Wow! And then more wow! Friday, after Rebekah and I checked out of our hotel and started the trek home to Wake Forest, we took two very significant detours back into the New River National Park.

We wanted to see A) The Grandview overlook. And then B) The Sandstone Falls area farther south. That was supposed to be before lunch – then back home by dinner.

One point I want to make is how – more and more – I am beginning to understand the National Parks Service as a key player in conservation. Not just providing places for citizens to enjoy, but putting the weight of government behind efforts to conserve and to restore the gems of creation that make the USA such a treasure house of natural wonder.

So, yes, we intended two quick looks then back on the road… But how can you engage beauty on such a grand – geological – level without being sucked in for much longer than planned? Well of course we had to stay longer, and take a couple of hikes, and explore, and then just sit and look to let it all sink in.

But we did make it home before midnight. Just.

The New River is one of those rare waterways that runs mostly north. It begins around Blowing Rock, NC, then makes its way into Virginia, picking up tributaries along the way. Then – already strong and deep, the river storms into West Virginia, cutting this amazing gorge through the sandstone, eventually joining forces with the Ohio and continuing to the Mississippi then out into the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf Stream, and back home to the United Kingdom.

“Look at that! Water… falling….”

Quote of the day, from the my Sandstone Falls video

Take a walk with me, over these photographs, and get a feel for the complete and overwhelming transcendence of the remarkable topography that is this stretch of river in West Virginia.

1. We arrive at the Grandview area. Rebekah is pointing to the sign so you will be sure to know where we are!
2. Walking a short trail through the woods we come up to what is, evidently, an overlook. What might we see?
3. We see this amazing view! Rebekah is bowled over by what she sees! The vista follows a bend or two in the New River Gorge.
4. This is the view that captured Rebekah’s attention and she is deeply affected.
5. Gotta grab a selfie here…
6. On to a loop trail that cuts under the edge of the canyon wall.
7. These sandstone cliffs were denuded of trees by the lumber companies and the canyon walls peppered with mines by those exploiting the mineral resources here.
8. Rebekah stands and looks up at the magnificent 2nd and 3rd growth trees.
9. It is humbling to walk under the sheer weight – tonn – of the walls to this canyon.
10. Look at the brilliant colors of the layers of rock, chiseled by time and the elements.
11. One more “Entry sign” selfie.
12. The visitors Center for Sandstone Falls has a top-notch interpretive center that tells the story of this canyon.
13. First look at the falls. The wide view of the diverse and important ecology.
14. The remaining photographs document the walking trail around the Sandstone Falls area from the island
15. Don’t miss the short video. Sometimes motion is the only way to get an adequate look at a natural phenomenon such as this.

The bottom line here, friends, is my encouragement for everyone to do two things: 1) Get out there and engage with the natural world: hike, explore, get hot, get dirty – get invested. 2) Begin to rethink our relationship to the world around us. Program the very real cost (pollution, loss of positive environments, climate change, essential human happiness) into your understanding of market economics.

Then do two more things: 1) Thank God for the gift of this good Earth. 2) Ask God to direct your paths.

“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” (Native American Proverb).

In love, and because love demands justice – DEREK