This was the first day we looked for places in the original Preserving a Picturesque America book. First we looked for Witch’s Rocks, these enormous rock formations jutting right out of a hillside. We knew the general location but when we were driving around we spotted them surprisingly fast. Just rolling hills, and then these stones tall as buildings.
We wanted to get a closer look, but we were unsure if we were allowed to go up the hill. So we went to a nearby cafe called the Kozy Cafe. We asked the nice people working there about Witch’s Rocks, and they told us it was OK to explore.
We decided to go there at the end of the day, and look for other places in the meantime. Next, we went to Devil’s Slide. Devil’s Slide is another rock formation, but this had two parallel slabs of rock going straight down the hillside. I saw how it may have looked like a slide, but that would be one big fall for anyone of normal size. Some pines had grown in the “slide” and made us see how enormous it was. We realized nobody was paying attention to it because it had a highway right in front of it. Maybe it could be made into one of those free roadside attractions, that people could just stop by, with a marker and a pull off like on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Unfortunately, across the highway there was mining that was destroying the mountain. Its amazing how on one side of the road was a wonderful piece of natures beauty, and on the other, we were tearing apart a mountain. A mountain that will never grow back.
We continued down the road and ate at Taggart’s Grill. We passed through Devil’s Gate (our next location) without even knowing. It had been almost completely destroyed to build the road we were driving on. They had blasted part of the mountain away to make room for the four lane highway we were driving on. We soon realized this and tried to get the view from the book, but after fences, the busy road, and the polluted, raging river, we were unable to get to the view. We realized that it was no longer a truly picturesque place, spoiled by the cars, the trash in the river’s waters, and the mountain’s scars. It was our first loss in PAPA, and made us realize that not all of the places we will come to see will be well preserved. On our way back to Witch’s Rocks we tried to get a more up-close view of Devils Gate, but the river was wide and we wanted to get to Witch’s Rocks before dark. We walked up to the Witch’s and realized how large they were!
Can you spot us Underneath it?
And when we got even closer, we saw that they were made out of many smaller river rocks! In-between the river rocks was just compacted sand. The rocks would fall out easily if you touched them.
Grayson and I named all the rock figures after what we thought they looked like. When we compared them to the original engravings, we saw that they had eroded a lot. The sun began to fall behind the hill and streaks of yellow and orange lit the sky. The dark soon followed, so we headed back to the hotel to get a good nights rest.
Elias Varn
