This is the first family reunion I have not made the trek to Flat Rocks with our family. A surgery prevented me from taking the trip. I can’t tell you how sad I was not to make it, or how happy I felt that my children sought it anyway.

If you know me, more than just casually, you have probably heard me talk about Flat Rocks. I’m not shy about it. I’ve posted about it here many times. More than five decades ago, when I was a kid, this trek felt like an incredibly long adventure hike. It’s a place in our creek in West Virginia, about 1 mile from the spot where I took the photo above.

Our creek is a quiet, shallow creek that flows through the dense piece of West Virginia forest we own. It winds over broad, flat shelves of layered stone. We named one spot on the way “Bacon Strips,” because it looks like layered, sliced bacon. It’s also a special spot because you know you’re getting close when you reach Bacon Strips.

Flat Rocks itself is, geologically speaking, a weathered bedrock ledge formed along a natural bedding plane. There are probably lots of places in West Virginia that look similar. The public can access them in places like Blackwater Falls State Park.

Flat Rocks Is Our Spot

But this one is ours. This one is mine. Moss covers the ledges, while ferns and small plants grow from damp cracks along the creek bed. Tall trees and thick green foliage surround the water, creating a special, secluded place that feels shaped by generations of rain, erosion, changing seasons, and family treks.

Flat Rocks feels inhabited by the presence of everyone who has enjoyed the spot and rested there before. When I die, my ashes will inhabit it. And it is the subject of the first photo on this blog, 18 years, 9 months, and 27 days ago.

Jeff Turner

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