Date: 2008-11-23
To: The fairy tale setting of Grayson Highlands
Miles today: 0.0

      More than once, I¢ve imagined myself reaching certain landmarks on the trail: spinning around on the top of Max Patch, sitting on the McKaffee Knob ledge, petting the Grayson Highlands ponies. These points have been built up in my mind as special places that I will reach on my thru-hike, and I did not want to see them before my long journey, much like my feeling of not ever wanting to climb Mt. Katahdin unless it was at the end of a thru-hike.         I tried to find a stretch of AT in western NC that Erik and I could hike over Thanksgiving, but it was harder than I thought. I knew the Smokies would be too cold, and I didn¢t want to climb a 6000 ft mountain on this trip, either. Max Patch seemed the only reasonable destination without driving out of our way. I went home and looked up the weather report and found that it was supposed to be in the teens at night and that snow was on its way. I decided to check out some of the southern VA areas, and realized the drive would actually be shorter. Plus, the weather would be at least a little warmer. So, I let my visions of seeing the Grayson Highland ponies for the first time on my thru-hike go, and we decided to head to Massie Gap the following day.        We got a late start, as Erik didn¢t start packing until that morning. He preferred to leave a day later, but I thought it was best to get going earlier. Once we started on our way, he realized that he left his tiger balm at home. Feeling that he could not do without it, we returned to retrieve it. We did not arrive at Massie Gap until 4:30 in the afternoon, climbing the mountains with the car instead of our feet. The light was already diminishing. Snow covered the parking lot and woods and we shivered as soon as we opened the car door. Our plan was to head to Wise shelter, which was only 2.7 miles away from the parking lot. We walked on the park road, looking for the trailhead and saw a pretty hilly area to our right with a couple of gates. Passing through them, we headed up the hill to the Rhododendron trail, and within minutes, I could see horses grazing! I couldn¢t believe that I was seeing them already! The setting sun was illuminating rock outcropping and the twilight could not have been prettier. But it was cold! My hands were already freezing. Unfortunately, they did not have the overmitts that I was looking for at REI, so I went without enough protection for my hands. Luckily, Erik did not hesitate on buying warm gloves, and since his hands were not as cold as mine, we traded.      We passed two men, who were returning home from their overnight stay in Thomas Knob shelter. They thought we were lucky that we could hike on a Monday, and the one guy thought that Erik was even more lucky because he could hike with me! They get a plus in my book! They let us go because we had to get to a shelter before night fell, and as we rounded a bend, I was astounded to see several horses grazing only a matter of yards away! It was like being in a fairy tale! We looked at a sign to make sure of our direction, and then two horses crossed the trail near us! A beautiful brown one, followed by a white and beige one. The brown one went off to graze, but the two-toned horse remained near the trail. This was my chance to interact with one! I wanted to have my picture taken with her, but Erik was afraid she would kick me. She remained extremely calm however, and I was even able to pet her nose!   Because night was falling, we left the horses and made our way toward Wise shelter, but I looked forward to coming back and spending more time with them. What a magnificent setting this was: horses of all colors, a beautiful rocky landscape, a sky of orange, purple and blue, weeping rhododendrons and snow covered ground. I saw a grey animal with a bushy tail scurry across the trail in front of me to hide in the rocks. As we made our way into the woods, darkness descended and we put on our headlamps. We were walking on snow and I followed the footprints in front of me. Soon, I found myself having to duck under rhododendron bushes. It didn¢t seem right, but I how could the footprints be wrong? So we went on. Then, we saw footprints to both the right and left of the trail. Erik thought we should turn around, thinking that the footsteps I was following were of someone who had lost the trail. I still did not want to. I could not admit to having wasted all of that effort and time. Surely, we were close to the shelter! But Erik said he was turning back until he found a white blaze. My pace slowed and I felt my backpack hurting my spine more than ever. I envisioned setting up our tents right there in the snow. After 10 minutes or so, Erik spotted a white blaze on a tree, and we then saw the direction of the real trail. Hopefully, I will remember this lesson in the future.   We walked along a creek and then into a more open area where I thought I heard some noises. I could feel that the shelter was nearby. Before long, I saw a sign pointing the way to the privy, and in a couple more minutes, we saw the back of the shelter. I got scared and stopped. I didn't know who might be inside of it or in the area. Erik prodded me on, and I was relieved to find no one there. I changed into my thermals and warmest clothes, and then I heard footsteps at the side of the shelter. Cooper and Andrew (who I always want to call Anderson Cooper) had arrived for the night, as well. They, too, had followed the wrong footsteps. We had hoped to set up our tents in the shelter, and were now concerned that we would not have the luxury to do so. But Andrew and Cooper assured us that there was plenty of room. Their first priority was to gather wood for a fire. They moved the picnic table closer to the fire once it was made to warm their feet. We were not invited to partake, however. I had a dinner of buttery pasta, and as I stepped out of the shelter to wash up, I looked up to a velvet blue sky that was sparkling with a million diamonds.    We crawled into our tents, me with a Nalgene bottle filled with warm water, which I held against my stomach, and I looked at my thermometer with a reading of 27 degrees. My feet were frozen, and I closed my eyes, awaiting the fate of my first night in the twenties.