Date: 2015-05-20
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Hurricane Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: scattered clouds

I had a hard time sleeping in my mummy sleeping bag again as I am used to sleeping on my stomach with my arms folded under my head and pillow. The mummy bag is simply not wide enough to permit and thus I have to sleep on my side which I am not used to. That is why I chose my semi-rectangular bag as I can sleep in my preferred position and be comfortable. I put my sleeping bag liner in and left the zipper down which helped some. For the most part I end up having to sleep on my side. For breakfast along with my coffee, I tried something different and put some of my Sour Patch Kids in with my Strawberry flavored oatmeal and olive oil. It turned out to be pretty good and I figured that I would add that to my menu! I started with an easy pace and soon passed the Wise shelter with an overhanging eve that covered a picnic table. There among the group of hikers resting, was a female hiker who was pestering everyone there to either sell her some safety material or have a safety meeting with her. She made me very uncomfortable and so I pressed on. Soon there was the bridge over the East Fork Big Wilson stream with a deep spot that was too good to pass. I reasoned that I wouldn't come across another stream like that today so I stopped and stripped down to my underwear, which look like shorts, and took a bath in the Icy water down below where people collected water. It was soo cold but felt so good! My legs were actually getting numb when finished. I washed, rinsed and wrung out my drawers before drying off and getting dressed. I felt much better and was soon on my way. At stone mountain I went off trail to a high spot on a rocky outcropping for some beautiful pictures of the views and ponies in the distance. Then as I was walking along I was bullied by a mare with a foal. I walked by a group of ponies and took some pictures. I then ignored the abundant signs not to feed the ponies when I saw a mother and newborn foal. I grabbed a Nature Valley Granola bar and threw it one of the bars. She quickly ate it and then walked right up to me, wanting more. I gave her the other bar and even the crumbs in the pouch which gently ate from my hand. When I went to leave she blocked me by standing in the way. After 2 times she realized she wasn't going to get more, she spun around with her hind end about 2 feet away and raised her hindquarters as to kick and stomped her feet, snorted and walked away. I left grateful not to have been kicked thinking how horribly embarrassing it would have been to have my hike ended by a tiny pony. I probably would have been tempted to made up a story about an epic bear attack and battle to tell instead. Leaving the Greyson Highlands state park I read how the ponies had come to be on the mountain. They were released by the government in order to graze down the balds in the area. They were rounded up yearly and culled, the culled being sold to good homes as pets, and given medical care with vaccinations. It has been one of the highlights of the trail so far, especially with the mafia mamma and her colt! At one point there was a misplaced sign for the AT by a trail and I followed it for some time before it started to peter out. I then consulted with Guthook's App which confirmed my feeling that I wasn't on the trail. I retraced my steps and it took a little while with the confused maze of man and pony trails to find the right one and soon I spotted a blaze and was on my way again. Coming down from Pine Mountain I passed some well engineered and beautiful stone cairns before stopped in at the Old Orchard shelter where I found a hiker not feeling well. Waiting until I made sure that she was o.k., I moved on again into the Raccoon Branch Wilderness up Hurricane Mountain to the Hurricane Mountain Shelter which is a newer shelter with a large overhanging porch which shelters a picnic table. There were several people at the shelter and I got set up and then went down to clean up and get water. As I was cooking dinner Sour Patch arrived and we talked for awhile and caught up on what was going on with each other. I was sad to hear that Gummy Bear had left the trail as she was a pretty decent person. I felt good when I made it to the shelter but tired, so I was soon in bed after eating, collecting water, and washing the dishes.