A geek walked into the woods..

Mt. Rogers, Wild Miniature Ponies and a Dog Stole My Underwear

LyttleBryan November 20th, 2009

This last weekend I took a trip to Mt. Rogers, VA. to bid farewell to Fall and welcome Winter. It was quite possibly the most perfect backpacking weather anyone could ask for. The sun was shining, the ponies were naying, and a giant black lab stole my spare pair of Ex-Officio boxers. All-in-all, it was an absolutely fantastic weekend!

We had originally hoped for an early Friday afternoon departure so as to make to camp before dark. Unfortunately after a late departure and a 3 hour drive we were already well into dusk before we set foot on the trail. Luckily everyone was experienced and prepared for some night hiking. We left from the Elk Garden Parking area on the Appalachian Trail (AT). I always enjoy hiking the AT. It’s fun knowing that the trail stretches for thousands of miles. It really staggers the mind if you think about it. The hike wasn’t too bad, even at night. there were occasionally some pesky rocks and roots, but nothing that wouldn’t slip us up during the day time. We got into camp around 9:00pm that night. Adam and Guen retired almost immediately while Jessica, Bode, and myself stayed up to have dinner and enjoy the relative piece. There were a fair number of folks in the area (there always seems to be). After a while we all retired for some sleep.

Saturday morning saw everyone awake and refreshed for another day of packing. We tore down camp and set out to explore the peak of Mt. Rogers. I can say with complete honesty that the peak of Mt. Rogers was about as boring as you can get. There’s absolutely no view, and you can barely see the sky. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s the highest point in VA, then it really wouldn’t have much going for it! Still it was enjoyable, and the woods surrounding it are actually quite neat looking. We all agreed that if an elf or a dwarf popped out from behind a tree none of us would bat an eye lash. It had a very Tolkien feel to it. After the trip to the summit we made our way back toward the look out near Rhododendron Gap. I don’t know if this rock has a name or not, but I keep calling it the “Lion King Rock.” If you have seen the Lion King then you know what I’m talking about. It’s the rock that the primate holds the baby lion over so everyone can see. Anyway, I digress. I personally love the rock because you can see forever. It’s also very convenient because it’s the spot where many of the trails in the area converge. There are always people around and it makes for a generally nice experience. From there we stopped for lunch and mutually decided that we would back track and find a spot to setup camp for the night. Fortunately we found a good one and claimed it as our own.

As we setup camp Adam and Guen left to find water. And as Adam and Guen tend to do, they got lost. Fortunately they found water and their way back. The rest of the night passed pretty peacefully with a wonderful campfire (thanks to a 5lb firelog we carried in), and plenty of good food and drink. We we retired at around 9pm for the night. Well, we thought it was 9pm. Unfortunately the person who’s time piece we went by hadn’t adjusted for DST yet so we actually went to bed at 8pm. I guess that’s why I was WIDE awake at 5am. I wasn’t the only one either. Everyone was up before the sun. This actually worked out to our advantage as we had time to hike back to the “Lion King Rock” and watch the sun rise. I think those pictures are some of the best I’ve ever had! After the sunrise we tore down camp and began prep for our departure. While putting my sleeping base layers in my pack, my spare pair of underwear fell out of my clothes bag. Without hesitation Bode, jessica’s dog, runs over and steals them. He spent the next 5 minutes running around camp with my underwear hanging out of his mouth. I’m just glad they were a clean pair! After everyone had a good laugh and plenty of pictures were taken, Jessica was able to tackle him and I was able to get my (now not-so-clean) underwear back. It was one of the funniest things I’d experienced.

We had a nice hike out and were able to get home with some daylight left. I look forward to going back and exploring this area again. It really was quite beautiful!

Also a quick note, I’m moving away from direct image uploads. I’m trying to get a picas plugin working, but for some reason it won’t put the pictures directly in the post. I’ll keep working on that, but for now just click the link below to see all the images! Later all