Channels of Virginia

I finally broke down and ordered a GoPro. It arrived yesterday! I’m really excited about this. I did a 26 mile ride with Marty in the area near Pilot Mountain on Tuesday and I kept wishing I had a camera mounted on my head or at least SOMEWHERE. The views are spectacular up there and I want to remember them forever! If I stopped every time I wanted to take a picture, I would never get anywhere.

Of course, I’m sure the videos of me coming out of my boat and falling over on my bike would be equally priceless. Giggle. I was thinking about some of my adventures where it would have been really cool to have a GoPro. The Channels of Virginia popped into my mind. The Channels are AMAZING.

Somewhere near Hayters Gap, Virginia and Brumley Mountain, you’ll find The Channels. It’s a fairly steep climb to see The Channels, but it is completely worth the work to get there. It was a 4.5 mile hike with a 2,009 ft elevation gain. The 4.5 miles back was all downhill, though!

Once you get to the top, it’s not your typical mountaintop. The view is grand, but you’ll also find amazing rock formations that feel more like underground caverns. The Channels are made from sandstone formed approximately 400 million years ago, according to the Preserve website. The Channels you see were formed likely due to permafrost and ice wedging that split seams into the sandstone.

I took quite a few pictures of the rock formations because they are so amazing. The one to the right with the tree growing on the rock absolutely fascinated me! I think having the go pro to take videos as we climbed in, out and around the formations would have been SO spectacular. I think Marty and I will have fun with my new camera on our adventures. I actually have a Canon SLR digital camera that takes great pictures, too. Somewhere in the digital age when iPhones upgraded cameras, I stopped lugging it around. Maybe I will begin taking pictures with what I call my “good” camera again one day.

The picture on the left gives you a better idea of scale, I believe. Marty is 6’3″, just to give you an idea here. If you like caverns and caves, I think you’ll really like The Channels. We explored a little, then at lunch back at the top near the old fire tower. It is such a beautiful area and I know I will go back again one day. When I do, I’ll bring my GoPro to capture even more amazing photos.

Life is a beautiful climb. Sometimes it is hard climb, but when you finally get through the hard stuff, the view is amazing.