Date: 2006-06-01
To: Massie Gap
Miles today: 17.3

By LeftyWill try to get this updated later today. Staying at the Mt. Rogers Outfitter's Hostel in Damascus. Got thru yesterday's hike okay. slowly feeling better. by BuoyEvery morning its hard for me to get up. This morning however it was especially grave. I was so beside myself that I forgot about everything. I did not bring my rain jacket my pack cover or even an hiking shirt. Just my polls and my shoes I managed to bring hiking. I basically got aware of all this at the trailhead. Luckily I thought of bringing a trash bag. The morning started out sunny and warm. I parked in the middle of the Grayson Highlands State Park. A wonderful treeless area with great 360 degrees views . It looks like Scotland. So I had fun for the first 30 minutes. Than I heard the thunder and my mind changed to ¢ I have to get off this mountain before the electrical storm hits¢ mode. I was again on the highest peak of the whole area and a really did not want to go though an electrical storm up here. So Instead of soaking in the view I walked as fast as I could. After about an hour I ran into the famous wild Ponies. They hang out here on these mountains and are pretty tame. They just ignored me and went about their business while I was standing there to watch them. They looked like normal Ponies to me but I was told that they are considered wild because nobody would be able to train them to do anything productive. Lucky Ponies. This first thunder storm did not really hit me but just a few hours later the next one did. I quickly made a rain jacket out of the trash bag and hit under trees. I made sure no large tree was close to me. It rained cats and dogs ( you could have drowned cats and dogs in the rain) My boots had water standing in them but I must say my rain coat creation worked pretty well. I would have just walked on but I had another Bald right in front of me and again did not walk in the open during an electrical storm While I was standing there under the trees in the rain I turned around and discovered that dozens of cows had the same idea. They were standing right behind me under the trees chewing throw up ( I guess that is what cows usually chew on). They looked very patient and content and made me feel a little bit better about my miserable situation. Eventually I decided to start walking over that bald. It still was raining hard but I had not heard any lightning in a while. To get to the gate on the bottom of the hill I had to go by a large bull . I hoped he did not know that I just was behind the bushes with 10 of his ladies. Right at that moment I also ran into Lefty and Righty who had found shelter under a trailhead sign. We exchanged keys whished each others well and went on in the rain. I later heard that for them the rain continued for a few more hours while for me it stopped pretty soon.By RightyThe trail started off easy then we had a 2500 foot elevation gain in 5 miles. Of course, it rained hard from 11am to 2 pm and we hiked the rest of the day with soaking wet feet. We saw the wild ponies on Grayson Highlands. It was sort of neat. They were very friendly and looking for food; however, all I had on me was a Payday. For some reason it seemed like a long day, probably because it was mostly "up hill" for Lefty and I.