By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
In the spring of 2010, on our way home from North Carolina, we crossed a small corner of Western Virginia. Even though it was such a small section of the state, we made the best of it.
One of the locations we passed was an overlook called Lovers Leap. We were in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which were turning an early spring green.
There are multiple locations in the Blue Ridge Mountains called Lovers Leap, and other locations around the country, all with legends of “the leap” associated with them.
The legend of this Lover’s Leap is that the son of a settler was love-struck when he first laid eyes on the local Indian Chief’s daughter, Morning Flower. They began to meet each other in secret and their love grew.
When the Indian Tribe and the settlers found out about their love, the young couple were threatened and shunned. From this location, high in the mountains, with the trees, rocks, and wildflowers as their backdrop, they leapt together off the mountain so they could be together forever.
I hope we can return to the Blue Ridge Mountains someday and take in more of the scenery and the old homesteads that were saved along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
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