Hello and welcome to my blog, but hey instead of reading this text look at the pony! Random interjected lines like that happen when I write blog posts at midnight. Needless, the ponies were graceful at Grayson Highlands which was where I visited this past week. My adventures at Grayson were a bit different then my others as I actually camped overnight due to the long drive. While still in Virginia, the park is a seven hour drive for me which made it impossible to be an ordinary day trip. After leaving at about 7am and suffering through the long drive, I arrived at the park at around two. Immediately, I set to work putting up my tent and preparing my setup for the night so that I could explore the park and not have to do any work once I returned to the campsite. I set up my tent quite quickly and put all I woud need for the night in the tent. The tent itself was a cheap Walmart tent that my 4th grade self decided he needed because I think he had some plans of leaving it set up in his room or something of that nature. Needless to say, the tent served its purpose well even though this was the first time it was actually used for camping! After putting it all together, I set off on my walk.

This photo was taken the next day quite early that next day as I realized I forgot to take any photos the day before of my campsite

Sence I did not have much time in the park, I planned out my hikes prior to my arrival. For the first day, I planned a loop which would give me a good feeling of the park. The next day, I planned to hike to Mount Rogers. From the camp site, I set off to Stamper’s Branch trail; this trail would lead me to the Pinnacles in the park and from there, I would head to Massie Gap to see the ponies and then return by the road. The trail itself is a pretty, forested path that proved to be a great way to stretch my legs after being stuck in the car earlier in the day.

One of the aspects I marveled most at was the state of autumn. In the highlands, many parts were past fall while some areas still had the brilliant golden leaves hanging from the trees. In the photo above, most of the trees had already lost their leaves. Another aspect with that photo was how the sun caused the trail to be selectively illuminated. On the way, I took many photos of the trail, some of which I placed at the bottom. Eventually, I reached the path to the Little Pinnacles where there were multiple beautiful clearings. The path then led to another path which took me to the Big Pinnacles. That’s where I took the following photo.

I like the contrast between the oranges and yellows of fall and the deep green of the evergreens all scattered between many bare trees in this photo. After spending some time admiring the view and taking more photos I took the path down to Massie Gap where initially I planed to see one of the waterfalls at the park. But, I decided to change course and see the ponies. My intial plan was just to see them the next day, however, I realized that if I wanted to get home the following day at a reasonable time, I would not be able to spend much time with them. I enjoyed photographing the ponies in the soft light that abounded as it was almost sunset. As I was busy taking pictures, I started thinking about hobbits – riding around the shire on ponies in middle earth. As it was getting close to sunset and I still had to walk back to my tent, I decided to get going. Typical of me, I took many photos during the soft light of sunset.

I made my way back in good time and arrived at my tent just as the stars were beginning to show on that crisp autumn night. Wrapped in the cool air, I cooked a quick little meal where I was joined by a raccoon who came within an arms length of me. I made a feint in his direction and he jumped and ran off to harass another camper. At about 9, I decided to get into the tent and attempt at some rest. Much to my suprise, I slept well through the whole night and didn’t freeze despite the night dipping into the upper 30s. Revitalized, I woke up and began disassembling my tent and preparing to get moving. Because I would have to drive back to northern Virginia later in the day, I decided to pack all my stuff up and check out of the campsite so I could get on the road when I finished my hike.

After checking out, I moved my car to Massie Gap where I began my hike to Mount Rogers. Mount Rogers is the highest peak in Virginia at 5,729 feet, however, hiking to it from the highlands is quite easy since the highlands, as the name suggests, are fairly high in elevation so hiking to the peak is fairly simple. Also, to be noted, Mount Rogers doesn’t have a view. That’s not to say it’s not pretty or you won’t see views on the way to the summit but don’t expect to hike to some great view as all you will get is the scent of ceder trees. For this hike I followed a horse trail to the Appalachian Trail and took a slight detour to Wilburns Ridge which parallels the AT and then returned to the AT before taking the short summit trail to the top. Whenever I hike on the AT, or even just cross it, I think of the endless length of trail and of this Tolkien qoute

The Road goes ever on and on / Down from the door where it began. / Now far ahead the Road has gone, / And I must follow, if I can, / Pursuing it with weary feet, / Until it joins some larger way, / Where many paths and errands meet. / And whither then? I cannot say. – J.R.R Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

After hiking for a little on the Appalachian Trail, I proceeded to Wilburns Ridge where the whole path was filled with breathtaking views of the region.

Every direction and turn had some new and equally amazing view. On the second peak on this path, I decided to eat a quick bite of granola for breakfast and continued on my way. I kept walking and occasionally snapped photos some of which can be seen at the bottom. Eventually, I reached the path to Mount Rogers. At this point, the almost constant view was lost and short spruce trees and cedars dotted the path. As I continued further down the path, these trees morphed and grew. Towards the end, I was surrounded by tall red cedars with their scent filling the air.

At the top, I had a vast view of cedars. Nothing to indicate this was the highest point in the state. Yet even if the end didn’t have some vast, beautiful view, the journey made up for it tenfold. These types of hikes make clear the purpose of hiking, and well any outdoor adventure, is the journey not the destination. Life is not lived solely for the end. The journey of life should be lived in the moment not abstracted away into some lifelong career goal or wealth or any other goal. You don’t reach the good life, you live it. And well that’s all that I have for this post, I guess go out and live life ;)

Bonus Photos