Barn Rock Barn - Mendota, Va

Is the barn eating the rock?
Is the rock eating the barn?

This is the famous Barn Rock Barn located in the Pine Grove community near Mendota. I do like me some barns and this one is pretty cool as barns go. From what I can gather, in the 1940s Frank Osborne "wanted to show how Southwest Virginia's outcrops could be creatively used when he built the barn with a 12 ft high rock for a wall."

I'm sure it sounded like a good idea at the time.
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Directions: From US-11 in Abingdon, follow US-19 northwest for 7.5 miles. Turn left on Va-802 (Mendota Rd) and travel westbound for 11.8 miles. Turn left on Va-621 (Barnrock Rd) and travel 0.3 miles, keep left on Va-614 when the road splits. The barn is about 100 yds ahead, on the right, just past Pine Grove Baptist Church.

Lower Higgins Creek Falls

It was mid-afternoon when I decided to make a quick scouting trip to see Lower Higgins Creek Falls in Unicoi Co.. I was hoping to see some falls colors still hanging around and maybe some decent reflections in the pools, the results were so-so on both counts.

The hike was quite taxing, no doubt because I hadn't been doing much actual hiking lately, and the elevation gain was more than I expected. But after getting to the parking area and saw the terrain I knew I was in for an ordeal. The total one-way distance is about 8/10ths of a mile; the first 6/10ths are about what you expect for an east tennessee waterfall trail, but the final 2/10ths will get your heart pumping and your legs burning. The total elevation gain is only 850 feet, but that's made in less than a mile, and the lion share of that in the last 2/10ths of a mile.

The rickety bridge that crosses the creek from the parking area to the trail didn't make a good first impression, and the squishy wet trail for the next 50 ft didn't help either, but after that initially weak start, the trail turned into a standard east tennessee waterfall trail. Like most other waterfall trails in our area, this trail is an old logging road that generally follows the creek as it climbs up a ravine toward the top of the mountain. The creek itself is replete (how's that for a $10 word) with small falls and cascades that are quite photogenic themselves, but time was getting away and I wanted to get to the main attraction.

After huffing and puffing my way to the falls, I was met with an incredibly steep 100 foot descent over rocks, roots and vines down to the base of the falls. You have to go down there because that's the only place you can get any unobstructed views of the falls. I snapped away for about 30 minutes at the edge of the plunge pool which is behind some large moss-covered logs. The fall itself is about 100 ft high and has three distinct tiers, only one of which is visible from the bottom.

So after climbing back up the cliff to the trail I followed the trail on up the mountain to see the two upper tiers. the middle tier is obscured by rhododendron but I made it down to the upper tier. And that's where I snapped this long exposure shot in which the leaves made some swirlies! I like swirlies. It was getting dark so they are not especially good swirlies, but they are definitely there.

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Directions: Take I-26E to the Temple Hill exit #43 just south of Erwin. Go left at the end of the ramp then turn right onto the old Asheville Highway (19/23). Travel 3/4 mile and turn right onto Lower Higgins Creek Road. Drive 1.5 miles until you reach a dead end whenr you can park.

Big Tumbling Creek

While on a recent trip with the family to see Laurel Bed Lake I took these two pictures of some fall colors reflecting in pools along the Big Tumbling Creek. The blue-bird skies and bright sunlight made the day totally wrong for waterfall pictures, so I was specifically looking for colors reflecting in the pools and the base of the falls.

On the way up to the lake we realized that we had missed the peak fall colors by about two weeks, so the pickings were pretty slim, but the reflections in these two pools were pretty special. The top left picture stood out because of the bright yellow-orange maple tree background, but the bare tree trunks in the foreground make the picture for me.

I think this next picture is one the best I've taken in quite a while. I really like the abstract nature of it, there's a lot of nearly hidden color, and the shimmering water adds some movement.

