VDOT's Carrie Shepheard, Lou Hatter on the Afton Mountain rock slide
Mid-day on Sunday (May 2nd, 2021), I crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains along U.S. Route 250. As I traveled up the mountain, just to the west of the Albemarle-Nelson county line, I noticed a modest pile of rock debris and tilted trees on the uphill side of the highway. A small mass wasting event had recently occurred—this was no surprise as the southeastern slope of the Blue Ridge near Rockfish Gap is prone to mass movement because of its geology.