort since the horse and buggy days. Some of the springs are now channeled into pumps and protected by a roof. 

One of them comes out of a pipe set into a rock wall. It’s known as Chalybeate Springs or simply “the Orkney Spring.”  Chalybeate refers to water with a taste of iron, and the iron-rich water here turns the rocks brown.

This plaque includes a date of 1783, which I assume is when the spring was first written about. I don’t know when it was discovered because people of the Senedo tribe lived here long before. Although they didn’t leave written records, they left artifacts.

Most of the historic resort is now owned by the Episcopal Church and managed as a retreat center known as Shrinemont. 

Mosaic Monday

Ponds Drained for the Winter

At Chalybeate Spring, Orkney Springs, VA

We haven't passed the last-frost date yet, so these stone-lined ponds at Shrinemont lie dry. Apparently they were drained this winter so that ice wouldn't expand and break apart the masonry.

Left: Chalybeate Spring usually pours straight into a little pond but is now redirected through gutters into a creek.

See my post last winter showing this spring.

Big Doings this Weekend

• Friday, July 4: Bluegrass Festival at Shrinemont (Orkney Springs)
• Saturday, July 5: Brycefest 2008: Music, crafts, and more. Ending with fireworks! (Basye, VA)

For other events see Shenandoah.com/events/
And check out the Shenandoah Music Festival's Myspace page. Concerts begin July 18!

Lake Laura Dam to be Upgraded

The Lake Laura dam needs be upgraded to meet current Virginia standards, which are more stringent than they used to be.

Here's a couple of pictures of the dam that I took today. The first one shows the dam in the distance, and an old stone wall is in the foreground. I walked to the far right and up a hill to take the picture below, which shows the dam and its spillway, which flows into Stoney Creek.

News story about the dam

The dam is owned by the Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District. Bryce Resort uses the water of Lake Laura for snow-making in the winter and operates swimming and boating facilities on it in the summer. On the other side of the lake is a basic boat ramp managed by the state. That area can be reached from Orkney Springs using Happy Valley Road - see the Shrinemont map.

See also my previous posts for pictures of the swimming area and the boat ramp area.

Another View of the Pond at Shrinemont

Across the pond you see some of the old hotel buildings at Orkney Springs. They are now part of Shrine Mont.

I've posted other pictures of Orkney Springs and Shrine Mont, and you can see them by clicking the tag: Orkney Springs.

More pictures of Orkney Springs

The main street: Orkney Grade

I've read that there are seven springs in the area. Below is a close view of Chalybeate Spring, also called the Orkney Spring. Chalybeate is a term for iron-rich water. Note the rusty red color in the pool and on the rocks; that's iron.


I've posted other photographs of Orkney Springs which you can see by entering Orkney or Shrinemont in the Search Box at the top of the page or try clicking this.

Cross on the Mountain

At Shrinemont you can take a trail to the "Stations of the Cross" which winds up the ridge. There are periodic signs to tell the story of the crucification. I thought it would be an easy trail, a little lesson for Sunday schoolers, but it is actually quite steep and should not be attempted in your Sunday shoes. At the top is this huge wooden cross. And yes, there's a nice view.

There's a mystical website about the "Basye Vortex" and it has an interesting page on Orkney Springs.

Shrinemont

Shrinemont is a lovely little place at Orkney Springs. There's a little chapel that's partly open to the elements, an enchanting old amphitheatre, a fish pond with stone bridge... well, you should come see it. Come through town and turn left up the hill... it's a magical spot.

The photo above is altered in Photoshop. The image on the right was taken on a rainy day.

My sister visits

Peggy and her friend Bill visited us today. We had a nice time in spite of the rain. We had lunch at the 263 Diner and drove up to Orkney Springs. The rain had pretty much let up so we were able to visit Shrinemont.


We drove into the National Forest. Peg and I braved the rain to walk down to Tomahawk Pond.

Our last stop was Lake Laura. This time it was Bill who got our of the car and took a picture.

Sightseeing in the Shenandoah

We've been busy for the past week entertaining two sets of houseguests plus celebrating an anniversary. When Allison and Dave visited we took them to the Deauville Fallow Deer Farm (near Basye, Virginia) and the Silver Phoenix store (Native American crafts) near Mt. Jackson, plus we enjoyed a tasty lunch at Johnny Appleseed Restaurant in New Market. Then for our anniversary we visited Luray Caverns and car museum and had a yummy dinner at the Outback in Harrisonburg. Yesterday Bill and Mary arrived and we showed them the wonderful outdoor church at Shrinemont (Orkney Springs) and went to dinner at Coleman's in Bryce Resort. Today we took them shopping at the Dayton Farmer's Market and Harper's Lawn Ornaments near Harrisonburg.

I hear from Marie Javins that she has arrived safely in Kampala, Africa. She will be working on a book and finishing up some comic book coloring. (Have you seen her Wall of Cows?)

Meanwhile my own websites (including javins.com and walcroft.com) and not getting updated and I hope to get around to them soon. I'm planning to start another site and I'm looking at Virtual Avenue and Catalog.com to see which is the better host for what I need. I have used both in the past and they have been reliable.