The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-10-04
Scarcely More Than Century
Ago its Bed Was Dry Land.
RUGGED SCENERY
OF THE SOUTHWEST
Panorama Stretched Before Traveller
from the Summit of BaId Knob
One Of Surprising Grandeur
and Beauty-Eluegrass,F Fat
Cattle, Fine Homes, but
Very Bad Roads.

(special from Staff Correspondent)
MOUNTAIN LAKE, GILES CO., VA.
october S-Two-thirds of the people OF
Virginia never heard Of this place, and
there Is an equally large proportion OF
those who did who do not know that ie
is in Giles county or not in West virginia.
Yet it Is one of the great curiosities OF
this country, and could be made the re-
sort of thousands of people every year py
tho expenditure Of money on hotel ana
roads and in advertising.
The thought of large lake. mile In
length and half mile broad, on the TOP
OF a mountain four thousand feet above
sea level seems ridiculous to the man
who never heard Of this place, yet the
description applies to Mountain Lake. !
cannot convey to the mind of the reader
the odd shock of surprise l experienced
mountain-up up, all the time upwards
the road made a sudden turn and the
placid waters of tho lake, cleaning silver
in the sunshine. were spread out before
me- / felt as the experienced desert
traveller who sees a mirage. knew
there was lake there, as he knows that
there is none before his eyes Wien he sees
1t In q mirage, yet was half inclined TO
believe my eyes We're lying. And durlns
the whole of the first hour or two here
felt constantly as though We're amid
unreal surroundings, and that the lake, at
least. was likely to vanish at any mo-
ment.
There is not more beautiful sheet of
water In Virginia. Even the twigs on the
trees of the mountains. that come down
to the water on every side. are rejected
as clearly as If In a mirror. The water
is eighty feet deep in places and is so
clear the bottom may be seen where COW
cred by twenty feet. When In a boat
some distance from the bank fish Of great
size may be seen only a few feet away
through the water. But they are not hun
cry, and skillful indeed is the angler who
can induce one of them to snap the bait
offered 1t. The owners OF the property
have in recent years stocked the waters
with black bass and California trout. and
the fish have thriven and multiplied until
tho lake Is teeming with magnificent
specimens of these fish.
The lake Is located In big. oblong
bowl on the crest of the mountain. The
bowl Is tipped up at the northern end.
and at the southern. thirty yards from the
shore, Is the hotel. where nearly two hun
dred guests were entertained this sum-
mer. Nearly dozen cottages are built
near the hotel. and these. with few out
buildings, comprise the settlement"
CLOSES IN WINTER.
In winter hotel and cottages are closed
to visitors and left In the care of fam
lily. which occupies two or three rooms
in the hotel. was informed that some
years the only human being about the
L.. 1r,, al &I.~, ~. n
shall think of that man this winter when
a storm Is raging some night In the low
lands How much more terrible 1t must
be on the summit of this mighty noun
tain, and who can express In words the
dreary loneliness he must experience In
this place. cut off from the world as
completely as il marooned on desert
island?
| Mountain Lake is not natural GU
rlosity. It is not century old. having first
appeared In 1904. A gentleman who re-
sides on his farm near the base OF the
mountain told me his father had told
him he could remember when the area
now covered by the waters OF the lake
was used as the sailing ground for cat
tie which We're allowed to range the sur
rounding mountains There were num-
ber of springs In the valley, and tho
ground was inclined to be mlry. Large
numbers OF cattle tramplng about the
springs closed up the openings In the
ground through which the waters SANK.
a short distance from the springs. and
thus the lake was formed. But new
opening through which the waters obtain-
ed a subterranean outlet. was discovered.
Last summer the waters receded twenty
Yards from the shore, and 1t was feared
that the lake would disappear entirely.
But after falling a few months the waters
began to rise again. and the water line
is now at the normal
Bald Knob, which is reached after an
hours drive up the mountain from the
hotel, is very nearly tho highest point
In Virginia 1t is said to be l45S feet above
tide. The timber line is 4,500 feet above
the level of the sea, and the line Is cross
cd at least hundred feet from the ton
of Bald Knob, The road leads through o
splendid chestnut grove. Suddenly the
trees disappear and we found ourselves
walking through n tangle of bushss
scarcely mere than knee high. Acorns
on these bushes attracted my attention.
and examination showed that what l had
thought to be laurel or other small
shrubs, such as form the undersrowth
in woods at a less elevation, were IN
reality oak trees. trying 10 grow whore
conditions made their development into
maturity impossible, The summit of the
mountain is bare, save for this stunted
growth. There are enormous rocks nilad