Date: 2017-05-16
From: Lost Mountain Shelter 

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

5/16Lost Mountain Shelter to Wise Shelter17.5 milesTotal miles:  502.5I woke up ready to face the world at 6:10. I have decided to not set an alarm unless absolutely necessary, since I figure I need the sleep I am naturally getting. It takes a while for my body to decompress from the day, particularly my feet. Keeping my pack underneath them has helped. I was on the trail by 7:30. If the past few days have been rather mundane, then today made up for that. I climbed my first mountain since Pond Mountain.  The climb up Whitecap Mountain involved a 2,000 foot elevation change spread over four miles. A good deal of it was rocky and steep, while a portion was a steady switchback. Climbing a mountain is different from the numerous up and downs of the past few days. One difference, of course, is that you keep going up for a long time. However, there are rewards. In the case of Whitecap, I was able to anticipate a wonderful view at the top, and I was not disappointed. You also get to see blue sky appear closer and closer through the trees as you near the summit. The vegetation changes as you climb as well.  Near the top, the trees are short and scruffy and look like they work hard for their living. Cool breezes often begin, and sometimes it gets downright windy. The trail often crosses the ridgeline as it climbs toward the summit, and the conditions can be markedly different based on the direction. There are usually lots of birds on the more open summits, which are fun to watch. I did observe a group of vultures wrangling over what looked like a dead fawn near the top of Mount Rogers today. I'm not sure you would call that fun. It was fascinating, however. After enjoying the tremendous views from Whitecap, I headed for Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia. At first, the ascent was pretty easy, since we hadn't descended that far from Whitecap. I was excited because I would be entering the Grayson Highlands soon after Mount Rogers, and I would be encountering the wild ponies that live there. As so often happens with the AT, the trail was in no hurry to allow that to happen. The final 1.5 miles of the ascent of Mount Rogers and the subsequent three miles descent through the Highlands is arguably the most difficult hiking I have encountered since Sassafras Mountain in Georgia and the new trail that Stephen and I hiked along the bluff faces. The trail consisted of miles of broken rock that had to be stepped around, stepped over, scrambled over, or climbed. So much for the trail getting easier in Virginia. Fortunately, the beautiful weather, the tremendous views, and getting to see ponies more than made up for the challenging trail conditions. My feet are very sore  tonight, but I escaped with no knee or ankle pain. Along this rocky adventure, I was able to see quite a few of the wild ponies. The first group I saw was a family unit with a young foal. I saw two additional herds, each numbering about a dozen members. One entered the camping area this evening and grazed quite near to my tent. There have been reports of the ponies attacking tents at night, perhaps looking for a handout because, despite the warning signs against it, many people feed the ponies.  As I lie here in my tent writing this, I hear a good deal of neighing in the neighborhood  (sorry, couldn't resist that one).  Hopefully, there will be no altercations.  My food bag is safely hung in a tree, so at least no pony will smell a handout from my tent. Yet another milestone I set today is my 500th mile on the trail. It's hard to believe I have already come this far. Today was one of the most challenging days I have had on the trail. I have several options tomorrow based on trail conditions and how I feel. If something exciting happens with the ponies, I'll make sure to let everyone know.