 |
| Mountain streams are always magical |
I've been hiking in Virginia for four years. I thought I have seen all the great waterfalls this state has to offer. Boy am I dead wrong! For any waterfall lover out there, Kevin Adams's book Waterfalls of Virginia and West Virginia should be a must have. He includes a first hand account about visiting a lot of the waterfalls in the area. I noticed that he seems to be a little harsh on the VA waterfalls. Especially his 6/10 rating for Roaring Run Falls. His description of the falls lacked any kind of motivation for seeing the falls. Why should I drive out an hour and half to see a 'meh' waterfall, when just an hour away, I have a perfect "10" waterfall in Crabtree Falls? Well, considering I've seen Crabtree many times, and the weather was on and off ice/rain storms all day, I just felt I needed to see something different. Roaring Run just seemed to fit the bill. My hope is that after reading this, you will actual want to go visit this area. Not just for the waterfalls, but for everything this short little gem of hike has to offer! The cliffs, the views, the history, the surrounding area, all good things. So, let's get on with the adventure!
 |
| There's usually a big mountain in this view |
Roaring Run is just outside of Eagle Rock, VA. For those of you into geography know that Eagle Rock is west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, while Lynchburg is east. The best route for me was to cross the Blue Ridge was on Route 43 near the Peaks of Otter. In fact, I stopped by the peaks to take some pics. Now, while driving towards the mountains, there was maybe a slight drizzle. But, as soon as I got to the peaks, the weather turned sour. The snow got so bad, I could hardly see any of the terrain. Oh well, back to my pick-up and off to Roaring Run!
Made it to Roaring Run! Saw some beautiful streams right away. With an overcast sky above me I figured today was gonna be a great day for some waterfall photography. And, about as soon as I made that assumption, the sun started to break through. Haha, just my luck. So, without any hesitation I hoofed it to the waterfall, almost an all sprint. I was racing the sun. Trying to get to the major falls before the sun does. Oh man, so many great photo opportunities I passed up to make it the falls. But my effort was worth it. And, Wow! Boy, was this waterfall spectacular. Adams places the waterfalls at 35 ft, but to me the looked about 40 to 50 ft tall. I had to wait maybe a couple minutes for the sun to go behind some clouds in order to take the photo.
Well, about a half hour past since I got to the falls, the sun fully came out and started warming up the place. I realized that there wouldn't be very many good mountain stream photos like I hoped, but that I should just enjoy this hike. Which I did. For such a short 1.5 mile loop, this trail offered so much more, then some of the bigger longer hikes I've been on before. The rock formations were just awesome to look at, and some just boggled my mind. I love watching nature in action. Just seeing the icy waters run down this narrow canyon, allows me to imagine how such a simple substance as water, is powerful enough to carve through these canyon walls. For millions of years, these rocks have stood here. Countless wars, countless inhabitants, countless climate shifts, countless natural disasters, these rocks have stood here. There only enemy is water and time. Year by year, micrometer by micrometer, these rocks have slowly unveiled themselves to us. Their secretes, their stories are finally able to be told. Even if the three to four hours I spent here with these rocks will stay with me the rest of my life. My presence in this area was as short and pointless as a mere spec of dust gently landing on my hand.
And, that would be a great way to end this blog post, but as the great Ron Popeil said, "But wait, there's more!" Continuing on with the loop, I came across an old beautiful iron furnace. The furnace was immense. They said it took over 1 acre of timber a day to run the iron furnace. If you do go there, be sure to look for some 'slag' lying around the area. The 'slag' is a glass like by-product from making iron.
Let's continue on. The trail seemed to gain elevation until it reached a nice little overlook. There was a great view of Iron Ore and Shoemaker Knob. When I reached the view, it looked like the clouds were starting to roll back in. So I figured I'd head back to all those nice stream shots I saw earlier on my hike, and take some photos. And they turned out quite nice.
 |
| Them clouds be rollin in! |
Well, looks like my time here at Roaring Run was done. I came here not expecting much, and left here with knowing my place in the Cosmos. But, like most of my hikes, my adventure wasn't over quite yet. I still had to get back over the Blue Ridge, back to Lynchburg. With the recent ice storms that came in earlier in the day and the sun now fully out. I was in for quite a surprise when I reached the Blue Ridge Parkway. I know I always leave you guys with a final photo highlighting my adventure, but this time I'm leaving you with two. These two photos were take on the BRP at that time, and these two photos are why I am so happy and proud to be part of this great state. I know I was born and raised in western PA, but I love telling people I live in Virginia. Enjoy and see you next hike!
 |
| Life doesn't get any better than this |
 |
| Oh wait, I guess it can ;) |
