Shale Creek Bend

I scrambled up the steep shale slope overlooking the bend in the creek. For each step forward, I fell back a half-step. Tripod in one hand, camera dangling under the arm of the other–don't lose momentum or I'll slide all the way back down. I got to the top of the shale slope. Two paces to the left and I topple into the creek forty feet below. Three paces to the right and I slide into trees and brambles covering the steep hillside.

This damp cathedral, nestled in the highlands of West Virginia, was constantly babbling with the song of flowing water. Rhododendrons guarded the entrance to Shale Creek Bend. Someday I need to get on top of the cliff, but it also be guarded by densely intertwined branches of Rhododendrons, so dense that I might walk off the edge without even seeing the ground fall off beneath me.