Day 57
Start: Thomas Knob Shelter
End: Hurricane Mountain Shelter
Miles Hiked: 16.6
Miles on AT: 515.8
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Whew, it was cold last night! This morning I awoke to frost on both the outside and inside of my tent. Yes, it was that cold. But I stayed warm and had a great night’s sleep thanks to wearing every piece of clothing I had.
As the sun rose, I tried to wait for the air to warm up and the sun to melt some of the ice, but it just wasn’t hitting my tent with enough intensity. There was a patch of sunlight right at the edge of my campsite. I stood there and warmed myself while I had breakfast, then beat my tent with my absorbent towel to remove as much ice as possible. I went back and forth between packing up and my patch of sunlight so I could thaw my frozen fingers and get them working again. Did I mention it was cold?
With no fleece, I started my hike out cold; it took at least a mile for me to sufficiently warm up. But, I had a lot to look forward to today. First, I would enter Grayson Highlands and that meant ponies! Plus, I would cross the 500 miles mark. Wow! And despite the cold, the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Today was going to be wonderful.
During the first couple of miles, I fell in love with the terrain. This was another area of low tree cover and wide open spaces, my favorite! I reached Fat Man Squeeze and contorted myself to reach the other side through the narrow passageway. There was a trail around it, but where’s the fun in that?
Not a mile later, I saw them. In the distance, there were about eight of them, all different sizes and colors, bunched in a group, heads down and grazing. The ponies! As I got nearer, I felt like I was in another world. So used to people, they didn’t shy away when I took pictures of them. One of them even tried to eat my fanny pack.
What a great day. The warm sun felt so good on my skin. I caught a wonderful moment of a robin with its morning catch in its mouth. Moving along, I saw more ponies and more beautiful views.
Eventually I exited Grayson Highlands and continued on until I found the perfect lunch spot on a hill just opposite the park. I could see where I had been just hours before. While soaking in the moment and all its beauty, I teared up a bit.
This was exactly what being on trail was about – feeling and experiencing beautiful natural wonders of this world and feeling one with nature instead of an outside observer of it. I put on some good music (Always Lone by Men I Trust really hit the spot in this moment) and enjoyed my lunch in the sun. I dried out all of my gear from the frosty morning, put my feet up, and felt like a queen.
Speaking of queens, I have a trail name – Princess! I told myself that if I didn’t get one by mile 500, I could choose one that I liked. I’m a trail princess because I have a huge tent that I sometimes call “The Mansion” and I don’t stay in shelters. But, I would say I’m a pretty easy-to-please princess.
After my time in the sun, I headed on, passed more cows and horses, and came to The Scales. The Scales was a location where ranchers would sell their highland cattle without having to bring them down to lower land.
Compared to the morning, the rest of the hike was pretty regular. I had a long descent, so I caved and put in an earbud to keep my mind occupied. First on the audiobook list was a biography of Stalin. Volume I is 39 hours long, so it will keep me occupied for a while.
When I finally reached the shelter, four high school boys had already taken over. Their clothes were strung up everywhere and they had set up their tents and hammocks in the shelter. I tried to find a tent site, but there were none to be had. Just before the shelter, there was an area that looked like it used to be good for camping. But, the area had been recently damaged by storms and there were a lot of downed trees everywhere. Some standing trees were even marked with red tape that read “Killer Tree.” Needless to say, I didn’t want to camp in that area.
After having dinner at the shelter, I pushed about half a mile further to find a stealth site on the side of the trail. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough. I managed to hang my food bag and set up my tent just before it was fully dark. No bad weather is in the forecast for tonight, so I’m looking forward to a quiet night.
And that’s day 57.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.