I'm definitely feeling this one, it might be my favorite.
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Laurel Bed Lake - Russell Co Va

I took my herd o' womens on a ride up to Laurel Bed Lake on the top of Clinch Mountain in Russell Co Va. I spent a lot of time during my teenage years hunting on that mountain and fishing in Tumbling Creek. Laurel Bed Lake is a man-made 330-acre lake that was created by damming up Big Tumbling Creek. It's literally on the top of Clinch mountain at around 3600 feet. The lake was created back in the early 60's to help provide sufficient water flow in Big tumbling Creek because it was a fee fishing trout stream.

The last time I was up there was almost 30 years ago, so I was surprised to see as much development along the road as we started up the mountain. But that only lasted a mile or so then it was road I remembered, following the creek up the mountain across the one-lane bridges and working up hill through a series of tight switchbacks.

As we made our way toward the lake I entertained the girls with storys of how I mis-spent so much of my youth walking around on that mountain with a gun and a fishing rod. Like the time I drove from the lake back to the the main road in the dark, in a truck where the headlights didn't work 'cause the alternator went out on the way up the mountain. A sharp guy would have turned around and went home while it was daylight, but I wasn't as sharp then as I is now.

Anyway, here's a picture of Emily sitting on a chair-shaped rock in the last of the three parking areas.

Great Channels Natural Area Preserve - The View

In addition to the geologic coolness of the rocks at the top of the Great Channels Natural Area Preserve, there is an insanely nice view of southwest Virginia. Since you are mostly above the tree canopy there is almost an unobstructed 360 degree view.

If a person was able to climb up the fire tower about two sections of steps, you'definitely have a clear view all around - but the fire tower has a sign that warns folk not to climb - so I can't in good conscience advise you to do this. I've not been anywhere in this area that affords such an unobstructed view of the valleys and surrounding mountain ranges. I'd be willing to bet that on a clear day you could see 50 miles.

The top picture was take facing due south. The sun was low in the west, it was quite hazy over the mountains, and I had forgotten to reinstall my polarizer afore I took this picture, so I dinked with the picture a bit trying to bring out some of the detail.

The bottom picture was taken facing north-east. That direction was not as badly hazed over as the southern exposure, so it needed a bit less post-processing.

I'll definitely be making a trip back in early winter when the sky's clear and the haze is gone. It'll be spectacular.

Great Channels Natural Area Preserve

I made an impromptu trip to the Channels Natural Area Preserve in Russell Co. Va. It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and the trees were displaying some great color.

The hike is about 6.2 miles roundtrip, with almost all of it on a gravel forest service road. The first mile or so is pretty easy, the last 2+ miles is a consistent climb, where most of the 1000 feet gain in altitude is made.

The first thing you see when you get there are the remnants of a small house and the fire tower pictured below. Walking past the firetower leads to a small trail through the rhododendron and down into the channels.

It's like nothing I've seen in this area before. The walls are 15 to 30 feet high, made of sandstone that's been grooved and pitted. The walls have been carved into huge boulders that have toppled over making a ceiling over the pathways. My description doesn't do this place justice, you really just need to go see it for yourself.

Cool Stuff to See Around Little Rock

The first picture was taken while I was standing between the index finger and middle finger of Six Fingers Falls because there wasn't any water running between the other fingers.

The top right picture is of Falling Water Waterfall - sounds like it was named the Deptartment of Redundancy Department. The color of the water is interestingly odd, and there is no obvious out-flow of water from the plunge pool, the water must be leaking out between the rocks or into a cavern.

And the bottom right picture is the official Pedestal Rock located in the Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area, in north central Arkansas.








The next three pictures were taken at the air show in Little Rock, nose art from an a-10 warthog from the 'flying razorbacks'. The next two are of the USAF Thunderbirds - they rocked, at the Rock.

