Following Rivers

Weekends growing up, my family left town and headed to Natural Chimneys, where we'd park our camper in the fall and spring seasons. I was always fascinated by the fact that the park's namesake stone formations were formed by water long gone, towers carved by an ancient inland sea.

The North River runs through the park, and when we spent time there, it was usually mostly dry – a wide riverbed, filled with river rocks, bordered by woods, with a little rivulet of water running through it. It was the site of adventures; we walked and rock-hopped that riverbed, stacked stones, discovered trails, took imaginary treks of hundreds of miles along its rough-and-tumble way.

In 1985, that riverbed was transformed. Gone was the friendly creek, and the stones were buried under a torrent of mud that swept through with the great floods of that year. Just after the worst of it, we drove there and stood on its banks and watched this strange, deep river that at one point had torn its way through the trees and split into two temporary branches (just before it reached our campsite), tearing up pavement, leaving an impressive amount of damage and debris in its wake.

It was that year that I first understood the contrasts of water – how beautiful it can be, and how destructive.

We dedicate much of this issue to water, at a time when water – drought to deluge – is a point of concern in the region. On these pages, we visit and celebrate the waterfalls, the lakes, the scenic rivers, but with the recognition that water is becoming a valuable and scarcer resource. As individuals, we need to conserve and preserve; as a region, we need to carefully plan and build in order to protect that life-giving, life-sustaining element.

With this issue we also introduce our newly redesigned website, BlueRidgeCountry.com - take a look and let us know what you think! We'll be adding blogs and more web-exclusive content; there's more opportunity for our readers to comment on articles, send in recipes, vote on their favorite places in the region and more.

Among our web stories this issue is "Rivers of Change," and substantial, well-reported piece on the state of water in the region, written by our environmental columnist Cathryn McCue. She attended the recent Headwaters Gathering at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina and examines on the water-related controversies and challenges in the southeast.

We're also pleased to announce that Blue Ridge Country has been named top magazine in the state by the Virginia Press Women, coming away with five awards including three first place awards in VPW's annual competition. Thanks to BRC contribubing photographers Pat and Chuck Blackley, whose images contributed to a first-place win for the book "Blue Ridge Parkway Simply Beautiful," the second collaboration I've been fortunate enough to share with them.

Photos from the Modisett family albums: