Rockfish Gap and Waynesboro, part 1: CROSSING and ARRIVAL

May, 2023, Afton and Waynesboro, VA

INTERSECTIONS and PORTALS

I’m standing at Rockfish Gap of the Blue Ridge, looking east as Interstate 64 descends toward the Virginia piedmont and Charlottesville. To the west, the highway drops in to the Shenandoah valley. Here the Blue Ridge Parkway meets Skyline Drive, to the south and north respectively, following the winding ridges of these mountains, two linear national parks that together span hundreds of miles. The Appalachian trail also passes through here, crossing the gap adjacent to the two parkways.

Two hours before, I was walking through a railroad tunnel deep below here. This is the Blue Ridge Tunnel, engineered by Claudius Crozet and built between 1850 and 1858. On this cloudy morning, I hiked the .8 mile to the western portal (pictured here) after playing “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac, and so I descend, “taken by the wind.”

I’m happy to return to my second-favorite gap in Virginia. Nearby a year ago, I passed through here and took the Parkway toward Roanoke, stopping at the mostly-abandoned Afton Inn and overlooking for trouble. That Inn and the other buildings are in further decay now than last year, but there are more tourists and hikers out today enjoying the warm sunlight and calm breeze. It’s worth noting that this gap is known for fog and wind that can cause rough travel conditions, like at Fancy Gap (my favorite).

This gap, formed at a natural fracture zone, has carried humans across it for centuries. It connects the Shenandoah River valley to the rivers flowing toward the Chesapeake bay, dividing their watersheds. It’s been crossed by a major Monacan trail, the Three Notched wagon road, and then the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad beginning in 1858 when the tunnel was completed through the mountain. Thomas Jefferson came here in 1818 for a tavern meeting which led to the development of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. This weekend, I’m commuting between my event gig on UVA campus and the hostel in Waynesboro, where I’m staying.

ENTERING WAYNESBORO

Kaiya’s eyes stare out intensely when I cross the river, and her face is visible from so many other points downtown as it adorns the abandoned Ice House building. Tulips grow in her hair and also feature on the mural at the Blue Ridge Children’s museum across the street. Drawn to this spot, I find a stone Labyrinth and walk it in solitude as the two murals appear connected. Then I am connected with both of them, a flower blooming in this new garden of art and community reclaimed from decaying industry.

Waynesboro, just two miles west from the gap, sits around the South River tributary of the Shenandoah River. The greenway follows the river near a small downtown with mountain views and the DuPont factory to the east and south. Between these stands the awesome “Kaiya with Tulips“, painted by Nils Westergard of Richmond in 2019 for the Virginia street art festival. He created four other murals in town, including “After” (below) which is near the Iron Cross / Basic City area north-east of downtown.

I keep seeing Kaiya and want to find out who she is… a prominent resident or family member? A friend of the artist? Is this a memorial? After visiting Nils’ website, I see that she is the subject of several of his pieces, including a mural in Norfolk, so it’s likely she’s a friend and collaborator. “Kaiya with Tulips” was his largest mural when it was painted in 2019. He has artwork on walls across Europe, also lives and works from Amsterdam, and his grandfather was a Belgian painter…

The hostel where I’m staying is Stanimal’s 328, at 1333 W. Main St. It’s visited by many Appalachian trail hikers, and the hostel offers a shuttle van to and from the Gap and other places. It’s very nice inside and out, with clean rooms and friendly people. There’s a mural in the basement, too, fitting the themes of this town and landscape, but I didn’t get the name of the artist.

The elegant River Greenway can tell a lot of the town’s history as it sways its way into the industrial warehouse party. In the next post we’ll follow it and explore North and south from Kaiya and the bridges. .

She is like a cat in the dark
And then she is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark
And when the sky is starless

“Rhiannon” lyrics by Stevie Nicks

CLAUDIUS CROZET’S CRYSTAL VISIONS

Crozet – who was French and whose name is pronounced “cro-zé”- had the tunnel built by hand tools and black powder, the work of enslaved and immigrant laborers before the invention of dynamite. It took nearly 9 years to build, and a number of laborers lost their lives in the process, but when completed, it was the longest tunnel in North America. Trains ran through it for 86 years as the industrial era developed, then a newer wider tunnel was built, and this one was abandoned.

The Blue Ridge Tunnel trail opened in November 2020, after its restoration was completed. The western trailhead is accessed via a small parking lot off the Three Notched Mountain Rd (US 250) between Waynesboro and the gap. It’s a gravel trail with a decent descent, then it levels and parallels the active CSX “Buckingham Branch” railroad (yes, really) that replaced this. Other blogs suggest starting at the eastern trailhead at Afton for a more level trail and larger parking lot. Either way, it’s about 1.2 miles from a trailhead to the center of the tunnel.

Notable is the stone arch at the western portal, which was carved by Irish stone-masons, and the lack of an arch at the eastern end since the portals were constructed separately. GoHikeVirginia and HikingUpward have posts with more information about this tunnel and the trail.

Here is a documentary film about the tunnel by American Focus Films.

The town of Crozet, east of the pass between Afton and Charlottesville, was named after Claudius. Some refer to the tunnel as the “Crozet Tunnel,” such as this song by Mister Baby, which is also about Waynesboro.

In my dreams I take the night train through the Crozet Tunnel /
…cracking out over the mountain like a shooting star/
I wanna be a star…

Mister Baby, “Waynesboro”

Here is an area map of Waynesboro, Afton, the gap, and parts of the southern Shenandoah.

Roadside Kombucha: On US 250, maybe midway between the Tunnel west trailhead and the edge of downtown, Blue Ridge Bucha has its brewery and tasting room. I stop in and get a bottle on the way up the hill. In an area full of wineries, beer and cider breweries, it’s nice this is here as an alternative. It tastes so good in the morning before the walk, and I feel good along the way (due to medication, I can’t drink much of any alcohol).

Links and updates: There is a tour guide app that can take you on the Mural Trail around Waynesboro. The app is called Traipse, and you can find out more and download it here. I created a tour in Norfolk for another app, Questo, this past winter, so I recommend trying these out; they are more or less self-guided, they can be fun, and you will learn something new!

Read on for parts 2 and 3, and please help support my projects if you can.