Hightown (7/12/2015)

Yes, Hightown.  Located in Highland County, smack in the middle of the Blue Grass Valley along route 250.  It consists of a farm building a few supporting buildings and what looks like a general store.  This is the place where we turn right when we visit our friends who live in the valley.  It was also the place that was a rest stop when we biked the "Mountain Mama."

Hightown has another distinction, it is the divide between the James River watershed and the Potomac River watershed.   Actually the roof of the barn in the middle of the photograph is the divide.   Rain that falls on the left side becomes the James (or the Jackson River one of the two main tributaries that make the James) and the rain that that falls on the right side of the roof becomes the South Branch of the Potomac.  It is fun to see such a significant place: the source of two (historically and environmentally) major rivers.  And it all starts with a roof!  Naturally, the Jackson and Potomac will gather more and more water when the flow down hill, but they have to start somewhere.  That the story of our life, plant a seed to grow a plant, start with the first drop have a major river, etc.  Fun!

Bluegrass valley is gorgeous, but from what I hear, a darn cold place in the winter, but it is nice and cool in the summer; no air-conditioner needed.  We have biked it in the summer and hiked on our friend's property.  Unlike some other places I've been in the world (like Scotland), we value private property in the US and I would not dare walk through someone else's fields, and I know of no public hiking trails in Bluegrass Valley with the exception of the public roads.  (During previous visits we have hiked along the Jackson River as I described here.  That was in a county park.)  Still it is a great place to relax.