DREAMSCAPES SPRING/SUMMER 2024
62
D I S C O V E R I E S
DOWN IN
THE VALLEY
How a Virginia road trip
sparked writer Fiona Tapp
to discover there's more to
see past the popular
Interstate 81 when she
veered off the main drag.
A
t Rockytop Overlook along the Skyline Drive of Vir-
ginia's Shenandoah National Park, the distant haze
scatters light creating a blue paint stroke outline of
Lewis Mountain on the horizon. The living canvas before me
with deep shades of green running along Loft Mountain is
larger than any gallery exhibition. This masterpiece moves in
the breeze, the shadows deepen along valleys, the light catches
on a new angle and the grasses sway by my feet.
When I started planning my trip to the Shenandoah Valley,
I was expecting these landscapes, and to feel awed by nature's
spectacle. What I wasn't expecting were the spaces I found in
between these views that offered so much more than just a
scenic drive.
The Shenandoah Valley stretches 225 kilometres from the
charming small city of Winchester in the north to Rockbridge
County, home of Natural Bridge State Park, in the south.
Considered the original American Frontier and the site of
many historic Civil War battles, the valley is framed by the
