Brief Glimpses of Autumn in Fort Valley, Virginia /  by Todd Henson

The Colors of Passage Creek

On October 25th, 2025, my father and I went for a drive through Fort Valley, Virginia, to see any of the fall foliage still hanging around. It was a challenging day, exposure-wise, because of the blazingly bright sun and the shadows of the mountains, but I did the best I could to balance the two so you could see a bit of the beauty present in that valley, especially along Passage Creek.

A sunny autumnal day on Passage Creek

We entered the valley on Fort Valley Road and this time instead of trying one of the winding narrow one-lane dirt roads we chose to leave the valley via the winding but paved two-lane Edinburg Gap Road. Maybe not quite as exciting as the others, but a bit less stressful. 🙂

Driving into Fort Valley on Fort Valley Road in the fall

Autumn on Edinburg Gap Road leaving Fort Valley

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Historic Columbia Covered Bridge (New Hampshire) /  by Todd Henson

Facing the Columbia Covered Bridge from the New Hampshire side.

The Columbia Bridge spans the Connecticut River, connecting the town of Columbia, New Hampshire, to that of Lemington, Vermont. As is so often the case, this was not the first bridge at or near this location, with multiple instances before that were destroyed by floods, wind or fire. All the previous incarnations had been toll bridges, with folks who frequently had to cross the river purchasing annual subscriptions to assure they could purchase groceries or board the train on the New Hampshire side. The first bridge was built around 1820, and the current bridge was constructed in 1912.

An angled view of the Columbia Covered Bridge in New Hampshire, with the Connecticut River below.

The Columbia Covered Bridge as seen from the New Hampshire shore of the Connecticut River.

Columbia Bridge is a single-span bridge built using the Howe truss design based on the 1840 patent by William Howe. This design features metal vertical supports to provide extra support beyond what wooden supports could provide. As with other bridges that span between states there were sometimes disagreements about which side would provide funding for construction and/or repairs. And both towns are small enough they did seek funding from their respective states as well as other organizations and the federal government.

A view of the Connecticut River from below the Columbia Covered Bridge.

The Columbia Covered Bridge as seen from Vermont.

Columbia Covered Bridge is number 33 in the New Hampshire list of covered bridges. We visited this bridge on June 20th, 2025. Click here to see the list of covered bridges we visited while traveling through New Hampshire in mid-2025.

Resources

Most of the details within this post were learned either from signs at the bridge or from the fantastic book, Covered Bridges of New Hampshire by Kim Varney Chandler, which I purchased from a small local shop in Lincoln while on our trip. It’s well worth it if you plan to visit the area or are just interested in covered bridges and their history and construction. The link takes you to the author’s website for the book with lots of extra information and with links to let you purchase directly from her.

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First Trip to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia /  by Todd Henson

Seneca Rocks Discovery Center during autumn

A well-known and popular destination in West Virginia is Seneca Rocks, a large rocky crag in the Appalachian Mountains. It’s popular both for tourists coming to view these incredible mountains and hike the trails, and for rock climbers who crave a challenge. In fact, the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army trained here in 1943 - 1944 before deploying to Europe during World War II.

A 10-image panoramic view of the famous Seneca Rocks in autumn

Some of the fall foliage at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia

The rock formations, the creek, and the local community were named after the Native American Seneca nations, thought to have travelled through this area, along with other nations, for trade and war, though they actually resided further north in the New York region.

Bell Wall just left of center, Gunsight, the gap in the center, and South Summit on the right (a very technical formation) at Seneca Rocks

South Summit at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia, is a very technical climb

We were fortunate to visit during autumn when there was some nice color to the leaves. The lighting was a challenge, photographically, as we arrived very near high noon on a cloudless day. This time of year it appears the run rises somewhat behind the rock formations so they were in some degree of shadow during our visit. I’m guessing arriving later in the afternoon might allow you see the rock faces lit up. I’d love to return on a day with a few more clouds, maybe a bit of a stormy look, though I’ve no desire to drive some of the roads we did during a storm.

The Seneca Rocks Discovery Center, in West Virginia, was closed during the government shutdown

Another unique aspect to our visit is that the Discovery Center was closed due to the government shutdown. Thankfully, the Forest Service kept the area open to visitors and just closed the facilities. And the area was very busy with almost full parking lots. Many people were hiking the trails or walking along the paved paths. And there were many people on the faces of the cliffs and rock formations.

Turn around and face away from the rock formations and you’ll see some stores, a motel and a restaurant, all of which were packed

Rock Climbers and/or Hikers

If you click on the photos to get a larger view you may be able to spot some of the many rock climbers all over the formations. Below I’ve created some photos where I circle the groups of climbers and/or hikers in red so you can see just how popular this location is for climbing, some of it very technical, especially that of the south summit.

I circled in red all the climbers/hikers I could find at Seneca Rocks. Some of the circles contain multiple people.

South Summit, one of the more technical features, attracts many climbers. I’ve circled all I could find in red.

See how many climbers and hikers were on the rock formations at Seneca Rocks?

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