Graysons Highland

This weekend we went to Grasyons Highland Park to backpack a 12 mile loop. We got up early on Saturday and pulled into the park at 10:15am. After paying for parking fees and buying a map, we headed to the backpacker lot to start our adventure! In true Grayson Highland fashion, there were tons of boy scouts milling about, waiting for their Den Dads/leaders, to lead them to into the woods. I've heard that most troops stay either at Thomas Knob shelter or Wise Shelter, so we made plans to stay far away from each. Nothing against the scouts, in fact, I'm glad there's a group for boys to join about discovering the outdoors. I just want peace and solitude when I go out into the woods and I'm afraid that a troop of 40, 8-13 yr old boys singing their camp fire songs won't bring the peace. So... let the scouts come out and enjoy the AT and the shelters. I'm going to enjoy the AT and stealth campsites :)

At 10:30am, with packs on our backs, we were climbing up the gradual 1 mile ascent of the Appalachian Spur trail, and the dogs were loving it. As we get to the top, the mountain becomes an open bald with views everywhere! We hop on my beloved Appalachian trail and head SOBO (clockwise). Within a mile we make it to the famous Massey Gap, but didn't see one pony! We start the gentle climb up to the next bald and run into two older hikers that were out day hiking. They told us that over a "really tough" climb about an hour away, there were so many ponies that they had to beat them off with their trek poles. Well, this got me excited! After getting up the bald, we decided to stop for a snack and enjoy the view. We walked right into the middle of the meadow, found a nice rock to sit on, dropped our packs, and just admired the view. The hike so far was so tame, easy, and practically flat, that it made for some good easy hiking. The first thing Boo said, was that this is a great hike to bring my parents on. It was really nice and gradual, no wonder tons of boy scouts always come here to do this section. After we enjoyed our PB&J snack, we noticed rain drops falling a bit harder on us. We pulled out our rain gear and headed back to the trail.

After entering the stylus, our "tough climb" started. I guess I've been doing alot of backpacking b/c the "tough" climb was not tough at all. It was pretty easy, barely a climb, but as soon as we started, the sky opened up and just poured. There was no tree cover to lessen the rain fall either. We were out on an open bald, climbing up big , slick rocks, and Boo was taking his time, making sure he didn't fall. I flew up the trail hoping to find some tree cover to help stop the cold rain from pelting away at my face. When I came around a bend and caught a group of boy scouts hanging out on a rock outcropping. Even in the rain, I had to stop and take a picture of it. They looked like a scene from Braveheart, when all the warriors came over the ridge and lined up side by side. It was intimidating walking through there! haha! They must of thought I was thru hiking, b/c as soon as I got close enough, I heard them yelling, "make way for the hiker, move off the trail!" As I walked up, they were so curious and asked tons of questions about my pack, gear, even my silly dogs. So cute. I indulged as much as I could, while I waited for Boo, and I made sure to let them know I was not a thru-hiker. I found out they were just on a day hike and loving being caught in the rain. Boys are so silly :) Boo caught up, and we trudged along. We made it to the famous "FAT MAN SQUEEZE" rock section. I've read about this place so many times, and here I was, about to squeeze my way through! It's a section of the Appalachian trail that goes through huge boulders and you literally have to squeeze, pack and all, through it. I'd say it was about 12-15 feet long. It was so cool to finally be able to see and hike through it. After Boo came through, we continued down hill for another mile or so.

