I’m fairly unfamiliar with the natural beauty of the East coast. I simply haven’t spent enough time in that area to familiarize myself with much of it. So I didn’t really have a ton of expectations when a few of us decided to make a day trip out to Shenandoah Park. As per my habit, I looked at the area maps ahead of time to get a feel for what was there and what to do.
Before we got too invested in the park itself, we spotted some advertisements for cavern tours once we got close to the park. Since some of my companions had never been through a proper cave, it seemed like the natural thing to stop for. So, we took a tour of the Skyline Caverns, which had some pretty spectacular formations. The caves I have been through previously were formed by lava tubes and other geological activity, whereas this one appeared to be formed from water flow over vast amounts of time, leaving quite a different set of formations than ones I had seen before.
Our guided tour introduced us to the usual stalactites and stalagmites, the columns that eventually form, flowstone, and other underground features; shallow ponds and lakes, that were perfectly calm and still, entirely
Further in the caverns are some very rare formations of pure calcite crystals called anthodites. These were created over many years in a natural vacuum that formed in parts of the cave, which aided in the creation of these remarkable crystal formations. There are only a handful of formations like these in the world, and there was evidence that people had previously tried to take samples of it with them on their visits to the cave. Now the area that these crystals occupy protected by state laws and various physical protections on site. It’s unfortunate that this is necessary, it does not seem like a high moral bar to leave a place of natural beauty in the same condition that you found it in, so that others may enjoy it.
One other thing of note about the Skyline Caverns is the rare (and presumably extinct) cave beetle that was discovered there. As the story goes, the expedition responsible for the discovery found specimens of cave beetle when surveying the cave, and removed them for study. These specimens died, and on many return visits over the years, the living specimens have not been rediscovered. Some think them to now be extinct. Perhaps it will serve as a reminder of just how fragile ecosystems can be, and how our presence and activities can affect them.
Onward to Shenandoah park proper. Apparently Skyline drive is the signature drive of the park, which is heavily trafficked during the summer months when the greenery is in full bloom. It’s one of those long, windy, scenic roads that car commercials would feature to evoke an emotion about their product, rather than actually telling you anything about it. The vistas from the top of the ridge that the road runs along are spectacular out to the valleys on both sides.
Paying the park entrance fee and starting the initial climb up onto the ridge in our rental vehicle rewarded us with several grand vistas and other viewpoints. We stopped for photo opportunities at many of them, but the exposure to the cold and windy (albeit clear) weather soon quelled us of our desire to exit the vehicle.
At one point at large plateau, we made a rest stop at the visitor center and were treated to a meadow with a herd of deer grazing through it. It was a pretty spectacular sight to see, and quite different from the other views we had been treated to that day.
As I drove through the area I could help but also think about how it compares to the scenery and geology back home. The highest point of the drive we took was just over 4000 feet in elevation. In the corner of the Pacific Northwest that I’m from, that’s still lower than our mountain passes – you know, the low saddles in the mountains where we build highways through to facilitate movement through the mountain ranges. The surrounding mountains are also an order of magnitude taller. So it this excursion really amplified the difference in geological age difference of the coastal regions on each side of the continent.
Mulling these and other thoughts over, the senice road provided a great opportunity to relax and reflect. All in all, while the drive was generally enjoyable and sightlines were improved by the lack of foliage on the winter drive, we all were loudly wondering just how much more gorgeous the park would look in the spring, summer, or fall. Maybe I’ll have to return and find out.