Date: 2004-05-08
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: few clouds

Nature put on a fantastic show for us today at Thomas Knob Shelter. A group of us are moving slowly because we hope to catch a ride to Damascus for Trail Days on Thursday. The short miles are better for my ankle too.I woke up after a wonderful sleep. We had to climb Mt Rogers Mountain and the temperatures were soaring. I can't count how many people warned us to not send the cold weather clothing home until after hiking through this area. The shade helped keep things cool fortunately.I finally met Little Chicken (check trail journals) and we chatted for twenty minutes before she headed south to Damascus and I headed north to Buzzard Rock. Right before Whitetop Mountain Road was a great water source from a pipe for anyone doing research on this trip.Otherwise, the hike was uneventful except that we met some nature explorers who gave us apples. One of them asked me about my journal since he peruses trailjournals.com frequently.By 2, we were at Thomas Knob debating on heading down to a nearby campground for the night.We met Ridge Runner Dave who gave us all sorts of information about the area. His primary job is to pick up trash and keep the Higlands neat. Thomas Knob features a solar powered privy. What this really means, Dave explained, is that the composting is airated by an electric fan powered by the sun. You can hear it running when you enter the privy and there were no flies or ghastly odors to force your bathroom visit short.Someone wisely made the call that we should stay at the shelter. A thunderstorm rolled in and changed the sunny day to deluge. Some Cub scouts took refuge under the overhang on their way to Mt Roger's summit. They were camping up north on the trail along with the boyscouts. It was a busy area. As we watched the storm gradually clear up, the cub scouts headed on along with Ridge Runner Dave, lugging a large bag of trash.Thomas Knob had two floors and I opted to sleep upstairs with Hawk and Cuppa Joe. I badly needed a nap but it was interrupted when Gary Honeymooner called to us that a deer had showed up. We scrambled for our cameras and raced down the ladder.Sure enough, two deer dropped by to pose for pictures. They were very curious about us but soon walked up the trail toward the north and other campsites.Then the thunder and lightening returned and it began to hail. First there were tiny pellets, then nickle size, and finally quarter size. The grounds were covered with white ice rocks. When it finished, the cubscouts were returning from their Mt Rogers excursion wearing wet ponchos. A Harry Potter look-alike said, "Now that was interesting!" as he passed us. A second was holding a quartersize hail to take home. One kid groaned and said, "I have a headache."The storm lightened for about an hour and many of us took this opportunity to cook dinner. But the skies never stopped rumbling. It made one feel so small in a volatile wonderland. When that was through, we all sat on the rocks in the back of the shelter where you can look out on the valley and fields. The water source is enclosed in a corral to keep wild ponies out. Deer were prancing around. In the disance, the skies were a dark ominous blue while white puffy clouds to our left formed anvils. The sunset to our right gave everything a sharp contrast. Silent lightening streaks sliced the sky over the valley beyond the corral. A wild pony made an appearance, grazing the field. I felt I was gaping over the lost frontier. We couldn't have witnessed a more beautiful display of weather and wilderness. And to top it off, we saw a double rainbow before the sun went down.At last, the show was over, it started to pour again and night took over.A steady rain pattered the roof during the night. Although the second floor had holes, the leaks were manageable and we went to sleep.