Sunday Post: Looking Down

Yesterday as we explored Mother Seton's home turf we ventured a gaze up the slopes of the Appalachian wall.  Today I figured we might as well look down.

Shenandoah is a remarkable place and one of the easiest to access for people simply looking for some good views.  From atop the crest of the Blue Ridge onlookers can gaze well across the piedmont region, on clear days as far as the coastal plain.  Or, as is the case of this picture, they can look westward into the Shenandoah valley.  While pre-industrial views would often feature a natural haze in the area, the effects of rapid development in the capital region has somewhat added to the veil.  Still, vast horizons or otherwise, looking down the mountain often gives a new appreciation of scale, all the more so in an age when distance is otherwise traveled so easily.