We finally reached the intersection of the Appalachian Trail and Pine Mountain Trail. When Boo arrived, the rain had finally let up and the sun started to peek out. We hopped on the Pine Mountain trail and continued on our hike, down the mountain. This trail was covered in rhododendrum and I felt like I was in a tunnel. After a mile, we decide that we needed to stop for lunch and to fill up on water. When we got to Pine Mt. Trail and Lewis Fork Trail, we hiked up a bit into some tree cover to get away from the wind, to have lunch. Boo was cold and getting tired, so he changed into a dry warmer fleece, and I pulled out the food bag. After a cold lunch, I went back to the stream to filter some water, while Boo rested his feet. When I came back, I found him and the dogs napping in the sun on a rock. I let them chill some more, but after an hour and a half, it was time to go. I hated to disturb him, but I knew we had to keep going to make it to the campsite by daylight. So off we went, we climbed up and over another bald, then back down into another rhodo tunnel. In the tunnel, we ran into a thru hiker named Stumble Wolf and Twinkie the Kid, who thru'ed in 96. We stopped to talk to them for like 15 minutes. Twinkie the Kid thru hiked in 1996 and when I asked if the trail was alot different back then he said it was. It was less crowded, not so many options for food or places to stay, it was definitely more secluded. He got his name b/c he's like 6 1/2 feet tall and wore a bright yellow rain jacket during his thru hike. I thought it was funny. Stumble Wolf was an interesting character. First, he was hiking with one trek pole b/c it seemed he had some paralysis on his left arm, and he was wearing a hiking kilt, (which are becoming more and more popular guys to wear these days). He told us that when he was 10 years old, he had a brain injury that left him in a wheel chair for 4 months. Now he's out walking the AT attempting to hike 2,175 miles! That's some real determination. I really hope he makes it. We wished them the best, and as I was leaving, Stumble Wolf asked if he could get a hug. So I hugged him :) Got to do my part and give out some trail magic! hahaha!

We finally finished up the Pine Mountain Trail section and hopped back on the AT. We followed the AT through some more rhodo tunnels til it finally let out at a huge open field, where there is a parking area and bathrooms. Boo and I take this opportunity to take a quick break in the sunshine. I see a bunch of NOBO's coming down the other side of the trail, but I am just to tuckered out to walk down the meadow to say hello. Boo and I spot a hose that has a leak in it and the leak is squirting out water. We decide to take advantage of it and load up on water for tonight and tomorrows hike. We've only hiked 7 miles and decide to find a camp spot soon b/c it's already 6pm. So after resting for 15 minutes and getting fresh water, we decide to climb up the bald and hope that there are some trees on the other side. Boo is having a tough time, it's been a while since he backpacked and he is worn out. I know he's ready for camp. I climb up the bald and see a patch of trees on top. I hurry down the trail to see if we can set up our hammocks. Well, the trees were too small and the we were on the windward side, so not a good camp spot. It was supposed to rain later that night too, so I decided to push on for a better selection. Two hikers passed me and I asked them both if there were lots of trees coming up cause we were in hammocks and the bald mountain wasn't helping me with that. They smiled and said lots of trees about 1/2 away.

After another climb, I found a perfect stealthy campsite just on the other side of the bald. It was a little hidden tree nook. It was blocked by rock outcroppings and a good distance off the trail. I took off my pack and scouted out some good trees. I kept an eye out for Boo too, I didn't want him to pass through. As soon as I saw him, I yelled so he could hear my voice, cause he couldn't see me. He trickled in, flung his pack off, and gave me the most pathetic look. I told him I know your tired, but we need to set up camp and make dinner, so we went about hanging up our hammocks. While I was stringing up my tarp, I noticed he climbed into his hammock and was about to pass out. I tried my best to hang a one person tarp over two hammocks so if it did rain, neither one of us would get wet. But no matter how I pulled the tarp, it just wouldn't cover us both, the hammocks were too far apart. Aggravated I yelled at him to get out of his hammock and help me. I was tired too! He grudgingly got out of his hammock and we found and entire new set of trees to hang from. We both tied one end of our hammock to one tree, then the other end to separate trees, like a triangle. We strung the tarp up and we had enough room to cover us both, not swing into one another, and for the dogs to lie beneath us on their ground blanket. It worked out well. After dinner, I had a hot meal, where my spork finally bit the dust and broke. I've had that thing for years! Oh well. It was a good spork. Boo was too tired to cook on the esbit stove, so he had a cold dinner, tuna in a tortilla. Afterwards, we bear bagged the food and hit the hammocks. I'm trying out a new suspension system, whoopie slings, and a new underquilt by Te-wa, it's an ultralight weight down 3/4 UQ, so I was nervous about my nights sleep. Well, as soon as I slid into my hammock I heard "riiiippp" fabric tearing. I jumped out and saw that the whoopie slings were just too tight and my hammock channel wasn't strong enough. I got out adjusted the whoopie slings and tried it again. No tearing, but alot lower to the ground. My undequilt was surprisingly really warm. I couldn't believe it! it was awesome! Well, it was late, dark, and getting chilly. The last thing I remember was rain pittering on the tarp and Boo snoring. I slept soundly and warm that night and didn't wake up til 6am the next morning.

