A Long Walk: Daily Diaries (8/18/11

Before I begin sharing the adventures of the past few days, I'd like to mention that the gentleman who shared his war story with us was the elder Richard Hamm. Not sure that that fact was real clear in my original write-up. Next up: 8/18/11

Date: 8/18/11
Trail Section: VA42 to VA617
Distance: 10-3/4 miles

Today we hiked mostly on private property in which we were supposed to have written permits from the owners. With that said, no one let us know who the owners were and we did not bother to find out. So we hiked unpermitted.

The hiking terrain was very versatile: under canopied tree cover; in the green tunnel; through pastures; through tall grass/weeds and over plank-covered marsh areas. This made for an interesting hike. There were numerous deer spotting along the way; however, the only other animals we saw today were cows.

The weather started off overcast which later became a light rain that cleared up and out popped the sun to turn the trail into a sauna. So the weather went from great hiking weather to not so good hiking weather.

We started the hike at Virginia State Road 42 where there was a great parking spot for hikers. As we start, we see the large sign that states that the next ten miles is private land and that we should have a written permit from the land owner. At two miles in, we start the climb to the top of Big Walker Mountain a climb of about 700 ft over a mile. Not super hard, but hard enough. We dropped off it into Crawfish Valley and right back up Cullion Mountain which was about a 700 ft climb too. From there, it was a gradual descent to VA617 with a couple of 100 ft bumps. Other than being hot and tired at the end of the day, we enjoyed the hike.

Another Green Tunnel

Tall grass, weeds and apple trees

Plank covered marshland

Date: 8/19/11

Trail Section: VA615 Settlers Museum to VA617

Distance: Approximately 4 miles

Today my cousin Tom and his friend Ted came up to hike with us for two days. We knew that they would get in late in the morning so we planned a short, easy hike for the day. It was a short, gentle hike through forest, old apple orchards, high grasses and blackberry patches. As Ted told Ellen when we came in, "we sort of grazed our way from one point to the other". It was a fun, easy hike.

I don't know who Tom is about to throw the apple at!

Ted supervising Tom and Richard on how to pick and eat blackberries

Date: 8/20/11

Trail Section: Elk Garden to Grayson Highlands State Park’s Rhododendron Trail

Distance: Approximately 8 miles

Early on we skipped this portion of the trail and saved it to hike for when Tom and Ted came. This is one of the prettier parts of the AT in Virginia. It includes Mount Rogers (the highest peak in Virginia) and Grayson Highlands State Park.
The hike starts with a gradual 700 ft climb for the first four miles up to Mount Rogers Summit Trail and Thomas Knob Shelter. On the way up we stop at Brier Ridge Saddle for lunch and have our first encounter with the feral ponies in the highlands. At Thomas Knob Shelter we start meeting other hikers coming up from the state park. Before the hike is over there will be hundreds of hikers. One of these hikers mentioned the rocky climb from the park up to Thomas Knob Shelter. She wasn’t lying, there were a lot of very large rocks. This made the hiking, which should have been easy, very hard especially on knees and feet.

At and near Thomas Knob there were huge black flies. As we walked in shaded areas near thick growth and at Thomas Knob Shelter, thousands of flies get airborn, fly all around us, but never land on us. It was weird with that many flies and none landing on us. We must have really smelled bad.

On the way down Tom and I climbed a rock formation for the view and got separated from Richard and Ted. As we were trying to catch up with them, a hiker stopped us and asked where we were. He had maps but was confused as to what direction was what. After numerous times of telling him what was north and south on the AT, he kept trying to go south when he wanted to go north. Even when one of his hiking partners tried to correct him he would not listen. Tom and I tried to help him with his maps and decided that it was not detailed enough so I broke out my maps and tried to show him. He still would not listen. He knew he was lost when he asked for his location he just wasn’t going to accept that he was wrong. I even tried to convince him to hike down to the state park offices. He was not listening. Tom and I finally left him and his hiking group, knowing that no matter what we said he would not listen. I just hope someone in his group could convince him he was wrong, or take over leadership of the group.

The views, the large rock formations, climbing these formations, the alpine-like environment and even the tourists (especially the lost ones) all made this hike memorable. However the thing that made it most memorable to me were the ponies and one pony in particular. There were a lot of ponies on the trail so you expect them at any time. One came out of the trees right up to me before I realized it. I reached out and scratched its nose and walked on. About 100 feet down the trail I stopped to look at a pony foal and I feel this nudge on my hand; it is the pony whose nose I had scratched. It appears she wants my arm over her neck. So, I place my arm over her neck and she stays there for several minutes just as happy as she can be.

This has been a hard, memorable day of hiking, and the prettiest hike this year. I am glad that Tom and Ted were able to hike with us. This is their last day of hiking with us this year.