Setting up a tent at the shelter was pretty sweet, especially since it didn’t rain during the night. Distant thunder did wake me up pretty early though but I’m liking early mornings more and more. The three section hikers had a fire going, but I was ready to hit the trail.
It turns out that today didn’t actually include any of Grayson Highlands State Park, but it was still an another amazing day. The big climb came early, three miles up to Whitetop Mountain. It was still overcast and the air was cool but by the halfway point I was as soaked in sweat as i have been yet. Nothing evaporated at all, it seemed like 95% humidity. It was pretty clear why it’s called Whitetop when I came out of the woods onto the bald summit – I was walking in a cloud. On balds and above tree lines the white blazes marking the trail appear on rocks and signposts rather than trees and are usually more frequent. Usually I’ve been able to see the next five blazes or so on a bald, in this cloud I couldn’t see one beyond twenty feet. The blazes weren’t needed though, the trail itself was always clear on the ground. A fierce wind was whipping across the summit as well, combined with the soaking wet clothes I felt cool but surprisingly refreshed.
After the descent from Whitetop and a small lunch it was time for Mount Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia. It was actually a shorter and easier climb than Whitetop thanks to a higher starting elevation. About 3/4 of the way up through the wooded mountainside the trail came near to the open fields and there were wild ponies both in the forest and out grazing in the field. Several had young ones with them too. They were all completely calm, one was particularly eager to lick any piece of sweaty gear or body part. She would even follow me around trying to lick as I tried to visit the other ponies. When I finally decided to keep going down the trail I thought she was going to follow all the way to camp.
From that spot it was probably less than two miles to the Mount Rogers summit trail. The AT doesn’t actually go to the summit, and multiple sources had said that the summit wasn’t worth it due to complete lack of view. It was still early in the day, and the summit trail was only half a mile so I decided to climb it. Even if there’s no view I’ve still climbed Mount Rogers and been to the highest spot in Virginia now. I stashed my pack and poles behind a tree a little ways behind the T trail junction, grabbed my camera, and took off. People were right about the lack of view – the summit is a pile of rocks in the middle of a spruce forest – but it only took about 25 minutes so I’d say it was worth it. Thomas Knobb was just a couple tenths down the AT when I got my pack back on and the best view of the day is probably right here behind the shelter looking out across a valley and to distant mountains. It was only about 12.5 miles today so I got in early and had most of the afternoon to relax. The sun came out making the view even better and all my stuff is actually going to be dry tonight.