| May 19, 2005 |
| Yesterday when
I got out to MT. Rodgers Rd., I sat down to rest for a few minutes,
a girl by the name of Story wanted to hike with me for a while.
I did make it to Mt. Rodger shelter. We went up Mt. Rodgers
which was very, very steep with many large boulders all over the
place. |
| I'm going away
from the shelter, but I'm still in the bald. The trail at this
point isn't to bad, I'm going through a grassy bald, but its just
one boulder after another that you have to step over or around.
It's cool and sunny right now because of the altitude, but there
does look like an overcast. There was rain predicted for
today. |
| The tops of
the small trees are very wind blown in one direction, and the top of
the spruces are all out. It's interesting how it's out with
the old and in with the new. the old ones don't have any
needles on them and the new ones are staring to grow and are going
to take over to replace the old. |
| I'm in the
area where the ponies are, but so far I haven't seen any; it will be
interesting to see what Simon does. I'm going through a style,
evidently to keep the ponies in. They probably do the ponies
like they do the cows, only let them in certain sections at a time
so they can eat out the areas. |
| This bald is
so high that the ferns haven't started coming up yet. I
wouldn't want to come through this area at night, there would be a
lot falling and it's not blazed very well, either the blazes are on
rocks along side the trail or sometimes on dead trees that you can
hardly see. |
| I right in an
area of balsam firs kind of off to the side out of the wind.
These dead fir trees are covered with liken and that is what does
them in eventually. This gives the trees a very spooky appearance. |
| I must be
getting into an area they call Rhododendron Gap because the trail is
right through Rhododendron patches. I think these other bushed
might be azaleas. It's hard to tell because nothing is in
bloom here. |
| I just came
out of the Lewis Fork wilderness in the Jefferson National Forest..
This whole area looks like I'm in Colorado, nothing on the rocks.
I'm in the area of the large boulders now, they're just above me.
There lots of real low shrubs in this area too. Big rocks and
boulders in the path, making is difficult to travel. I'm two miles
from Massy Gap . These big boulders are granite, but they also
have a pink cast to them. Here the rocks are mostly horizontal and
rounded. You step off and step up on them. |
| I'm starting
up Stone Mountain and I know why they named it that way. The
trail looks like river rocks except it's going straight up.
I'm now in a more mature forest and the trail leveled off, so it's
fairly easy hiking right now. A variety of trees in here ,some
maples, some oaks, shag bark hickories and some beeches in this
area, but mostly maples. |
| Now going
through a spruce smelling area and over a style into a bald.
Apparently the had some ponies in this area too. I can look
back south west and see where I've been, I was up there that is for
sure. This bald has more trees on it and not as big boulders.
There is a lot of grass through here and stuff for those ponies to
eat. This bald is a lot flatter that the bald on Mt. Rodgers,
more open and the sun is really beating down. If it wasn't for
this wind it would be extremely hot. I see a couple of ponies,
they look like two roans. |
| I have passed a
bunch of young section hikers that are going to Wise Shelter, then
they're going on to Thomas Knob, they don't know it but they have a
hard hike in front of them. |
| The ponies
aren't really wild, they are use to keep the balds for recreational
areas on Mt Rodgers. They service the winters and use the
coves for protection. |
| I'm on
what they call the scales. The farmers used this area to
fatten up their cattle and in the fall would round them up and
weight them. That why this is called the scales, where the
park serve forest is now. They still have individuals who
graze their cattle along the AT trail. |
| I found what
those high bushes were that I kept seeing. The wild High Blue
Bush Blueberries which grow profusely on the balds of Pine Mt and
Wilbur's Ridge are descendants of the berries that grew during the
ice age. They are related to the more common Huckleberry. |
 Simon
is learning to maneuver these styles very well. |
| Back into
somewhat of a hard wood forest, with a rooty trail, but fairly level
too. Now I'm going through mostly Hemlocks and the sun is able
to shine through so there's lost of grasses and stuff that make it
really green underneath. I have several muddy stream crossings
and Simon is picking up speed and moving away from me, so I must be
very close to the shelter. |
| There goes EJ,
trying to chase me down, he just flew over my head. If he had
flown over me when I was out in the balds, he sure would have caught
me then. |
| I've been
zig-zaging around one boulder after another coming down this trail.
It's 4:40pm and I'm coming into Old Orchard Shelter and Simon is
already there, he disappeared probably about ten minutes ago.
I've done about 12 miles today, this is the end of a sunny beautiful
day that the good Lord has given me. |
| NOTE:
Old Orchard Shelter is 493 miles from Springer Mt. |
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