Taking A Walk

by Dwayne Phillips

Rivers and hills go together. I guess I knew this at some point in my life, but walking impresses the lesson.

It really is pretty simple and is based on the simple fact of physics and fluid dynamics that,

water flows downhill

Rivers are at the bottom of a set of hills. The water in the river naturally settles at the bottom of a hill. When I walk across a bridge over a river, I have just finished walking down a hill. And I am about to start walking up a hill. The down-the-hill-to-the-river walk never seems as big as the up-the-hill-away-from-the-river walk.

The first time I noticed this relationship between rivers and hills was near Fancy Hill, Virginia. I had crossed a simple steam and then walked up a long hill. I really noticed this relationship near Pulaski, Virginia. That was the single biggest, steepest hill on the walk so far.

The next time you are speeding along the Interstate and you cross a bridge, look down at the river. Then look at the hills on both sides of the river. The hills will be there.