Grand Canyon of the South EarthCache
Grand Canyon of the South
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Called the "Grand Canyon of the South", the Breaks Interstate Park
is a scenic mountain paradise. The canyon has more than 15 miles of
hiking trails. The park sports a campground, lodge, restaurant,
gift shop, museum, guided tours, ampitheater, and more!
According to a sign near the overlook, it was about 200-250 million
years ago that the area was covered by a vast inland sea which
caused layers of sediment (mud and sand) to be formed and hardened.
Later, forces under the surface pushed these layers upward forming
parallel ridges.
Although erosion wore these ridges flat, a second upheaval created
the present height and appearance of the land. The wearing away is
a continuous process that can be seen as the Russell Fork of the
Big Sandy River keeps cutting through the rock to deepen the canyon
even more.
Perhaps the scale of the 5-mile-long, .25-mile-deep gorge that
forms the park's centerpiece cannot rival that of the Grand Canyon,
but the canyon is among the longest and deepest east of the
Mississippi River. A better title might be "The Grand Canyon with
Clothes On." Where the raging Russell Fork of the Big Sandy River
has carved the solid rock over millions of years to break through
the mountain, nature has dressed the canyon walls in some of
Virginia's most spectacular scenery.
Remote and formerly inaccessible, the area now known as Breaks
Interstate Park was virtually undiscovered by the traveling public
until after World War II, when two-lane roads were built into the
coal-rich mountains. Black seams of coal are visible still in the
roadside cliffs throughout the area.
John Fox Jr., author of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, traveled
three days in 1900 in a horse-drawn buckboard to reach The Breaks
from Big Stone Gap, 70 miles distant. His subsequent article in
Scribner's magazine caused a flurry of interest in what he called
"the most isolated spot this side of the Rockies."
Daniel Boone is credited with discovering The Breaks in 1767 as he
attempted to find ever-improved trails into Kentucky and the Ohio
River Valley beyond. Passes through these rugged mountains were
called "breaks" by early settlers. The Breaks was one of only a
handful of narrow passageways through the 125-mile-long mountain.
Even today, no more than half a dozen roads cross the mountain.
Dickenson County, where The Breaks is located, is one of the few
counties in Virginia that does not have a U.S. highway within its
borders.
The Breaks was too much for Boone and his two companions. When they
tried to navigate this awesome gorge by foot, they encountered
copperheads and rattlesnakes, as well as the Russell Fork of the
Big Sandy River as it crashed through a constricted canyon with
1,000-foot sheer walls. They were overwhelmed by impenetrable
tangles of rhododendron and mountain laurel and a forest of
towering trees, some of which were 7 feet thick. The three men
pitched camp nearby, sat out the winter of 1768, then turned back
to their homes on North Carolina's more peaceful Yadkin River.
Today, 4,600-acre Breaks Interstate Park, so called because it sits
astride the state line shared by both Kentucky and Virginia,
attracts more than a third of a million visitors annually. They
come to fish the still pools, to raft the Class IV rapids of the
Russell Fork River, to stand at panoramic overlooks, to camp in the
park's wooded campsites, to walk the miles of meandering hiking
trails, and to see the beauty of Catawba rhododendron in lavender
bloom in early May.
The park is located in northern Dickenson County, where
Dickenson/Buchanan County, Va., and Pike County, Ky., converge.
From Haysi in northern Dickenson County, take VA 80 8 miles north
to the park entrance, on the left. The park is located 7 miles east
of Elkhorn City, Ky., on KY-VA 80. To receive credit for this
earthcache, you need to send answers to the following questions to
me, via e-mail:
1) According to the sign at the trailhead, which mountain was
"broken" by the river, thus giving the Breaks its name?
2) From that same sign, the Russell Fork of the Big Sandy River
joins what other river?
3) According to the educational sign near the coordinates, when and
where were the railroad tracks laid?
4) What valuable mineral is still carried on those tracks today?
5) From that same sign, what is the elevation of the river?
Also, you will need to post a picture of yourself with your GPSr
(or just your GPSr) with the view from the overlook in the
background.
"BONUS" Question: How many wooden steps are there leading to the
overlook? Count any landings as 1 step and do not count the
railroad ties. It's not necessary to answer this question to
receive credit; this one's just for fun.
FTF
Congrats to
SpongeBob CachePants!!
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