A Skyline Drive Overlook

I've always enjoyed Skyline Drive! It runs along the crest of the Blue Ridge in Shenandoah National Park from Front Royal to Rockfish Gap where it connects to the also-beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway.

There are plenty of overlooks where you can pull off and take in the view.

Sometimes I miss the old CCC-built stone walls. They had a romantic naturalness to them, but for safety reasons they have been replaced with stronger walls made of concrete covered in a stone veneer.

Links:

• Skyline Drive Historic District (PDF)
• The CCC - FDR's Forest Army

On this blog: 

• Posts about Skyline Drive
• Posts about the FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps
• Blue Ridge Parkway

Eight Years of Blogging!

Wow, today marks my eight-year blogiversary! Thank you, Julie of City Daily Photo for noticing and reminding me!

 My first post was June 13, 2005. Since then I have posted 3,891 times!

A Tactical Mountain Pass — Thornton Gap

Thornton Gap is one of the lower points on crest of the Blue Ridge within Shenandoah National Park. Route 211 winds up the mountain and passes through this gap, and you can enter Skyline Drive here if you pay a fee or have a National Parks Pass.

The Panorama wayside is at the top of the pass. Here I found a Civil War Trails sign entitled Thornton Gap, Tactical Mountain Pass. It begins with this:

During the Civil War, this gap in the Blue Ridge was of significant tactical importance for the movement of troops, artillery and supply wagons. The Thornton's Gap Turnpike, a macadamized (hard-surfaced) turnpike passed through the gap and linked Luray in the Shenandoah Valley and Culpeper Court House in the central Piedmont. The Sperryville and Rappahannock Turnpike ran from Warrenton to a junction with the Thornton's Gap Turnpike at Sperryville.

The officers pictured are General Adolph von Steinwehr (U.S.A.) and General Richard S. Ewell (C.S.A.). Click on the image to see a larger version.

A Page Valley Scene

Page Valley is in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I took this snapshot from the flea market on Route 340.

Spathiphyllum

Peace Lily

I've had this peace lily for well over a decade. It's a tropical plant that adapts well to living indoors. Every few years I put it in a larger pot and it just keeps growing.

Springtime Goslings

I take so many pictures; I don't get around to posting many of them. Here are some from April of the little Canada Geese in our yard. I did post some gosling pictures that I took right before that, but these are too cute to leave out.
I zoomed in to get these pictures. The parents hover close to the babies and lead them away if you try to approach them. Goose parents are very protective and the little ones respond by behaving very well.

The Goslings Are Growing

The baby geese on our lake grew quickly are are starting to look like their parents. See how they have white bands around their chins like adult Canada Geese.

Recently I discovered that what I thought was one family with six goslings was actually two different families with a total of twelve goslings. And then I saw something even more exciting: a third couple has new babies! Wow, we are going to be overpopulated with geese this year!

Here we see the new family with one of the older families floating along behind them.

A Glimpse of a Garden

This manor home is Belle Grove in Middletown, which I have photographed before. Here we see a portion of the garden and the rear portico, which looks just like the front portico. The house was built in the 18th century of local limestone. Link: BelleGrove.org

Henry Newcomer, Tory

I received a packet of visitor information from Hagerstown, Maryland. Some of my ancestors once lived there and I'm planning to visit to look around. I saw that there is a house on Antietam Battlefield called the Newcomer House, which piqued my interest because one of my ancestors is named Barbara Newcomer. It turns out that the house was owned by her cousin at the time of the Civil War.

I went back to a long document that I linked to in a previous post and found details about Henry Newcomer's role as a British sympathizer during the American Revolution. Here are excerpts from the 1781 Deposition of Christian Orendorff:

About a Fortnit ago Henry Newcomer of Washington County came to him in Shaftsburg and called him out of his Father's House and asked what he thought of these Times, answered the Times were very bad & precarious--he then asked if he thought the King would over-come this Country answered he thought he might. I'm sure he will overcome the Country and Orendorff if you will keep it a secret I lead you into a Matter of great Importance--answered he would he said we have raised a Body of Men for the Service of the King and we thought proper to make appln to you to go to N York for a Fleet, asked how many Men they had raised he said upwards of 6000--asked who was the Commanding officer of the Party, answered one Fritchy of Fred. Town a Dutch Man dont know his Christian Name--ordered Orndorf to go to his House and he would shew him the Man...

Well, it's a little embarrassing that an ancestor was a loyalist, but I also have several ancestors who fought on the winning side of the Revolutionary War. My great-grandmother and her daughter documented these and joined the D.A.R.

Henry Newcomer's daughter Barbara (1774-1837) was my great-great-great-grandmother. I found further information on the Newcomer Geneaology site which links Henry to the Newcomer House in Antietam:

In June of 1781 Henry was arrested for participating in a loyalist plot in Frederick County, Maryland. The plot sought to recruit loyalist soldiers for the British Army. He was sentenced to one year in prison. The officer who charged Henry was Captain Christopher Orendorff. A Christopher Orendorff, likely the same one, sold his home in Sharpsburg to Henry's grandson, Joshua Newcomer.

Wow! Thank goodness for the internet! I'm not a well-organized genealogist but I do love these anecdotes! I've also been thrilled to hear from distant cousins who see my posts and add fascinating details.

Postscript: According to the book Antietam Farmsteads, Orndorff's son Christopher built the present-day house. The family sold it in 1796 to Jacob Mumma. Eventually Mumma family members sold it in 1860. Records show that in 1862 it was owned by Joshua Newcomer, who operated a nearby mill at the time of the Battle of Antietam. (Yes, Orndorff is spelled various different ways in the records, which was not unusual at that time.)

