Michelle and I, along with my parents Ed and Mary Talbott, visited the Great Channels of Virginia on Clinch Mountain this Independence Day. This fascinating sandstone labyrinth is a place that must be seen to be believed. Along the way up the mountain, we found a host of various wildflowers, birds, butterflies, and mushrooms that kept us busy trying to identify them. After a lunch at 4,200 feet on Hayter's Knob (with a helping of the many huckleberries that are growing at the summit), we spent the next hour exploring the many passages of the Channels. High elevation birds here included Canada Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Veeries, and Ravens. The weather was perfect and it was a day that will be long remembered.