Sunday, April 12, 2015

April 12 / 13

Started hiking from Damascus around 9:45 am.  The weather at this  moment is perfect for a change, beautiful blue, clear skies.

Stopped at 4:30 alongside Green Cove Creek for the evening.  It's  always a pleasure to set up camp along a stream because of the wonderful background noise it provides.  The total for the day was 13 miles.  The hiking was great all day and the weather held.  I'm here again with Chef, real name Eric.  He's a youth of 45 compared to me anyway, and he's a real fast hiker.  We carried a few beers with us when we left Damascus to drink tonight which will be nice with our meals.

4 / 13  We both slept well last night.  Once packed up we hit the trail at 8am.  The sky was overcast with rain threatening.  Immediately we had to climb up and out of the river area we camped in.  It was a 2500 ft elevation gain over 2 miles.  When we finally reached the ridge line the hike was easier and went well.  The trail went by Mt. Rogers the highest point in Virginia, it's 5729 ft high.  By that time it was windy, overcast, and there was a heavy fog everywhere so it made no sense to hike the half mile to the summit.  I've stopped for the evening at Thomas Knob Shelter because of the weather.  Chef was hiking way ahead of me and he bypassed the shelter opting to tent camp about 2 miles further, or so I was told by other hikers.  I'll find out tomorrow, if and when I catch up to him.

The unique thing about the area I'm in are all of the wild ponies that roam these mountains.  I'm excited about seeing them tomorrow.

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