Day 46: Wild Ponies on the Virginia Highlands

10.2 miles: US 58 Road Crossing to Brier Ridge.

Today started pretty slow. We were all a bit tired. When your in town you have so much to do that you rarely ever get to actually let your mind and body rest. Once in awhile you need a real zero day where you do nothing but sleep. We hiked about 9 miles slowly. We went through two cow fields today. The cows were very docile, and would watch you as you walked by. Me and Tric had a snack next to them. We then proceeded to ascend Whitetop Mountain, by the time I made it to the top I was beat. But luckily it was much easier terrain after that. We went down the other side and waited for Tric to catch up. When she did we hiked on to our destination which was a campsite over the next mountain.

When we arrived at the campsite there were a bunch of section hikers in hammocks set up there (because after all its a weekend...). Rules of the AT dictate camp at any established campgrounds and everyone just has to deal with how many people are there. These section hikers obviously didn't want us there though. So we pushed on to find another campsite. Unfortunately we couldn't find any for a few miles. I decided to hike ahead since I was faster and see what I could find before it got dark. Well the trail was switchbacking up Mt Rogers and I missed a switchback, went down a side trail and ended up in a field with a herd of wild ponies. There was a campsite there and I beckoned over to Tric and Jersey Girl who made their way up 10 minutes later and we set up camp in the midst of the ponies.

This was a great experience. The trail really gave us a treat for taking the treatment we got from the section hikers so well. The ponies were very friendly and loved licking the saltiness of our sweat from the handles of our trekking poles. In the middle of the night we heard them stomping around pretty actively, we closed our eyes and crossed our fingers that they were agile enough to not step on our tents. Well it turns out that they had gotten a hold of the handle of Trics trekking pole that was stuck in the ground and when they pulled it out they got scared or excited and ran off with it. We played find her trekking pole for a little bit the next morning.

What a wonderful day on the AT.