Date: 2004-04-24
From: Grayson Highlands, Massie Gap

To: Va. 603, Fox Creek
Miles today: 7.4

Today is Saturday April 24th. We dropped our car off at Va 603, Fox Creek and the Appalachian Trail. We are giving a ride to 3 thru-hikers. Their names are MC From Rhode Island, Sweet Cheeks from Vermont, And Willow from Maine. We stop by the post office and now we're dropping them off at the diner. We waited for the 3 hikers at the Troutdale post office, and I thought they wanted to go to a diner right near here. But we drove and drove and finally one of them said, ¢it's only another five miles¢ , turned out it was more like 8 Miles to the Sugar Grove Diner. So we dropped them off and headed back and went on up into the Grayson Highlands, at Massie Gap. We paid $6 to keep our car at the parking lot overnight. And we walk the spur trail to get to the Appalachian Trail At 11:05 am. Just before we reach the Appalachian Trail there were three ponies on the trail. Two little Stallions and one little mare that looked like she was ready to foal. The two little guys looked a lot alike. One was just slightly bigger than the other. They were fighting a little bit and biting each others neck, and one even jumped on the other one, they were having fun. They got down on their front knees and tried to bite each other, but I think it was all in fun. At the Appalachian Trail Junction we passed our first hiker of the day. Then we went downhill toward the creek. We passed Baker and then we came up on 4 guys hiking, right when we reached a stile. Also a whole group of Boy Scouts caught up with us at the stile, and we decided we better get going. We stayed out in front of the Boy Scouts and finally arrived at the Wise shelter. A guy at the shelter was named Frito because he used to work for Frito-Lay and gave away Frito-Lay products on the trail. He would leave product in his pickup truck at a Trailhead and people would just pick up what they wanted. He has section hiked the whole Trail. We talked to him about the social security retirement, and how to take care of your feet hiking. He wants to hike in Europe next year. He recommended molded insoles for your shoes. Cindy wants to get some. So we stayed there a long time at the shelter and finally, as we were leaving, Rambler shows up. We went on down the trail and finally came to a good resting spot, as we were leaving the little Wilson Creek Wilderness Area. It was about 2:20 p.m. and we decided to put the tarp out and have lunch. But while relaxing, we notice dark clouds coming over, so we decided we better get going. We left there and headed up Stone Mountain. Then we came to a meadows where there were supposedly some cattle, which we didn't see. And then we came to an area called the Scales at 3:20, which was a gap between two mountains. There was a sign there that said it was just an old Corral where they gathered the stock once a year. They would weigh the cattle and auction them off once a year. They also talked about the wild ponies on the mountain, that were brought in to keep the Mountain Meadows open. They didn't want sheep or cattle anymore when the forest service took over. Someone loaned the small ponies to the forest service to test in the Meadows, and the forest service eventually bought the ponies. It worked out well because the ponies can handle the cold winters and keep the Meadows clear. We hiked up over Pine Mountain at 4:15pm. It was a tough climb, with some views on top, and then we started down. It was very Rocky and it started to drizzle. We passed a group of Boy Scouts with their leaders, and the Boy Scouts were complaining a little bit. At 5:00pm we got to Old Orchard shelter, and there was Rambler and Baker. So we started to talk to them, And then Carefree and Freedom came in. Talked to them some about the Maples bed and breakfast experience . They left the shelter to go set their tent up for the night. There were other tents there and the Boy Scouts were going to stay there also, a crowded night. A lot of boys on the mountain on a Saturday night. One more thing back at the Scales, there were two older gentleman there in a pickup truck. We talked to one of the guys, said he's a trail runner since 1990. Helping out hikers who may run into trouble up in the High Country, because they aren't carrying their cold weather gear. And the other guy wanted to get a picture of a through hiker, it sounded like he hasn't been on the trail much. Also wanted to mention that at the Scales, Rambler came by there. They also had a special privy there with a men's side and women's side. I went ahead and used the women's one. It was the usual timing for me, while Rambler used the men's hole. Came off the trail and to our car on Fox Creek at 6:10 p.m. We will be car camping at Grindstone Campground tonight.