Year In Review July

YEAR IN REVIEW (2013) JULY: High Above History. Thomas Jefferson, standing on a rock on the opposite shore of this photograph, today known as “Jefferson Rock,” said: “The passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes of nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes up the Shenandoah (left of this photograph), having ranged along the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Potomac (right of this photograph), in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction, they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea. The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion, that this earth has been created in time, that the mountains were formed first, that the rivers began to flow afterwards, that in this place particularly they have been dammed up by the Blue Ridge Mountains, and have formed an ocean which filled the whole valley; that continuing to rise they have at length broken over this spot, and have torn the mountain down from its summit to its base. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic. Yet here, as in the neighborhood of the Natural Bridge, are people who have passed their lives within half a dozen miles, and have never been to survey these monuments of a war between rivers and mountains, which must have shaken the earth itself to its center” [quote taken from the book, Blue Ridge: Ancient and Majestic p.65].

Certainly an amazing location, this is Maryland Heights, an overlook in the state of Maryland that views out to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia and Loudoun Heights, Virginia to the left from the vantage of a 300+ foot cliff as the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers converge below. This particular summer evening was oppressively hot and the hike up to Maryland Heights, although along a wide fire road, is a pretty unforgiving gainer of one foot in front of another up and up about 1600 feet. My father and his German Shepherd were along for the hike, and despite the natural exuberance of being outside in new environs, her tongue was hanging the ground and if thoughts were possible, she was likely wondering what in the heck we were doing out there! An extremely popular hike, by the time we reached the overlook about twenty or so people were milling around and enjoying the views. However, on the horizon was obvious rain, with dark clouds clearly dumping a beard of rain along the Shenandoah River in the near distance. Everyone took the bait and scattered like ants, hoping to descend the mountain before getting drenched with a summer thunderstorm. My father and I, however, decided to find an overhanging rock along the rugged front to ride out what we hoped would be a short rain—and rain it did. We sat, dry and happy, under a large overhanging rock as the rain blew in all directions as it whipped around and soaked the dry landscape with forgiving moisture. And then, just as the sun was setting, the storm moved on and revealed beautiful orange light and a full-rainbow to the east. I climbed atop a rock that was literally inscribed by a Civil War soldier, and instead of aiming a weapon or surveying the landscape below for enemies, I setup my camera and tried to capture the beauty that Thomas Jefferson felt from a nearby location not that long ago. Aside from the photograph, the experience with my father—although not the first time we’ve run for a cave during a thunderstorm—was certainly one of those primary experiences that I won’t soon forget and the very reason that landscape photography has been so fulfilling for me as a means of shared adventure and engagement.