Date: 2007-05-30
From: Campsite near VA 601

To: Campsite - Little Wilson Creek
Miles today: 14.9

Last night, the group of hikers near the road, gave me a good sized raw steak which I wrapped carefully and put in my food bag before we left them. This morning I built a small fire, sharpened a stick, put the steak on it, and roasted the meat. So along with my usual coffee, oatmeal, and pop tarts, I had a nice medium done steak. Good protien, which is vital for a thru hiker diet.We were able to meet our neighbors here at this campsite, who were all asleep last night when we arrived. It is a group of about 8, all doing a section hike. They were very friendly. Most of them started hiking early.This was a day with some interesting events. After hiking for about an hour today Huck and I came to a large open area with some prominent rock formations called Buzzard Rock, on Whitetop Mtn. We sat on the rocks, enjoying the clear view for miles. This was the start of similar areas like this that we were to see later in the day as we hiked through an area called Grayson Highlands.From this point the trail headed north into a small stretch of woods. We were able to see some hikers ahead of us and as we got closer to them I could see something was wrong, It was a young mom and dad with their young daughter and pet dog. The mother and daughter were crying and they all explained that their 2nd dog, a black and white border collie, had run off into the woods after a deer, and could not be found. The dad was posting a note on a tree and gave me a copy of his cell phone number. I told him, if we located the dog, we would try and leash her and take her down to the next road and call him. Seeing the little girl so upset broke my heart and as we hiked on I said a little prayer that the dog would be found. After about 15 minutes Huck and I came out of the woods into another open area. At that moment, I spotted the dog about 100 yds. up the trail coming in our direction. We called the dog, but she turned away from us. I told Huck to keep an eye on her. I then dropped my pack and ran about a half mile back through the woods to catch up with the family. When I reached the first clearing I could see them on Buzzard Rock, searching for their dog. I waved to them shouting that we had found the dog. The dad and little girl came running towards me and I told them where the dog was found. Well the dad was so happy he gave me a big bear hug and the daughter had a huge smile on her face.The dad ran off in the direction I had come and I ran after him. I was thinking that I really did not need to run back, but I was just as excited as he was, and wanted to see the big reunion. By the time I got there he and his dog were on the ground playfully rolling around and both looked quite happy. After talking to this guy, he mentioned that he had thru hiked the trail in 1993, and gave us some tips on on what to expect north of where we were. It was a happy ending, but after all that running over rocks and roots I was tired before the day really got stated.We later reached an area called Elk Garden, and as we hiked through this area we were greeted by a small herd of cattle grazing on the mountainside. They did not pay much attention to us as we hiked by them. About 4 miles later, we reached the side trail to Mount Rogers, but since it was a half a mile one way, we both opted to bypass the trip.At this point, I was feeling symptoms of that mile run in the woods this morning and it was a relief to take a break at Thomas Knob Shelter. I thought it would be nice to end the day there, but we were anxious to see Grayson Highlands. Grayson Highlands is a unique and very beautiful area. I've been told it is very similar to the Montana High Country. It is a rugged landscape of many large rock formations, open grassy areas, low shrubs, with a sparse number of medium sized hardwood trees. The trail running through the Highlands is very rocky and is taxing both mentally and physically at the end of the day. One of the best features of the Highlands however, is the herd of about 100 wild ponies contained in this area. As you hike in you can see them grazing and when you reach them they come very close to the trail, sometimes licking the salt from your arms and legs, accumulated from the evaporated sweat.As tired as I was, the experience of hiking through Grayson Highlands will certainly be a highlight of my thru hike. We eventually had dinner at Wise Shelter, moved on another tenth of a mile and pitched our tents at Little Wilson Creek, for some much needed sleep and recovery.