Date: 2015-05-14
From: Elk Garden

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up a little late today, it was chilly and I stayed cocooned in my bag longer than usual. Finally I forced myself out and retrieved the bear bags for me, Bota, Bronco and Savannah. Sometimes I just don't like packing up and breaking down the tent and this morning was one of those times. I did it though and hiked out right after Bota. Our first bit of fun was entering a fenced in hill covered with cows. There were mommy and baby cows and lots of pregnant cows. They were very cute and cool with us walking through their zone. It was a pretty breezy morning, sun was out and shining on us. The walk continued up and down grassy hills, we crossed over styles,the cows soon were gone and replaced by Bulls. With big horns. They just looked at us with attitudes, as if to say- if we wanted to scare you and poke you with our horns, we could. But they didn't, they just stared. And didn't move. Up ahead, I saw Bota attempt to pet one that was lying down. It jumped up and spooked us! After the Bulls came the ponies. Sweet small ponies. I saw a pregnant pony and gave her some of my orange. And a little guy too. Later, I saw the do not feed the pony signs.The trail has been unusually devoid of hikers, but today there was a parade of SOBO (southbound) hikers heading towards the big party in Damascus. Some had full packs and some were slack packing. Some I recognized as thru hikers. I passed on the side trail to the summit of Mt. Rogers, it was a steep half mile up and I heard it had no views, but I stopped at Thomas Knob Shelter for water. A .2 Boulder scramble lead down to a rusty roof gutter that captured the water from a tiny spring and delivered it in a nearly drip by drip trickle. I filled my bottles and it took a while. I enjoyed the view and did a few stretches.After climbing back up to the shelter, I met a mom and two daughter trio who were hiking to trail days with their dog. They were a happy bunch and their packs were enormous! I lifted one of them and it had to weigh at least 50 pounds, maybe more. They were planning to brave tent city. They warned us of treacherous rock climbs ahead. The trail did take us through plenty of rock scrambles, but I love the climbing. It is more interesting than just walking and feels like it engages me more fully. We entered Grayson Highlands State Park and were treated to lots more pony sightings. Herds, in fact. I took a little snooze on a park bench and thought that this was a brilliant day. The hills were grassy but had big rock formations on them. The trees were scattered, the clouds were soft and billowy. I wish so much my kids and husband were here with me today! After the snooze, I hiked out and passed mile 500. I said out loud Driver and Shotgun, our Gatlinburg trail Angels who hiked to mile 500 and got off because of a broken foot. They now take little vacations and provide trail magic in the form of rides and snickers bars to hikers, and that is how we met. Again, the trail has a way of imbedding itself in hearts and souls.Eventually the trail led back to the woods and a gentle sloping trail. The ferns, flowers, streams and trees painted a lovely picture. I passed on the first shelter and hiked on to Old Orchard Shelter. There I met, for the first time, Mama Dee and Green Man, a mother /son hiking team who started at Damascus. Mama Dee had hiked that far the year before and came back to finish. Ranger, an interesting guy I met back at the hostel in Damascus, already had his tent up. After a while, Bota arrived. Down the hill, a few tents were set up and the group down there hooted hollered and screamed way into the wee hours. So annoying.