Picture of the day - May 26, 2007

A rock cliff beside the Virginia Creeper Trail

There are so many beautiful and interesting things to see along the Virginia Creeper Trail that a single hiking or biking trip simply doesn't do it justice. Around virtually every curve lies yet another magnificent vista, another unusual tree, or still another patch of spectacular wildflowers - and each of these "discoveries" is worthy of a few minutes of your time. That's the true beauty of the Creeper Trail - there is always something else to tease the senses waiting for you just around the next bend. Today's picture features one of those "interesting things": a rock cliff towering over the trail. What interested me about the rocks in this cliff was how they look like they have been neatly stacked there in layers - but the layers aren't level. Instead, they appear to be at about a 60° angle! It's quite clear that at some point after the Creation a tremendous upheaval of the earth's surface took place, resulting in the formation of the Appalachian mountains and the foothills that lie on either side of them - hence this cliff with its rocks neatly stacked at a uniform angle...and in near-perfect symmetry! God has used a wide variety of geologic forces over the millennia to shape the earth and arrange it to His liking, and while it's impossible for us to know for sure what happened to cause the massive upheaval that formed our beloved Appalachians, of this I am certain: The process was initiated by the hand of God, and as one would expect the result was simply spectacular.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"