I got out of my hammock to water the leaves and then started to breakdown camp. Boo was still snoring away, so I woke him up and asked him to help out. I everything packed and ready to go, but was still waiting on Boo. He was so sloooow. In retrospect, I wonder if he was slow b/c he was unfamiliar with his gear and it took him a while, where I have a system from all my nights of being out in the woods, that I can break down camp in less than 20 mins. Anyways, around 7:30am, he finally has everything packed and I boiled water for his breakfast. He's eating the hot meal he should of had for dinner. I know it's going to sit heavy on his stomach today, but I don't say anything. I'm just aggravated at the 2 hour wait. I like to get started on the trail as early as possible. I've already seen 2 thru hikers pass by. One of them had a dog that found our stealth site and the owner had to come find him. So as I'm sitting, waiting , wishing, for him to hurry up, I repack the dogs pack. Boo is finally ready and before I can let me temper really fly, I tell him to go ahead and start out, I'll catch up to him as soon as I repack my pack. I dig into my pack looking for my camera and start to repack everything. I needed some chill time. He takes off with our chocolate lab and me and little dog take some deep breathes. The second I step on the AT, my anger evaporates. Something about that trail makes me happy. My mood gets better and I start to look around and snap photos. I remember why I'm out here and I remind myself that I have been doing alot more backpacking then Boo, so he's not used to the mileage or his gear. I lecture myself to remember to take it easy on him, he's trying, and most importantly, he needs to like it or he will never come back out with me. We only have 4 miles to hike til we get back to the car so I take it easy.

In about a mile, we head down into another rhodo tunnel. It's mostly down hill til we get to an open meadow. Here I meet two thru hikers, Ripple and Sandman, they seem nice enough and after a quick chit chat about the views and how she feels like she's hiking in a giant circle, we say goodbyes and I wish them well on their hike. I walk back into the woods and pass by Wise shelter, there we spot the troop of boy scouts, about 40 of them, all getting ready to pack up and head back to the car on the same trail as we are going. I find Boo and Thing 1 climbing up a ladder and had to snap a pick of it. I can't believe that dog is climbing up a ladder! I truly think that HE thinks he's human. Little dog and I approach the ladder and she quickly scoots under the barbwire fence. No ladder climbing for her. hahaha! We continue on and start our last 2 miles back to the car. It's mostly up hill, but nothing to strenuous, and it's all tree covered, so the shade kept me nice and cool. I decide to take both dogs with me, so I have little dog leading the way, and the lab holding down the back. I'm in the middle and we are all going at a good pace. We stop every once in a while and I ask the lab to "go find daddy." He runs down the trail til he spots Boo, then he runs back to me and we continue on. I just want to make sure we are all near each other. After the first mile climb, we get to another stylus, so me and the dogs sit on a rock and wait for Boo. When he arrives and takes a short break, I decide to hike the rest of the way together, as a little family. The views start opening up and as we reach the balds, we are almost on top of the mountain. When we get to the AT spur trail, we decide to drop our packs, stretch out and relax in the sun, and eat some well deserved M&M's. We lounge for about 45 mins and watch the boy scout troop come thru. We also meet a hiker named Shakespeare, he attempted to thru this year, but his 19 yr old self had to get off the trail after Erwin for some knee issues. He's out with his parents and I find out they are from Virginia, near Roanoke, and all are hammock hangers! We talk about gear for a bit and I notice that both Shakespeare and his dad are in hiking kilts. See, it's a big thing this year. They had two little dogs with them and the Jack Russell had on his own little pack. It was so funny seeing such a little dog with a pack on. They finally decided to head down to the car so we said goodbyes and continued to lounge a bit. Boo and I finally get the motivation to head down the 1 mile back to the car. It's a quick mile and we are back at the parking lot in no time. We change out of our boots into comfy shoes and dry clothes and then head out the park in search of some lunch! It's around 11am, so we drive into Damascus, but don't find anything where we can take the dogs out. So we decide to drive to Boone, NC. Were we pull over at a Backyard Burger and meal out.

On the way home, the dogs slept soundly, Boo was relaxed with his feet propped up on the dash, and I am happy just being with my little family. This trip was a learning experience for me. It reminded me to be more patient and it made me realize that Boo has to have time to get used to his gear. Even though we didn't see any ponies, we both agreed that we need to come back and do this loop again soon. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!