Evening star., 1924-11-02
Committee Will
Inspect Stony Man
Peaks Next Week
In Order That Fl
nal Decision May
B e Made S o on.
Congress Desires
Early Report as to
Best tSite forSouth-
ern Appalachian
N a Park.
Access by Motor.

come Skyland has afforded, by far.
and il is known that virtually all of
the money he has earned thus far has
been put back into the country, build
ing trails, fighting forest fires and
saving the beautiful area from the re-
lentless ak of the commercialized
lumber man
IT is Mr.. Pollock who will guide the
Government officials on their tour
this month. One of the first places
they will visit from Skyland is the
famous White Oak Canyon. The Co.
lumbia Highway of Oregon has its
famous Bridal Veil Falls, and the
Yosemite it's own mighty Cascade
But the waterfalls Of White Oak al
most defy description. Day and night
their symphonic chorus rises in ar
eternal crescendo over the forest-clad
walls of the canyon.
Twenty-Five hundred feet, in Sc
ries of flashing cascades, each from
25 feet to more than a hundred feet
| in height they dash down the canyon
to the floor of Deep Den Valley. there
to meet a sister stream and together
go singing down the long journey
common reservoir of all the high
lands waters-the open sea.
At one point the astonished hiker
climbing from the bottom to the top
of the fall. finds himself surrounded
on three sides-front, left and right
by the laundering waters, and even
tually climbs to safety up a narrow.
rocky path that brings him to thu
top of the last cascade, from where
he may behold the glory of Madison
County, lying more than 1000 feet be-
meath him, through gap in the dis
| tant mountains.
| Game trout dart about through the
| streams. almost daring the most in
trepid fishermen to risk a cast for
| them. One may lie quietly on the
bank by one of the pools at the foot
| of a cascade, and in q few minutes
count their dfrnly outlined bodies rae
ing from rock to rock by the dozens.
1t is a land where the hand of civili-
zation has not yet reached with it's
devastating selfishness and nature
has run in rampant freedom. Nor
will it ever be desolated by greed if
the Government takes it over as
| park.
| The itinerary mapped out for the
commissioners is a heroic one, cover
ing 10 days. The committee will de-
| train at Luray at 2 o'clock, probably
one week from tomorrow. From the
station they will be driven in cars to
| the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains
near Mary's Rock, a high peak di-
| rectly south Of the Lee Highway, one
of the proposed entrances to the park
| There they will bid adieu to such
modern luxuries as motor cars and
| take to faithful and well-trained
| horses.
Up over Thoroughfare Mountain
they will travel passing Dry Run.
| beautiful trout stream bordered with
| beautiful primeval timber. and begin
| the climb up Stony Man Mountain.
passing Little Stony Man Cliffs en-
route. whence wondrous view
of the valley below may be had. The
peak of Stony Man will be the next
| point. Thence the riders will cut
across to obtain a look at Old Rag
Mountain, a gorgeous peak of solid
stone. Skyland will be the end of
| the first days journey. where the
party will pass the night.
The trip to Deep Den and White
| Oak Canyons. which have been de-
scribed elsewhere in this article, will
| be undertaken early the second morn
| ing. After luncheon at the top of .he
cascades, the party will mount again
! for a trip to Hawksbill Peak, 4,08a
| feet high, returning to Skyland
through the Limberlost Swamp. On
the journey back they will pass three
square miles of rolling tableland
which the Government will stock
with deer. elk, buffalo and other
! grazing animals, if it converts the
area into park.
I0N the third day the committeeman
" will bid farewell to Skyland and
it's luxuries and start for Honeymoon
| Bungalow, Is miles over the ridge of
| Stony Man, at the headwaters of the
Rapidan River. Their trail will fol-
| low the proposed route of the Scenic
! Highway, zig-zagging along the ridge
of the mountains. On this trip the
visitors will pass many points of in
terest, not only from a scenic stand
point. but also from a scientific
| standpoint.
J From Crescent Rock the scenery is
equal to any in the United States.
! Hawksbill Peak, too. is on this trail,
as well as the Franklin Cliffs and the
Black Rock Cliffs. But one of the
most interesting features is Lightning
Rock Cliffs, SO named because of the
| fact that they are necessarily under
lbombardment from heavens artillery
/ during Summer thunderstorms, be-
| cause of the presence of great Quanti-
/ ties of virgin copper in their mass.
| Two full days will be spent in the
country contiguous TO honeymoon
Bungalow, passing through primeval
! forests and great wooded areas, such
as Fort Mountain, which was used for
years by the Weather Bureau because
of its height and location Dark Hol-
low Falls, the South River, which
tumbles down out of the mountains
| at Wolftown, and the famous gas
| springs will be other points of in
| terest
| There will be many points to visit.
not forgetting the famous caverns
that abound just outside of the pro-
posed park area. OF course, none of
these caves will be included in the
park, but their presence will add even
greater interest to the place, and al
ready thousands of tourists drive hun
dreds of miles every year to see them
alone. The farthest of these from
Stony Man is only Is miles distant,
and the Luray Caves are directly at
it's door.
One might write for days about that
wondrous land SO close to Washing
ton and still. not exhaust the marvel
Gus spots of interest within its 1iuiix