Date: 2011-05-01
From: Day 52 ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Day 53 Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Tramp and I left camp together around 8:45 and felt we had a chance of going 3 shelters today for a total of 16 miles but that quickly changed. The reasons were the views, the sky, the rain, the trail and the ponies. Ponies: In the late 1960's the forest service started buying up land for the Mount Rogers Recreation Area. Land managers found that, left unattended the open high country soon reseeded and began to fill with trees and shrubs. Ponies were introduced to graze the high country and keep the land open for both scenic and recreational uses.  The ponies are hardy enough to survive the harsh winters. This morning I left my tent and went to the shelter to eat breakfast. When I arrived, there were 3 ponies right in front if the shelter licking the front of the shelter floor. That is where hikers sit and the wood gets plenty of the salt from their sweat. Knowing that making breakfast right then was not a good idea so I returned to my tent. I returned to the shelter a short time later and they had left. No they weren't supposed to be there but it's hard keeping them out. The views today again were surreal. With distance mountains shimmering in a blue haze making them look almost painted, the sky with it's dark and white clouds, looked awesome, and alive. It rained on and off, mostly off, so it was on and off with the rain gear several times, then there was the trail.  The hike today was very hard on my feet and legs. It wasn't the ups and downs, and yes there were a few, nor the total mileage, it was the very difficult terrain with long sections of small & large loose rocks and many many roots making it very hard to make progress. Some of these sections were storm washes filled with loose rocks 5"-10" in size mixed in with hugh boulders. Finding a safe place to step was a constant challenge. Other sections were all roots, and you already know how I feel about ROOTS! ( IHR ) and still other sections were grassy fields with the trail bring a deep narrow passage of 10" and deeper making it very difficult to go forward. To sum it up, the trail was the trail. Through all that Tramp & I made it to the Wise Shelter for lunch, arriving at 11:45, that's 3 hrs to go 5.1 miles, so it wasn't going to be a high milage day. There we meet old friend Toaster and after a nice lunch break we all set out for the next shelter. Although the rain had stopped the difficult trail did not, it only got harder, and now the long downhills were even harder on our feet and legs. We finally arrived at the Old Orchard shelter at 4:45 and all agreed we would stay there for the night, even though it wasn't that late, our feet definitely were tired and they needed a rest. we found a nice area to set up our tents and another night in camp begins. Of course Toaster has a camp fire going in no time, everyone pitches in to get firewood. Hiker Hot Sauce has joined us around the fire, but he has decided to stay in the shelter, alone. We had a good evening of chatter around the fire and as the sun set behind the mountain, its off to bed for all. Temps, not too bad it's 55*, sky is clear with light winds, and now the night owl's are at it again. Tonight, life is beautiful on my piece of Appalachian Trail. Total AT miles hiked today 11.0  Nite all