Date: 2017-05-10
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke to a great morning, the sun shining into the shelter from between a couple bands of receding clouds. The rain had come and go overnight, keeping things damp, but we were nice and dry in the shelter. My quilt performed nicely, keeping me plenty warm. It's also reeaaally nice that it's a full 2lbs lighter than my sleeping bag (sleeping bag is 3.1lbs (I know, I need a lighter cold-weather bag) whereas the quilt is only 1.1lbs), so I just dropped 10% of my base weight, which makes my pack noticably lighter. I started a few minutes ahead of Classy and Lookout and within the first couple miles ran into a huge group of young kids. I eventually ran into the teacher who explained that they were a school group and had camped at the next shelter last night. Apparently he had gotten them up at 430 and they had hit the trail at 530 and had already done 4mi so far... slave-driver :pAs I hiked along a wooded ridge I could make out the flanks of Whitetop Mt rising from among the other peaks. Tracing upwards, the slopes of the mountains faded into the color of the clouds. We'd be heading up there and then onto Mt Rodgers, the highest point in VA later today.The trail was a bit muddy in places and all the streams were running strongly from last nights thunderstorm, which made the going a bit interesting, requiring a bit of trail dancing to stay dry.The AT rejoined the creeper trail for a final time and gracefully climbed up hill for about a mile before crossing an old railroad tressel over a racing river. After ducking back into the woods I ran into OneGallon and Blaze and chatted for a few minutes. Classy caught up and we headed up Lost Mountain (or so I assumed, since it had lost mountain shelter on it) and we chatted along the way. OneGallon recommended the book Lost on the AT, which I might check out next time I get a chance.I took elevensies once we reached the shelter and ate half my lunch, which I've been needing to do to sate my hunger more often. A couple more miles up trail we ran into a quote scrawled on a sign post: "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to. -Bilbo Baggins", very appropriate considering last night's entertainment.A long uphill climb through a rainbow of wildflowers and mountain meadows brought us to buzzard rocks, a rocky outcrop as near the summit of Whitetop as we'd reach which offered great views of the surrounding landscapes. I took second lunch here while taking in the view with Classy, Sandals, and JimmyChonga. We could see the north end of the Highway to Damascus, the ridge we had run to get to town, fading off into the haze and watched as crows and hawks alike soared in the thermals.I left a bit later than the rest and tried to listen to music (I do really want listen to things now that I have a working headphone adaptor from my resupply box in Damascus), but the weather was just too gorgeous and the music was detracting from my enjoyment of the day, so I put it away and kept cruising. As I rounded Whitetop, Mt Rodgers came into view, spruce cloaked with high fields surrounding the forest. Right before hitting a road I passed a sizeable maple sap collecting network... I didn't realize they did that this far south, but I suppose the altitude helps make it more like a northern biome. At the road I ran into a bit of TRAIL MAGIC in the form of a cold bottle of water from some day hikers just finishing their adventure for the day and found a trash can which allowed me to offload what I had generated over the past day and a half.The ascent up Rodgers was similarly beautiful as the muddy path I followed wove through the multitude of colorful flowers and green flora decorating the ground. The trail skimmed the edge of a field which adorned the saddle between two peaks and just over the hill I spotted something. PONIES! Classy joined and we took the side trail over to where we could get a good look at them. We kept our distance since they were off trail and we didn't want to encroach on them and their lunch and snapped a long distance picture before heading back to the AT and continuing on. It wasn't long until we reached our home for the night, Thomas Knob Shelter, and found 4 ponies and 2 fouls  standing right in front of it, licking hikers (presumably for the salt). I got my leg cleaning (which wasn't really voluntary... Their necks are pretty long and reach a fair distance into the shelter) before claiming my spot and setting up my bed for the night. I elected to go tag the top of Mt Rogers, the highest point in VA, which wasn't on trail but was only 0.5mi away. The summit was completely tree covered, offering no view of the surroundings, and marked only by the survey marker (and the lack of anything uphill of it), but the spruce forest was picturesk with the green moss growing over everything in sight.I basically ran back to the shelter, feeling like I was flying going downhill without a pack on. While I was gone the ponies had gotten hungry and headed out into the grass to eat their dinner, leaving us a bit of peace. Most everyone was working on their dinners, so I joined them, cooking and eating on the rocky ledge behind the shelter which overlooked the terrain. I watched as the sun set behind Rodgers, the colors crept into and faded from the sky, the stars appeared, and a HUGE full moon rose before heading to bed.