Devil's Bathtub

It was the first really cold wet day of fall which meant that I finally had an opportunity to make a scouting trip to the Devil's Bathtub. I was waiting for a cold day to go because of the stories I'd heard about the snake population in the area. I figured if I went on a cold day I could out-maneuver any ninja-death-killer-attack snakes I might run across. And after having made the trip I can confirm that this is some of the snake-i-est looking terrain I've ever hiked through. There's no way I would ever venture into that part of the country during snake season, uh-uh, no way.

The devil's bathtub is located in Scott Co. Virginia, along the Devil's Fork trail. The trail follows Devil's Fork creek (duh), which is very fortunate considering the generally poor condition of the trail - but more on that later.

The trail starts at the top of the wooden stairs (yep, stairs) at the parking area. It proceeds downhill about 1/4 mile to the first of a dozen creek crossings. A hundred or so feet past the creek, the trail splits - there are several trees with yellow blazes here - you want to take the trail going left. After 50 ft the trail will split - start looking to the right to pick up the trail - I'm not sure if you can see any yellow blazes marking the trail through the woods. From here the trail generally follows the creek, crisscrossing it numerous times over the the next 1 1/2 miles.

The creek itself is made completely of sandstone rocks of every size from baseballs to refrigerators. What makes it so odd looking is the total lack of moss or grass or weeds or greenery of any kind on the sandstone rocks, they are all completely clean. There has been some obvious flooding because the creek is also littered with huge piles of trees and brush, some so large that they completely block the creek. And this is why I assume they grow all the snakes here - miles of clean standstone creek bottom - which makes millions of holes and pockets - and all of it covered in flood-washed debris.

Once you traverse the 1 1/2 miles of a rather average looking trail through hemlock and rhododendron, you'll reach the part of the creek that created the bathtub. This section of the mountain looks nothing like any of the terrain you've passed through to this point. It's a canyon carved out of sandstone by years of erosion. The trail itself comes out above the bathtub; the picture above is your first view of the bathtub and it's surroundings. Awesome!

Check out the color of the water and the bottom and sides of the bathtub! It looks a bit fake in the picture and it's not exactly the right color (a bit too green), but it's pretty close. I'm not sure what rocks are making that bluish-green, almost teal color. The weather was cloudy all day and it was raining off and on the whole time I was there, so the color did not come from a reflection of the sky. The water itself is almost perfectly clear. Notice that tree limb on the left, it's about 10 ft long and I could not touch the bottom of bathtub with it - yes I tried it, and yes, the water is frigid!

Lest you think the color of the pool is a product of post-processing, a couple of hundred feet downstream is another large pool that is the same bluish-green color. The water is so perfectly clear that you get a distorted perception of the depth. This pool is about 8 feet deep at it's deepest point, which is in that cut in the rocks at the base of the cascade where the water pours into the pool.

While overcast weather is absolutely the best for taking waterfall pictures, this isn't classic waterfall picturetaking. This place begs for days with clear blue skies overhead and bright fall colors. I'm definitely going to make a trip back up there later this fall, once there's some colored leaves on the ground; it'll be amazing. And I hear there's a 50 foot waterfall just a bit further upstream ... a sweet bonus.

Directions: Take US Hwy. 23/US Hwy. 58/US Hwy. 421 toward Gate City. In Gate City, continue going straight as the road becomes East Jackson Street and, ultimately, VA Route 71. Head east on Route 71 for a little over a mile. From here, take VA Route 72 to the left toward Fort Blackmore. Shortly after VA Route 65 and VA Route 72 merge, turn left onto VA Route 619.

Once on Route 619/653 for about 3 1/2 miles, the road splits, follow 619 to the right, travel about 1 mile more and look for the Devils Fork sign. Route 619 takes a sharp left and becomes Forest Road 619 (there is no street sign). Travel over the one-lane bridge and turn left just before the abandoned white house with a chain link fence. Follow this unmarked dirt road to the end, where you will find parking for the trail. The road to the parking lot is very rutted and may not be accessible by all vehicles, high clearance and 4wd is recommended. You cannot park along the road and walk because the property on both sides of the road is posted, you must get to the parking area at the end of the road.