Date: 2013-05-14
From: US 58

To: Wise shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: clear sky

Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars. Henry Van Dyke       The stars are incredible right now. It's 1:30 a.m. Polaris is sleeping out beneath them and I'm hanging my head out of my tent. He has his zero bag, so is very comfortable.       What a day this was. I hiked over Whitetop Mountain in the morning and enjoyed perfect weather and excellent views. I met other hikers and told them that Copilot and Polaris were doing trail magic ahead at a road crossing. Soon, I was seeing SOBOs who'd met them and were sending extra thanks back for the food and drinks. Then I had them in sight--the best!!!       They were meeting lots of hikers and thoroughly enjoying themselves. I had lunch with them and Polaris and I got ready to go. He was so excited. Been waiting all morning to get on the trail with me. We were hiking into the Grayson Highlands, one of his favorite sections on the AT.       Off we went, uphill through a grassy meadow. Gave a final wave to Copilot at the top. We'll see him on Thursday at the Partnership shelter. Polaris is in his element, climbing fast (when he sees a hill, he kicks it to high gear), trek poles flying.       Initially, I felt like I was walking through a Christmas tree farm.   The piney smell was so strong. I walked by all sizes of fir trees, mixed with wind blown, weathered tree trunks. We stopped for lunch at Thomas Knob shelter, one of the nicest I've seen.       There are wild ponies in Grayson, and two were at the shelter, a momma and baby. They come right up to lick everything: you, your pack, your trek poles. We are just big salt licks to them.    Aviator was there for lunch and had made a tortilla filled with hummus, which momma pony promptly stole and ate. They were after her shoes, too. It was amazing to watch them. You could pet them. It was hard to leave, but we were headed to the next shelter, five miles away.       The trail changed dramatically after lunch. We walked through open grassy fields, littered with rocks and big rock outcroppings. We passed through a rock tunnel. The weather was perfect and you could see forever. Over the big rocks we went, down and around. It was beautiful and very different from anything so far. There were lots of pretty campsites.      Polaris is teaching me the wildflower names. The beautiful little white ones are Spring Beauties. I saw patches of tiny blue flowers called Bluets. May Apples and Trilliums are everywhere. Polaris dug up wild ramps for a snack. They taste oniony, garlicky, spicy and you eat the whole thing, leaves and bulb.    I was pretty tired, so we stopped at Wise shelter for the night. It is at the 500 mile mark. Wow. Others were here and more arrived later. We got settled and ate Ramen with tuna for dinner. I hit my tent but Polaris organized a game of pass the pigs with some cute lady hikers. I heard raucous laughter for a long time.    Hiking with Polaris is a gift. We talked, took pictures and enjoyed life in the present moment. No worries about tomorrow, no thoughts about yesterdays, just being in the present and loving it so much.       I talked to Copilot and he'd stayed at the road crossing until 4 p.m., until everything was gone. He had groups of twelve and fifteen hikers at times. Back at Larry's, he learned that a hiker named Biscuit had been found dead in Abingdon, a town a short distance from Damascus. No solid info yet on the circumstances.    I also learned that both Obie and Jolly will be coming in Thursday night. We will pick them up at the local airport. The three of us started this hike together and it will be wonderful to be reunited. I can't wait.    I'm posting extra photos today as it was just one of those days that was filled with wonder and joy. Well, all my days are like that, but some just provide more photo ops.    It's all good when you get to hike with Polaris!So happily Tie Dye