Date: 2015-07-31
From: Campsite past Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: scattered clouds

People have told me about spontaneous crying on the AT. Tie at Laughing Heart told me there were several parts of the trail that were so meaningful to her that she cried. Pilgrim also confessed to weeping at beautiful views. And though I'm a sentimental sucker, I didn't think it would happen to me.And then I saw the Grayson Highlands.First: the ponies. How did I not know the AT had wild ponies?! I didn't find out until Top of Georgia, when I was looking at a mural of the sights of the whole trail...and saw little horses. "Wait. What's *that*?" I asked.Part of the reason I booked it and did 20 miles yesterday was because I was so excited to see the ponies. I decided to give myself carte blanche to do whatever I wanted all day, to spend as much time there as I wanted.Pretty much as soon as I hit the rocky outcropping, not even in Grayson Highlands State Park proper, I hit my first mare and two impossibly fuzzy foals.I was giddy. I was thrilled down to my horse-crazy-13-year-old bones.And it just got better and better.I was so entranced that I didn't notice I got off the AT. I'm glad I did though...my detour along the Crest Trail, which took a few hours and added probably 4-5 miles to my day, was the highlight of the trip.The AT is so foreign to what I know of hiking in California...except for this. The cattle fences, the dry earth, the horse apples...it reminded me of home, of growing up riding my horse in the fields of north Livermore.It made me think of my parents, and how lucky I am to have them, and how they taught me by example that if there's something you want to learn about, you just have to seek out the right people to talk to.Even though neither of them had any experience with horses, they did all the legwork to find the perfect first horse for my 16th birthday. That...and the lovable, crusty old cowboy who taught me to ride and care for my horse.So that was on my mind as I wandered the Crest Trail, along with childhood trips to Chincoteague to see the wild ponies (and the rather unfortunate stuffed Misty of Chincoteague).10 minutes after seeing the first ponies, I thought of my parents, how fortunate I am, and the enormous beauty of the sweeping vistas, and the waterworks began.It was pretty powerful. Luckily I had the trail all to myself so I didn't have to explain the crying.I soon reached a clearing with more wild ponies...and longhorn cattle. Longhorns are beautiful creatures...but scary! How could I explain to my mother escaping being hit by lightning only to get gored by a longhorn?At some point I ran into a man resting with his dog under a tree. He asked if I was taking a shortcut to the AT - which was my first indication that I was no longer on the AT! But then he mentioned a band of ponies just a mile further...and screw it, the AT wasn't going anywhere. So I went to find more ponies!It's a good thing this came at the end of my trip and not the beginning...otherwise I would have blown all my phone's memory on pony pics!I eventually retraced my steps and returned to the AT and completed that section of the hike, entering the State Park proper. But it was that first digression that was one of my favorite memories of the whole trip.