Date: 2016-05-16
From: Elk Garden

To: Spring past Hurricane Creek Trail
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a very eventful day that included the highest peak in Virginia, very tough hiking, the 500th mile, a foot bridge collapsing on me, a Lost Boys sighting and our longest day so far. Oh, and wild ponies and trail maintainers.Let¢s begin¢¦ About 4 mile in, we took a 12 mile side trail to get to the summit of Mt. Rogers, Virginia¢s highest peak. The top consisted of a thick spruce tree forest, so we were bummed we didn¢t have a view. But we still had fun finding the survey markers that marked the high point. The first 15 miles were the toughest miles since our second week in GA. Large boulders, jagged rocks, bit steps and thick roots were the story during those miles. Not only did it slow down our pace, but it killed our feet. Mine were in pain after 6 miles. Normally I can go 12 these days before the pain comes. Through all the bumps and bruises, however, we crossed the 500 mile mark. It¢s not quite 14 of the trail, but it¢s still an accomplishment! About 3 miles later, some shoddy craftsmanship could have ended my hike early. I was crossing a fast moving stream on a typical footbridge, keeping a good pace. I look ahead to the other side and see a wooden ramp going down. I think ¢Well that¢s nice they put in a ramp instead of huge stairs¢. I get to it and step on, not thinking anything is awry. Well, as soon as any weight lands on it , the ramp collapses and slams to the ground. My full weight and momentum is still going forward so I throw my poles in front of me to stop my fall. The right pole slips on a wet rock, so I instinctively toss it aside to use my hands. Meanwhile, my left foot is at bridge height trying to figure out what¢s going on while my right foot is trying to regain balance. My right knee then bangs into the failed ramp and my left arm scraps on a rock. I eventually settle in one place, face down on top of the ramp next to the creek. I tell Ziploc I¢m okay and get up to look at the terrible design. Their main flaw in the ramp was that they forgot to put an anchor on the ground to hold the ramp in place. The lack of one caused the ramp to move laterally when I stepped on it. An oversight of lack of design could have sent me home had my injuries have been worse. I put the ramp back up since it¢s a 3 foot drop without it. I hope nobody else has the same problem I did. A couple miles later, we see our first AT maintenance crew at Scales Livestock Corral finishing for the day. There were probably 50 people there with enough sledgehammers and pick axes to supply a small army. There were about 30 poles up in the truck with double that many piled up by the trail it was a HUGE operation! They were there putting in stairs on the hillside we just came down. It was annoying to see what they were doing to the trail. One cool thing though was when the guy in the back saw we were close, he yelled ¢Hikers coming through¢! and the whole line of 6 or so guys stepped off the side to let us pass. At least they respect us enough to get over out of our way! About 5 miles later at Fox Creek we passed the Lost Boys! It was actually just Indy and Badger as they were waiting for Pyro and Stretch was ahead of them. It¢s crazy to think that after a 5 day break, we were able to catch up and pass the Lost Boys. But it makes sense since it seems their pace and mileage has severely decreased as ours has increased significantly. We may see them again in Marion, VA during our zero day, but if not, then we may actually never see them again. Throughout the whole day, we were seeing wild ponies everywhere! It started with a group of them about a mile before Mt. Rogers that I recorded as we passed. We thought that¢s all we would see, but there were 7 different herds! I counted a total of 33 full grown ponies, 7 younger ones and one baby pony. That doesn¢t include the 25 ¢ 30 ponies from the last two herds that were too far away to count. It was a very cool surprise to walk next to those ponies for miles! Indy said they wandered into their camp last night and one fell asleep on his lap for a bit. All of this happened during our longest hiking day to date. It¢s hard to believe there can be this much variety and action just by hiking a simple 20 miles through the woods, but here we are. I¢m glad the hike is staying fresh and hasn¢t become stale and boring. If it ever does, it would be that much harder to continue.