Date: 2017-04-10
From: Lost Mountain Shelter, VA

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: scattered clouds

4/10/17 Thomas Knob Shelter, VAMiles hiked: 497.3, Miles to go: 1692.5Today's hike turned out to be tougher than any of us were expecting. We awoke to another beautiful day as the sun came up. Uncle Heather was already gone. Hummingbird, Courtney, and Sitting Bull all took their time getting up since they were only hiking 12.3 miles to Thomas Knob shelter. 1st Sgt and I were planning to go 17 miles to Wise Shelter, so we headed out right after breakfast. We descended 1.5 miles to Rt 58 and then the climb started. It was a 2000 ft climb to the top of White Top Mountain. It wasn't too steep; but, it went on forever. As we ascended, we began passing Boy Scouts in various states of distress as they were struggling up the trail with tragically heavy packs. We found out that it was a troop from Northern Virginia out for several days to earn their 50 Miler badge. After an interminable climb in the steadily rising temperatures, we reached Buzzard Rocks. The rest of the scout troop was at the rocks waiting on the stragglers. The open bald around the rocks was as pretty as any we've seen so far. We could see row upon row of mountains marching off in all directions. We descended to another road crossing at Elk Garden, where we stopped for lunch. At this point, we began to realize that the heat and climbing were beginning to wear on us. We knew we had to climb back up to Mount Rogers (the highest peak in VA), so we began to entertain the thought of stopping at Thomas Knob Shelter, which was just below the summit of Mt Rogers, rather than pushing on to Wise Shelter if the climb turned out to be bad. The climb turned out to be bad. It wasn't too steep; however, it was extremely rocky. With close to 500 miles on our shoes, they are beginning to break down. So, we felt every rock and root. As we climbed, the trees began to thin out and the land began to take on the open character that I so love about the Grayson Highlands. We also began to see piles of poop and tiny hoof prints in the mud that spoke of the presence of the feral ponies for which the Grayson Highlands are famous. As we approached Thomas Knob shelter, 1st Sgt and I both agreed that the climb had beaten us up enough that we did not wish to go any further. When we reached the shelter, we were met by four ponies - a stallion and three mares. The ponies were very tame and very much interested in licking the salt off of us and our packs. There may have been an apple or two that got shared with the ponies also. Pretty soon, the Boy Scouts arrived and the ponies followed them to the tenting area. Since there were 16 scouts and several leaders, they pretty much filled the tenting area. So, the thru hikers all decided to stay in the shelter. It is a double decker shelter that sleeps 16. Hummingbird, Courtney, and Uncle Heather are sleeping on the top level and 1st Sgt and I (who have been dubbed "The Dads" by the younger hikers) are sleeping on the lower level. Standing Bull is cowboy camping outside the shelter. Although it was a pretty tiring day and we didn't make as much mileage as we'd planned, seeing the ponies easily made up for the pain and effort of the climbs. Also, although Hummingbird whipped me at cribbage again, he didn't manage to skunk me this time!