It's Hurricane Season

Here in Virginia it is officially hurricane season from June 1st to November 30. Since storms seem to causing more damage than they used to (partly due to density in populations and partly due to climate change — yes, I said it!), we need to stay prepared.

Flooding on the South Fork 

The first rule our state is stressing is to have food, water, medications and other essentials on hand to last your family for three to five days. Also, seek shelter, and stay away from flood waters and other hazards.

Even if you don't live in a hurricane-prone area, consider the emergencies that could happen in your area. Tornados, wildfires, earthquakes, floods, and long-lasting power outages can happen suddenly.  Keep your emergency supplies up to date and discuss safety plans with your family.

Read: Ready.gov (from FEMA)

Just Before Sunset

A few weeks ago I got my Coolpix P510 back from Nikon's Repair Department. The autofocus is still unreliable but at least it's working a higher percentage of the time. Not as well as the one on my old Coolpix though,  so I'm trying to decide whether I need to insist on a second repair.

I took it out by the lake and got some surprisingly good shots. Here I'm shooting into the late-day sun but I was standing in the shade of a tree. That way the sun doesn't shine directly into the lens (or in my eyes).

By the way, manual focus works reliably but is difficult to use because you have to set it on a certain mode, press a couple of buttons, and then squint at the screen while you manipulate a tiny little gauge in the display.

Goose in Golden Light, At Shenandoah River Lakes

Visit Skywatch to see skies that other bloggers are seeing!

A Friend for Concorde

Frank gave the name Concorde to the black long-necked bird who hangs out by the lake. He looked lonely for a long time so I am glad to see that he found a friend.

Can you identify these birds for me? I think they are ducks of some sort.

Meadow Spring — A Backstory

I've been posting photos taken along the Meadow Spring Trail since May 31st but there's a reason why I wanted to go to this trail on Memorial Day Weekend. Not too many years ago I hiked this trail with my sister and my daughter Marie and we were on a mission to scatter the ashes of my parents from Mary's Rock. Years ago my mother had expressed this as a wish and although in her old age she seemed to have forgotten, it seemed appropriate. Both of my parents loved the mountains and went to Shenandoah National Park many times.

Of course, you need a permit to scatter cremains in a national park, but I had done the paperwork and we had our permit in hand. It was a beautiful day when we made the hike, and it was just strenuous enough to give us a feeling of accomplishment.

I'm older now and my husband is a couple years older than I am, so we did not attempt to hike to the summit. Instead my goal was to hike to the old chimney and back. We actually made it a little farther than that and probably could have made the summit but it would have required several rest stops. This is a steep trail!

The parking lot for the trail is bigger than it used to be. It's south of Mary's Rock Tunnel and can be seen at the top of the map for the central section of Skyline Drive.

The trail up the mountain is across the road from the parking area and a few yards south.

On Skyline Drive, Elevation 2840

Walking Sticks

Although hiking up a mountain is more strenuous than hiking back down, the downhill stretch can be more hazardous. It's easy to twist an ankle or stumble going downhill, especially on a rough or rocky trail.

Frank broke off some branches from a downed tree and fashioned crude but serviceable walking sticks for us.

When we reached the bottom of the trail near Skyline Drive, he left them leaning on a tree for other hikers to use.

Is that a Rhino in the Trail?

No, we don't have rhinoceroses in Shenandoah National Park!

Part of an uprooted tree stuck out over Meadow Spring Trail and to me it looked like the head of a rhino. I walked past it and checked it out from the other side. Hmm, it still looks like an animal of some sort, perhaps a wild boar.

Wild Azalea in Shenandoah

Three weeks ago I posted a picture of wild azalea blossoms we saw along a trail in Elizabeth Furnace. Here are some along Meadow Spring Trail in Shenandoah National Park.

It's National Trails Day

Here are some more pictures of Meadow Spring Trail in Shenandoah National Park. This trail is one of the routes to reach scenic Mary's Rock.

We hiked part of the trail on Memorial Day weekend. It was a beautiful day but the trail was not very busy.

Link: National Trails Day in Virginia

The Chimney at Meadow Spring

Last weekend we hiked up to the old chimney on the Meadow Spring Trail. It's only about a half mile from the parking area but it's a steep half mile! After pausing there we continued up the trail a little farther but not all the way to Mary's Rock.

A description on the Waymarking site tells us that a cabin was built here in 1930 for members of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club to use as a base camp while laying out trails in the area. In 1939, a larger version of the cabin was built by the National Park Service.

"The new cabin burned down to the ground on Thanksgiving Day, 1946, leaving the stone foundation and chimney. The hikers who had the cabin claimed to have left it, with all fires out, just ten minutes before a column of smoke was spotted from a lookout tower."

Links: Hiking in Shenandoah National Park

City Daily Photo Theme: The Beauty of Decay

Six cents to go...

I'm a member of the Amazon Associates Program, which means I get a small credit whenever you buy something from Amazon through my website. Unfortunately, the profits have been really meager! Over the last 18 months my account has been credit with $9.94 (USD). That's pretty sad! But another six cents in commission and they will send me a gift certificate for ten bucks. Sigh!

And for that I have to keep a disclaimer on my website so readers know I might get something when I mention a book or other item that you can buy at Amazon. Do you think I should drop out of the program? This is a personal blog, not something that's designed to earn money.

In the meantime, here's a link to shopping for Father's Day:  Shop Amazon - Father's Day Shop. (You can also use it to buy other stuff.)

Evening View with Sunbow

The sun was low in the sky on the right but a bit of it's light was refracted in a strip of cloud (or perhaps a contrail) above the trees. I was busy watering some plants but I went back inside and brought out my camera to record this for a skywatch photo.

Near Strasburg, VA