04- 



Stevenson.] ^^ [March 18, 



at the pike and the axis of the Kimberling anticlinal must pass near the 

 fork of the road. The Lake road winds up the mountain side and reaches 

 the Hudson beds within two miles of the lake. The Pavilion Knob, just 

 west from the lake, shows the red shales with Rhynchonella and AmhonycMa 

 half way up, while at the very top is a large Lingula in vast numbers 

 associated with a Modiolopsis. Medina caps several knobs on the ridge 

 between Doe and Little Stony creeks. The outcrops of that rock meet on 

 the summit of the Kimberling fold at a considerable distance east from the 

 lake and thence to the eastern edge of Giles county Big and Salt Pond 

 mountains are covered by dense forest, through which no road passes. 



The Mountain lake or Salt pond is at somewhat more than 4000 feet 

 above tide and is three-fourths of a mile long by one-half mile wide, the 

 measurements being extreme in each case. It occupies a great sinkhole, 

 which, within fifty years contained only a small pond of water at the 

 bottom of the depression, by which a farmer salted his cattle. In some 

 way, the outlet of the pool became choked, and water from the adjacent 

 springs accumulated until it overflowed the rim and discharged itself into 

 Little Stony creek. The subterranean outlet may be opened again and 

 the pond drained. The spot is very attractive, and at one time it was a 

 popular resort. 



The road to Newport winds along the side of Salt Pond mountain, 

 descending rapidly after it passes the point of the mountain, which is in 

 the synclinal between Kimberling and Sinking Creek anticlinals. The 

 Trenton shales are reached at about three miles from the Lake hotel and 

 are thrown into numerous and complex folds, many of which are broken 

 and slightly faulted along the axial plane. These occupy the synclinal 

 and exhibit conditions the same with those observed in these shales in the 

 Pearisburg synclinal on the point of Butte mountain. The massive beds 

 of the Trenton are reached quickly after the road begins direct descent to 

 Sinking creek, but exposures soon become rare, as the surface is thickly 

 covered by debris, derived largely from Medina, of which huge fragments 

 are numerous. The Calciferous cherts are shown occasionallj', but not in 

 place. 



The Sinking Creek anticlinal is crossed at not more than two-thirds of a 

 mile north from that creek, and the massive limestones of the Trenton are 

 shown at the stream with southward dip. The pike is reached at a little 

 way beyond the creek, and there the Trenton shaly limestones are shown 

 much distorted and describing many complicated folds ; the dip on each 

 side being often eighty degrees. The thicker limestones are brought up 

 several times. The road crosses the Saltville fault at a little more than 

 half a mile north from Newport, the Trenton shales being brought into 

 contact with the lower cherts of the Calciferous. The fault passes along 

 Buckeye mountain, which, where crossed by the pike, has suifered much 

 from erosion ; but at a little distance on each side the Medina is present 

 and the mountain is conspicuous. The Sinking Creek anticlinal diminishes 

 eastward and the Medina outcrops unite before reaching the county line. 



