On the ride to Grafton, West Virginia

Posted on September 12, 2011 by RedRider06

The forground is green grass and a stand of darker green trees. Beyond the trees a good many miles away is a mountain range. There is a very conspicuous dip in the otherwise straight line of a mountain ridge in the shape of a saddle; hence the name "Saddle Mountain."
Since May of 2004, I have passed this scenic turnout on every trip to Grafton and thought as I hurried by, “I really need to capture this view; just once.” Well, 10 September 2011 was the day and here are the results accompanied by a brief story of the moment.

I stopped to get a quick shot of Saddle Mountain. As I rode into the large parking area that is the scenic turnout, several 20-somethings were gathered near their cars admiring the view. I pulled up close to the guardrail far enough away from people so as to not disturb their conversation. I wasn’t going to shut off the bike — just stop, snap the pic, and roll out.

But a young fellow came over to look at the bike anyway and then offered, “Here, let me get a shot of you with your camera. It’s hard to get in the picture when you’re traveling by your-own-self.”  (Yes, he said it just that way and he made his point.) I think his composition was quite good. It was worth the stop.

The author on his Harley-Davidson Road Glide motorcycle at the scenic turnout with Saddle Mountain in the background. Photo by a fellow traveler who was enjoying the scenery and offered to take my picture.Thank you my anonymous fellow motorcycle and nature enthusiast.

Happy travels to you too.

And for the folks who have read this far and still want to see more, here is an annotated satellite view.

In photo. Satellite image of about 5 square miles. Upper left corner starts line to almost the lower right hand corner. The line starts at where I was and the stops at what I was looking. Even the sighted person has difficulty seeing the depression that forms the depression of Saddle Mountain. Out of photo.

Attribution: Satellite image retrieved from Google Maps on Sep 12, 2011.

This entry was posted in Moto. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to On the ride to Grafton, West Virginia

  1. seth says:
    September 12, 2011 at 22:43

    I have passed this scenic turnout on every trip to Grafton and thought as I hurried by, “I really need to capture this view; just once.”

    Man, I know the feeling. Not to Grafton, but up and down the coast, there always seem to be those scenic views that have you think “I gotta get a shot of that sometime.”

    Nice that you actually bothered getting it!

    Great pics! thanks.

Comments are closed.