My Little Wild Ponies

Day 43

In the morning we went back to Mojoe's for breakfast and to finish up blogging. I decided I need to start writing my blogs on the Trail so I don't just rush through it while trying to relax in a town. The writing should be better that way too. Additionally, we have become strong enough and used to hiking enough not to be completely tired at the end of hiking. Now we feel like we can do more at the shelter. In the beginning it was a real chore just to walk 100 yards to fill up on water. Despite the fact that a lot of thruhikers convinced themselves to stay another day in Damascus becsuse of the 80% chance of rain all day, we decided to leave. We didn't end up leaving Damascus until eleven o'clock. We felt strong as we hiked up and down Iron Mountain. As we hiked up the next mountain we passed what appeared to be a class of thirty middle schoolers with a few adults. Along the way, Nepsis and I talked about how great a cold drink that wasn't water would be. It hadn't rained at all the entire day. It was just hot. Down the mountain a sign announced trail magic "3/4ish" miles away. We discussed the option and decided to go for it even though most other hikers thought it was too far. It was far. It seemed more like a mile passed a lake and campground to a pavillion. Closed coolers and boxes filled with random equipment were scattered about. Two empty hammocks were hung. But there wasn't a soul in sight. We found a note saying they'd left for the store and found a clipboard with meals for several days planned out. We realized the thirty kids were probably set up here. We waited around for a bit, but it was getting late so we grabbed some gatorade and four baby carrots before we left. On the way out we met the kids coming in and they felt bad no one was there to give us anything. They invited us to spaghetti dinner which would be ready in an hour, but we declined. They did force us to take the remainder of their trail mix they had with them. We tried to refuse it, but realized we should take it for their sakes. Back on the Trail we hiked up Lost Mountain. At the end of our hike it started to sprinkle so we sped up and reached Lost Mountain Shelter right before it rained hard for awhile. As we cooked some mac and cheese, the water started to boil the lid off our pot. When I reached for it the pot fell off our stove, spilling noodles and water as I caught it. Some of the burning alcohol also spilled on the picnic table and I had to douse it out with the lid.

Miles hiked today: 15.6 Total AT miles completed: 483.2 Total AT miles left to hike: 1702.1

Day 44

It was a bit cold in the morning so we didn't get up right away. After a few miles Nepsis found two morel mushrooms right by the Trail which really excited her. She had been talking about them for a long time. We climbed up Whitetop Mountain and found ourselves in the middle of a cloud. We could only see a few feet in front of us at times. On our way down off the mountain we started to get hungry, but I thought we should wait until we got to the road in case there was trail magic there. No one was there when we got there so we broke out our food. When we were cutting our cheese and sausage a van pulled up to the parking lot and a couple got out. Once our bagel, cheese, sausage, and ramp sandwiches were prepared and we were about to bite into them the man called to us. He asked, "Do you want burgers, corn, and asparagus?" We said, "Yes!" He said, "I know, I had you at burgers." We didn't say it, but we were both looking more forward to the corn and asparagus. We've had plenty of burgers the past few weeks. We lounged around for quite awhile waiting for and enjoying the grilled food we got. The man had thruhiked the year before and was back to do some section hiking. After we had our fill and thanked them, we were off to go up Mount Rogers. On the way up Dawg pointed out some wild ponies in a field. We got closer to see them better and probably got about one hundred feet away from them. After we left them we hiked a little more to Thomas Knob Shelter where we enjoyed our ramen with the morels and ramps we had collected along our way. We were the only ones to stay in the two-story shelter.

Miles hiked today: 12.2 Total AT miles completed: 495.4 Total AT miles left to hike: 1689.9

Day 45

The night was very cold and we wished we had stayed on the second floor which was completely enclosed. We stayed under our quilt for sometime before moving along across the highlands and over and around rocky terrain. We even went through a rock tunnel called the Fatman Squeeze. As we moved on we noticed a group of ponies not far off the Trail and quietly approached them. There was even a foal the size of a dog nursing from her mother. The ponies didn't mind us and let us pet them and admire their beauty for awhile. We moved on into the Grayson Highlands State Park where we passed by several more ponies before passing our 500 mile mark. We stopped for a snack at Wise Shelter and a brown pony came sauntering over to beg. He tried rifling through Nepsis' open pack, but when she closed it he just stood right next to her at the picnic table waiting. We left, hiked up Stone Mountain and across the Scales where they used to keep cattle. At the end we did see two steers with long horns. We continued on up and down Pine Mountain to VA 603 where two ladies had some snacks and cold drinks for trail magic. They also had denatured alcohol we could fill up on. While we were there a group of men drove up with a bunch of food and started setting up camp. They gave us two PBRs and an enchilada and burrito for us to take with us since we had just eaten lunch. We then walked up Hurricane Mountain and halfway down to Hurricane Mountain Shelter whete Nepsis made a fire to heat up our trail magic dinner.

Miles hiked today: 16 Total AT miles completed: 511.4 Total AT miles left to hike: 1673.9

Day 46

We woke up with the sunrise at six o'clock and got going quickly because we'd planned on a long day of hiking. We hiked quickly until we started getting hungry. We stopped for lunch at the next shelter and discovered it was only 10:45. We ate anyway and hiked on at a fast pace. Soon after lunch we passed a canopy tent with a couple of trunks set up by a local church as trail magic. It was pretty scrapped of supplies, but we took a couple of ramen packets. There were also cans of Campbell's soup, but we had just eaten lunch. We hiked on with few rests and reached Partnership Shelter before 3:30. This shelter had two floors and was well crafted. It even had a shower and a sink. Just down the Trail was the Mount Rogers Visitor Center where they had a phone. We called for a pizza delivery and took showers while we waited. It was lukewarm, but still nice. We also washed some clothes and hung them up on a clothesline they had set up. We ate our pizza and read some magazines left at the shelter before falling asleep.

Miles hiked today: 19.7 Total AT miles completed: 531.1 Total AT miles left to hike: 1654.2