When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things
Ryan and I began our second day in the park with a hike up Stony Man. This is the second highest peak in the park, and the most northerly of the Blue Ridge Mountains, at 4,000 feet. This hike was marked by a ton of great vistas along the trail, culminating in a rocky lookout point from which you could get a stunning view of the mountains. The morning mist was clinging to the valleys, but it was clear enough to get a stunning view of the town as well.
Read MoreShenandoah National Park is in Virginia, encompassing some of the iconic Blue Ridge Mountain range, and this was our first time visiting. The park is long and skinny, Skyline Drive skirting the ridges of the mountains as it winds upwards, providing beautiful vistas along the drive. The park’s history is marked by struggle between the government of Virginia and those who had built their lives on this land, with forced evictions devastating families. Once the park was established in 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps not only helped restore the land and build the park’s infrastructure, but they also burned cabins of former residents to prevent their return.
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