Date: 2012-04-21
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Hurricane Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

Grayson Highlands is beautiful. Spectacular even. It is my new absolute favorite section of trail. The mountaintops are grassy with large boulders shooting out of the ground ever so often. Views all around to the surrounding mountains.   The trail wound it¢s way through a lot of rocky terrain that I was moving very quickly over. I¢ve changed my pace to be more on the balls of my feet in an effort to protect my ankle more. But man was I flying as a result. Using my poles to launch down rock steps and pole jump over the bigger ones. There was some awesome jungle gym like rock scrambles today. It was fun. Add to that all the scenery around me, man I could not stop smiling.   There is just something about the way the light plays off the brown and red hues of the grass. It reminded me so much of being out west, looking like a grassy desert. Oh yeah and the PONIES!!!! We ran into more herds today who ran over to lick us. I fully encouraged this behavior.5 miles into the day we stopped at Wise shelter for lunch and to congratulate the group on making it to the 500 mile mark! Which is also when we shared the news that a big storm was moving in around 2pm. So we ate up and headed out. I walked with Rocky and Sunshine for a while and we made our way through some fields with more ponies and some cows with huge horns, big hiker skewering horns.   And there were little baby cows who we caught just as they rose to milk their mothers. So I¢m pretty sure every Boy Scout in the state of VA was in the park today as we passed hoards of troops all day. On the trail you¢re never quite sure what day it is but you can always tell the weekdays by the brown clad, map and compass wielding boys. There¢s always someone in the group who is trying to figure out where they are using their wilderness skills (AT hikers tend to point and say, ¢follow the white blazes¢), someone who is running ahead and being called back by the adults, and some kids who stare at the ground with a sort of shocked look as if they can¢t quite believe there is a heavy pack on their back and their parents just abandoned them to walk up these hills until they die! Saturday Boy Scout days are like having a TV set. Entertainment all the way. Add to this all the day hikers showing up in sandals and itty-bitty cotton shorts and tang tops. I was still hiking when the sprinkles started but got to one of the midway shelters just as the storm was starting to really form. The sky got dark so fast and the wind picked up. Huff and Puff, Frenchy, Rock and Sunshine and OX were all there as we all contemplated waiting out the storm before moving on. Ox was just about to head out when we convinced him to stay and just then the hail started to fall from the sky. This was a tiny shelter and we were packed in like sardines. Hikers came running in from the north and south, bee lining for it and we made room, because in weather like this there is always room for more. Just our luck too since one of them says, ¢Hey you guys want some trail magic?¢ and pulls out this giant container of cookies! Huff said it best when she exclaimed, ¢You mean the trail magic is coming to us now. AWESOME!¢ So we all sat there as the hail and rain pounded around us, laughing, joking, and stuffing our faces. We talked about all the scouts and day hikers we saw and how we just can¢t help looking at them and thinking, ¢you are way too unprepared to be out here! Where is your rain gear? Your wool clothing? How will you stay warm?¢ Ha thru hiking sure makes you view things differently. Some of the best quotes of the day came when Danu came running down the hill to join us. Her response to the hail was to think, ¢man why is this rain so hard?¢ before she realized. And our general laughter at ¢Virginia rain is angry rain¢. This was such a fun part of the day. After the rain moved on we headed out again to the next shelter walking back in our normal trail surroundings through the trees and fog. Lots of us decided to tent but figuring it would rain more I opted for the shelter and all its roof/privy comforts. It¢s starting to get a little colder again, hoping this is not a lasting weather change. I¢ve had enough of the cold.