Exactly 27 years ago in 1998, I was in the middle of hiking the entire 2170-mile long Appalachian Trail. For me, it was an opportunity to spend five-plus months away from the world of noise and busyness to be totally immersed in a natural world of quiet and contemplation. Again for me, it was, and still is, one of the best experiences of my life.

Every day on the trail for me was a day of adventure and new surprises. One of the biggest surprises was an unusual geologic anomaly in the far southwest corner of Virginia – a remote valley totally encircled by mountains called Burke’s Garden or God’s Thumbprint.

Looking at a Topo Map or Google Earth, you would think that Burke’s Garden could be a collapsed volcano or meteor impact crater. In fact, it’s a collapsed anticline. An anticline is an upward pointing bulge much like a rug shoved against a wall, and in the case of Burke’s Garden the upper layers of rock collapsed when the lower layers of rock eroded away.

With Covid and other projects getting in the way, I haven’t had a chance to go back to the Appalachian Trail for a hike in over ten years – not even for a short hike. Last week my little dog Sparky and I finally had the opportunity to do several short hikes on the trail including one at Burke’s Garden.

My three main objectives in my hikes last week were to check out Burke’s Garden from the ground, hike on some sections impacted by Hurricane Helene, and to talk to some long distance hikers to see how much has changed since my long distance hike. Continue Reading →