My darling man, Alan, and I, went to Natural Tunnel State Park this past weekend. It was time to celebrate his birthday, and a great opportunity to do things we love to do, like hiking, identifying trees and wildflowers, listening for birds, and learning new things. Basically spending time with Mother Nature is a favorite on our playlist of activities. And this state park did not disappoint us!

The mountains were simply amazing. And for most of our trip in Kentucky and then in Virginia, till we reached our destination, we were surrounded by mountains. The park is located in Duffield, Virginia, a small town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, which were immense, majestic, and covered in forest. All types of Tall Beings grew on these mountains, the trees still green with their leaves and only a touch of gold to be seen here and there. I imagine in a month the Tall Beings will be covered in their royal attire of Fall colors: red, yellow, orange, and brown. And Mother Nature will provide colorful, bright scenes that will take our breath away.

The natural tunnel was the star of the show of course. This park is a geologist’s dream, or anyone who is interested in rocks, fossils, and the history of the formation and changes of our beloved Earth. In the above picture you can see the immense mass of a rock wall, as high up as 450 feet. Most of this is limestone, a type of rock that is eroded by water much quicker than other types of rock. Scientist believe that a million years ago, perhaps even longer, very acidic groundwater slowly but surely seeped through the limestone crevices. High above in the rock you can see a fault line, creating even more fragility in the rock, and giving less resistance to the rain water. Over time, slowly but surely, the rock collapsed, a huge sinkhole that fell to the ground, creating a tunnel and a creek. Railroad tracks were built by the South Atlantic and Ohio railroad in 1893. It originally was a passenger train, but for years now has only been used to haul coal between the two states, Kentucky and Virginia.

There is a ski lift to carry people down into the floor of the valley where one can view the cave, but not enter the tunnel. Hiking trails are also available to hike up and down the mountain. There is no schedule for the train as the coal is moved depending on how much time it takes to load freight cars and prepare them to travel down the railway.

Alan and I decided to participate in the Stock Creek Hike on Sunday afternoon. A total of ten hikers met at the creek, eight tourists and two rangers. We were given walking sticks and headlamps and instructed on the challenges of the hike. Our goal was to enter the Natural Tunnel cave and hopefully a train would travel down the tracks so we could see it pass through the tunnel.

We began our hike walking on trails in the woods, studying trees and a few wildflowers. Our rangers, Kynley and Tasha, were both very knowledgeable about the trees, flowers, and the history in the area so it was easy to listen and learn. Then the fun really began as we traveled closer to the tunnel and crossed our first creek! I felt like I was in an action packed movie! And the drama-girl in me was in full swing as we forded creeks six feet deep, splashed over huge boulders while digging our walking sticks in the thick sludge that soaked through our socks and shoes. And we carried torches high above our shoulders as we walked on a rock ledge only four inches wide. We walked carefully, holding our breath, as one wrong move would send us into the snapping jaws of crocodiles who swam in the creek right below the ledge…

That’s all in my imagination of course! But we did ford creeks, the highest water point maybe ten inches, always using our walking sticks and stepping on creek rock as stepping stones. Our shoes and socks did get wet, making squishy sounds, because they were sopping wet. Our headlamps guided us well over an eight inch wide ledge. We did tread carefully, no crocodiles in sight, but not wanting to fall and land on those creek rocks sticking up out of the water. We all made it into the tunnel and viewed the cave and the railroad track that was waiting for that lonesome train. And we waited, too, and waited some more, but no train. Many tourists before us had tried but no train showed up.

So we left, feeling a little disappointed, leaving the cave by the same route we used to enter it, tiptoed across the ledge, again forded the creek, and stepped out onto the woodsy trail. Then there it was, sounding like the roar of a bear who has been rudely interrupted from his hibernating sleep in his cave. The train was here! Inside the tunnel and moving fast, the train horn unabashed, loud and long, and suddenly the train burst from the mouth of the tunnel!

It was magnificent! The drama-girl in me was loving every second of its dramatic appearance! We all waved to the conductors as they passed us by, with several freight cars following behind the green engine with the small, rectangle windows. And then it was gone. The woods became quiet again. We were all smiling at one another because we knew not every tourist was given that moment of the sight and the sound of the train locomotion out of Natural Tunnel. And like I said before, we were not disappointed. :O)