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WHEN thou- sands of Vir- ginians this month join the crowds taking in the fall colors at Shenandoah National Park, Addie Pollock won't be the first thing on their mind.

But the woman who was ahead of her time in the way she saw the environment, business and even spirituality played a key role in the establishment of the park.

Intrigued about the dynamic woman and other barrier-breakers who clustered around what's now the Skyland Lodge, I stopped by a few weeks ago to take a guided tour of Pollock's Massanutten Lodge.

I wasn't disappointed, as my guide, the knowledgeable Holly Mills, spun quite a historical tale of business, romance, capitalism and more.

It came along with a tour of the restored lodge where Pollock entertained guests ranging from Buddhist swamis to top women writers of the day.

For those who aren't familiar with the creation of the park, it helps to know that a wilderness camp of sorts called the Skyland Resort became the public face of the drive to put a national park named Shenandoah in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Mills explained that a young George Freeman Pollock was behind the creation of Skyland as a resort destination that, at the turn of the 20th century, was a two-day trip from Washington, D.C.

Our tour leader said Pollock was an inept businessman, but he had quite a flair for turning what had been his father's copper mine property into a wilderness getaway for city dwellers.

Pollard developed rustic cabins on some 50 lots, built dining and recreation halls and made Skyland the center of the social swirl, all while running about wearing a sombrero and buckskin fringe and blowing a trademark bugle that signaled the start of each new adventure or "tramping" hike.

And adventures there were. The park Web site said Pollock planned and engineered "elaborate balls, costume parties, teas, jousts and tournaments, musicales, pageants, and bonfires."

Mills noted that one of the many visitors who would come and stay for weeks at a time was Addie Nairn, an accomplished, independent divorcee from Washington.