Date: 2015-05-05
From: Elk Garden

To: Fox Creek
Miles today: 16.9

Monday May 4th Who would believe that hiking in Virginia would be so difficult. The Iceman thought it would be less challenging after the Smoky's, but two days of climbing mountains over 5000' changed his mind. As the Iceman climbed the first of two high mountains a young through hiker came toward him heading south. When he reached the Iceman he said, "Are you going north?". The Iceman confirmed that he was heading north and the young hiker told how he went through a maze of stone and lost his sense of direction and started south bound without knowing it. He quickly turned north, and having lost time going the wrong way, he speed off in the right direction again. When the Iceman reached the top of the mountain he realized how the young man got confused. The AT went through narrow passages, caves and crevices all poorly marked with the AT white blaze. Some of the passages turned back on themselves and it was very easy to come out of that section going in the wrong direction. The Iceman took care to note each step he took and felt that when he came out of the maze he was going north. After proceeding for about a mile the Iceman met another hiker and wanted to confirm that he was indeed going north. The other hiker was so sure that the Iceman was going SOUTH that he became a bit arrogant when questioned about the hikers knowledge of the trail. The Iceman turned around and started hiking in the other direction until he met a through hiker that he knew, Mooch. He asked Mooch which direction she was going in and she said north. After much discussion they both agreed that the other hiker didn't know what he was talking about so the Iceman and Mooch began hiking together. You see, Mooch was a trail guide in Denali National Park in Alaska for a few years so the Iceman felt he could trust her sense of direction. Aside from that little glitch the day was a perfect day. It was warm and sunny and the views from the mountain tops were all spectacular. One could see 50 miles in every direction. Hiking on into the woods the Iceman came upon wild ponies wandering through the trees and grazing on the grass. What an unexpected sight! Beautiful ponies that were bigger than Shetland ponies but smaller than a horse. They were very tame and a hiker told a story of one pony licking the legs of another hiker. Why do you think they were doing that? Can you guess how they came to inhabit Mt. Rogers? There are more photo's of ponies and other sights seen on Mt. Rogers that day in the photo section. The Iceman also went through a large field where there was a herd of cattle grazing. The had mighty big horns and as he got closer to them he heard threatening sounds. Thoughts of Mad Cow crept into his brain. Even though the climbs and descents today were steep and rocky today's hike was as good as it could possibly get. Two 5000' mountain climbs, a dark and foreboding labyrinth, wild ponies and mad cows. Where were the dancing pigs?? The next day, May 5th was a day off for the Iceman and the Sherpa. They celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary with a trip to the Biltmore Estate and Winery and dinner at Limones in Asheville. The Sherpa spent Monday moving from the Mountain Laurel Inn in Damascus to a new base camp in Marion VA, The General Francis Hotel.