April 23, 1999 (Friday)
Grayson Highlands AT Approach Trail to Wilson Creek Shelter - 2 miles
There are eight of us, 3 adults and 5 boy scouts. Don, Bob, Walter, Ryan, Forrest, Ashton, Louis, and Tyler. We met at the church parking lot at 4:00 p.m. and left Bluefield around 4:30. It was raining in Bluefield when we left but the weather channel showed scattered showers throughout the evening and clear the rest of the weekend. We stopped in Wytheville for dinner at Subway and Taco Bell (Yum! Yum!), got it to go because we wanted to make it to our campsite before dark (about a 2 mile hike). When we arrived at Grayson Highlands State Park (around 6:40), it started to sprinkle (there had been no rain the drive over). By the time we got our backpacks packed, put on our rain gear, it had started to rain steadily. It rained off and on for about an hour, heavy at times, but let up about 10 minutes before we got to the Wilson Creek Shelter, our campsite for the night. We were able to set up our tents before it started to rain again, but this time it lasted only about 5 minutes. It now appears to be clearing up and hasn’t rained or thundered in over 1 1/2 hours. There are about 6 thru hikers at the shelter but two have gone because one got violently sick after eating Skunk Weed, which he thought was ramps. Someone had already called the rescue squad and they were able to park about 200 yards away from the shelter and get him to a hospital. He had been throwing up, had diarrhea and bad stomach pains and was very weak. There was also a wild pony to greet us at the shelter. We made a campfire in the wind, not much wood, and Forrest and I are about to retire (10:00 p.m.). The temperature is 55 degrees. Goodnight!
April 24, 1999 (Saturday)
Wilson Creek Shelter to just past Rhododendron Gap - 7 miles
We got up about 6:45 a.m. to some turkeys calling and horses chomping around in the grass. We cooked breakfast and were out of camp by 9:15. We hiked up Stone Mountain (4800’), through “The Scales” (a one time cattle-weighing-and loading point), and reached the crest of Pine Mountain (5000’) around 12:30. We stopped for lunch here, climbed up some nearby rocks in the grassy fields and soaked up a little sun as it peeked through the clouds. We then hiked the Pine Mountain Trail to Rhododendron Gap where we stopped for about 30 minutes admiring the view from the large rock outcropping. We also resupplied our water and then decided to pitch our tents at a nearby campsite because it looked like it was going to rain. It was about 2:30 and by 3:00 we had camp set up for the evening. Some of the scouts started a fire to dry some of their wet clothes, we collected wood for the evening fire, and Forrest worked on some 1st Class requirements with Don and Bob. We ate dinner at 5:30 (ramen noodles and canned chicken) Yummy!, and sat around the warm campfire. Everyone wanted to sit in Don’s comfy padded chair he had brought. It is 7:15 now and so far no rain today. There are lots of Balsam Firs and Red Spruce trees up here (our campsite is about 5460’). There are a lot of dead trees here also and Bob mentioned how the trees were being killed by the Wooly Aphid and pollution. Oh yea!, Louis got bitten by one of the wild ponies this morning. He was trying to pick up a stick where another scout had thrown a granola bar for the horse. He said “that horse just bit me!”. It didn’t draw blood but his skin was bruised. It has been a beautiful day, high around 60 degrees, it is now 43 degrees. We still have some damp clothes from last night but everyone is dry and warm. That is it for tonight.
April 25, 1999 (Sunday)
Rhododendron Gap to Mt. Rogers Summit to the AT Approach Trail at Grayson Highlands - 7 miles
We woke up to a beautiful clear day with crystal clear blue skies. About an hour later the fog and mist rose from the valleys below and passed us in about 30 minutes. After a devotional by Bob, we hiked the 1 1/2 miles to the summit of Mt. Rogers (5729’), the highest point in Virginia. I love this hike (my third time) especially the last 1/4 mile. To me it is like walking in a chapter or passage from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book “The Hobbit”. It is so lush, green, dark, wet, with moss and lichens everywhere. This short hike was done without our backpacks which we left in our tents. When we got back from this 3 mile round trip we finished packing and headed for the AT Approach Trail and our cars. We passed back thru Rhododendron Gap on the AT, took the Wilburn Ridge Side Trail which connects back with the AT and ate lunch at the highest rocky peak we could find. We made it back to our cars around 2:00. This was again a beautiful day and trip. We did have some bad news when we arrived at our cars, Don’s front windshield had a crack in it where someone had thrown a rock from the gravel parking lot. This was an unhappy moment from such a great weekend. We stopped off at Dairy Queen at Rural Retreat (Adkins), ate some fattening food, and made it to the church parking lot at 5:00 (right on time).
Reflection
If you haven’t hiked this area, it is really beautiful because 70 percent of the loop hike we did was on top of the mountains, which are all rocky balds. The wild ponies are always a treat to see (we saw a dozen or so) and the Rhododendron thickets are fun to walk through. In late July/August wild blueberries are plentiful. Don said later that this was the best trip he had taken with the scouts. Cool!
Walter Shroyer
