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This is the site of the mountain crossing of U.S. Highway 33 between the Piedmont region on the eastern side and the Shenandoah Valley (or Great Valley of Virginia) to the west. The cords will bring you to a roadside historical plaque and pyramid-shaped stone marker. Entering the paid area of the park is not required. There is ample roadside parking available.
Swift Run Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in the U.S. State of Virginia. Examples of wind gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia include Swift Run Gap, Rockfish Gap, and Buford's Gap.
Great displays of natural forces have formed gaps in the mountains throughout the region. Some are water gaps, others are wind gaps. A wind gap is a mountain pass or lower point in elevation between ridges formed by erosion over long periods of time. Yes the name is a misnomer. Despite their name, wind gaps aren’t created by wind action at all, but rather are carved by streams that once flowed through them when valley elevations on either side stood higher than they do today. A wind gap is a water gap in which the water source did not "survive" the complete erosion of the mountain. A water gap is a similar location, but one where a waterway has carved a complete path through each rock horizon and geologic period of development. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a practical route for roads to cross a mountain ridge. Buford’s Gap was the original crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Bedford for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, later the Norfolk and Western Railway, a precursor of today's Norfolk Southern Railway system.
Scientists say wind gaps are usually considered older geological formations than water gaps, as they take much longer to develop. The other ways of forming a water gap is by stream erosion that uncovers an older structure, such as an anticline. In effect the stream is draped over the emerging structure and cuts a gorge across it. A water gap is not guaranteed. When the stream cannot cut fast enough or if it’s course is abandoned because of stream capture or some other reason, a small gap might result without a stream in it, perched high on a ridge. This gap is a wind gap.
Geography
Generally following the mountain ridge tops, the bucolic Skyline Drive, which is part of Shenandoah National Park, has an entry point at Swift Run Gap and the Appalachian Trail also passes through nearby. The mountain ridge forms the border between Greene County and Rockingham County. Swift Run Gap lies along a drainage divide between southeast-flowing streams in the James River and northwest-flowing streams that drain to the Shenandoah River system.
Geology
The bedrock beneath Swift Run Gap is composed of Precambrian aged granitic rocks and gneisses of the Blue Ridge basement complex and metasedimentary rocks of the Swift Run Formation. A steeply dipping, northwest-striking normal fault cuts through Swift Run Gap and differential erosion of the fractured bedrock along this fault may be responsible for the development of a wind gap at this location.
History
Swift Run Gap is a long-used and historic crossing in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1716, Royal Governor Alexander Spotswood of the Virginia Colony, with 62 other men and 74 horses, led a real estate speculatione expedition up the Rapidan River valley during westward exploration of the interior of Virginia. The party reached the top of the Blue Ridge at Swift Run Gap on September 5, 1716. However, in recent times there are and have been concerns by historians that Spotswood did not cross at Swift Run Gap.
Upon descending into a portion of the Shenandoah Valley on the east side of Massanutten Mountain, they reached a point near the current town of Elkton, where they celebrated their arrival on the banks of the Shenandoah River with
multiple volleys and special toasts of brandy and claret to the King and the Governor, naming a peak for each. After the journey, Spotswood gave each member of the expedition a pin made of gold and shaped like a horseshoe on which he had inscribed the words in Latin "Sic jurat transcendere montes", which translates in English to "Thus he swears to cross the mountains." The members of Governor Spotswood's expedition soon became popularly known as the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe." A historical plaque and pyramid-shaped stone mark their historic crossing of 1716.
The Swift Run Gap Turnpike, a privately owned toll road, was first completed through Swift Run Gap in the early 19th century. In the 1840s, plans for the Louisa Railroad (renamed the Virginia Central Railroad in 1850) originally anticipated crossing the Blue Ridge at Swift Run Gap to reach Harrisonburg, but projected construction costs after surveying were prohibitive. This was primarily due to the steepness of the terrain on the eastern slope. Addressing the dilemma, Claudius Crozet, the legendary Chief Engineer of the Virginia Board of Public Works, determined that a system of tunnels at Rockfish Gap, about 30 miles to the south, would be more feasible. Despite later technological advances, no railroad crossing was ever attempted at Swift Run Gap. Even in modern times, the two lane highway (U.S. 33) at the lower elevations follows a small creek named "Swift Run" west from Stanardsville, but then about halfway up, requires multiple horseshoe curves on the steep grades of the eastern slope, as it ascends an increasingly winding pathway to reach Swift Run Gap.
Special thanks to the Shenandoah National Park Service staff members for their help in this earthcache!!!!!!
References
1. Wikipedia (visit link)
2. Christopher M. Bailey, College of William and Mary, Worthy Field Locales, The Geology of Virginia: Mind the Gap, Where is Afton Mountain? (visit link)
3. Southworth, Scott, Aleinikoff, J.N., Bailey, C.M., Burton, W.C., Crider, E.A., Hackley, P.C., Smoot, J.P., and Tollo, R.P., 2009, Geologic map of the Shenandoah National Park region Virginia: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009–1153, 96 p., 1 plate, scale 1:100,000.
Cache
In order to log this Earthcache, you must fulfill these requirements. Do not post information in your log (it will be deleted). E-mail your answers to us:
1) What type of stone is the pyramid made predominately of, and the large boulder monument next to it? This type of stone is very common in this gap area being uncovered during the erosion process?
2) The north side of the mountain gap, which can be seen from this vantage point, is 2560’ in elevation. What is the difference in feet from the top of the north side of the gap to the floor of the gap here?
3) On this pyramid stone memorial there are 10 Knights of the Horseshoe names listed, which name seems to be missing the first name engraved and looks out of place?
4) Post or e-mail a photo of you, your group , or your GPS unit with the stone pyramid marker in the picture.
Congrats to hodgesjl on FTF!!!!!!!
Additional Hints
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