Ponies, bikes, trails, and the Virginia Creeper

Along the Virginia – North Carolina border, near the little town of Damascus, a section of the Appalachian Trail runs out of town over the mountains and through Grayson Highlands State Park.  Damascus itself is noteworthy as a resupply station for the Appalachian Trail through hikers.  Grayson Highland is an amazing state park with great camping facilities set in a remote setting not too far from I-81. In between the two of them, you’ll find the Virgina Creeper, or maybe you’ll go to do the Creeper and explore Damascus or Grayson Highlands.  Either way, give yourself a couple of days in the area to soak it all in.

You can start your hike on the Appalachian Trail approach trail inside Grayson Highland and head up to Mt. Rogers if you are a peak bagger.  Mt.  Rogers is the highest peak in Virginia and is only few miles away from the parking lot in Grayson Highlands.  Expect to see the wild ponies along the way.

The wild ponies in Grayson Highlands State Park.

From the photo above, you might not guess it, but we were on the trail in August.  The temperature was in the mid 60’s and there was a dense fog most of the day.  A hurricane had moved up the east coast and although it wasn’t directly affecting our weather, we felt that it was.  It also has something to do with the park being at about 4,000 feet above sea level.  The horses are quite used to people and came right up to us as if to beg for a snack or to be  petted.  We gave them no snack but we did rub their backs and scratched their ears a bit.  The hike was easy to moderate, however, since we were in the fog and uncertain about sundown we did not make it all the way to Mt. Rogers.  Be sure to carry an accurate map and compass as the area between the parking lot is criss crossed with horse trails for riders and hiking trails with somewhat confusing markings.  We did alright but we went out of our way on the return trip when we consulted with another group as to which way they had come.  I can’t attest to the vistas because of our cloud cover, however, the area was largely a bald or meadow area, thus on a clear day you would have undoubtedly had a great view.

The campground at GHSP is a great car camper park with a variety of sites that can be reserved in advance to suit your camping needs including running water and electricity, or, you may elect a site that does not have electricity.  It is a family friendly camping area, where one little boy ran up to us excitedly as we drove in, only to be disappointed when we told him there were no children with us.  It is east of Damascus by about 30 miles and will take you the better part of an hour to get there. There is a camp store and bathhouses as shown in the link.  You may want to consider checking out the Mount Rogers National Recreation area for some camping in a little less crowded area.  The Beartree Recreation Area campground has primitive sites without hookups.  Hurricane Campground has sites with tent pads and fire rings.

Along side the road between Damascus and the park, and in fact from Abington, Virginia adjacent Interstate 81 into Damascus and beyond for about 17 miles is the famous Virginia Creeper Trail.  Total length of the trail is about 34 miles.  We had decided that we would ride the Creeper’s eastern end, downhill from White Top to Damascus on our way home from camping and hiking, but we hadn’t brought bicycles with us.  So we stopped along side the road at a rental shop and picked out a couple of mountain bikes to make the ride.  An ordinary hybrid would do fine as the trail is well packed cinder that follows the old railroad track at a grade of less than about 7% all the way into Damascus.  We budgeted two hours for the 17 miles since we consider our selves experienced cyclists on our road bikes and hybrids.  What we didn’t count on was the peaceful beautiful scenery and the glimpse of the past you’ll encounter on this mellow ride.

Virginia Creeper Trestle
Beneath the Trestle

Because the trail was built for use by steam powered trains trestles were used to eliminate the ups and downs of the valleys and hollows.  Stepping to the side of the trail, you will be pleased to see how well maintained the trestles are and will be amazed at the work and ingenuity that went into building the trail decades ago.

trestle top

Don’t limit yourself to two hours on this trial.  Take a couple days and take your time.  You’ll find plenty to see, an ice cream store or two, sandwich shops and other “creature comforts” along the way.  Best of all, find an older local to talk to.  The lady that rented us the bikes we used had lived beside the Creeper all her life.  She told us things to look for, like the place she went skinning dipping 65 years ago, that you would never look for on your own.  Enjoy.

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Something new in the Smoky Mountain NP for the Through Hikers near the Appalachian Trail

Our little group just finished another hike to Mount LeConte near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA.  I’ll post all the details later, but I wanted to share a part of the trip with you in a condensed version.  We were at the top of Mt. LeConte for two nights spending the entire day there on April 27.  As usual the weather was changeable. We had hiked up in a thunderstorm on the 26th and had intermittent clouds and sunshine most of the 27th.

The dining hall at LeConte Lodge

As  you can see above the day started off with clouds. It was somewhat humid, but the temperature by afternoon was in the mid 50’s Fahrenheit.  Our intention was to spend the day hiking around the top of Mount LeConte and taking it easy.  We had come up Alum trail again which is a fairly strenuous trek, particularly in the rain of a thunderstorm.  We wanted to go over the top of the mountain to Myrtle Point, which affords the best views of sunrise on Mount LeConte, to spend an hour or two in the afternoon resting on the rocky ledge looking out over the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. As we pushed along we soon saw an unmistakable image of why these mountains are called the Smokies.

The mountain billowing smoke

Looking at the above picture, the view is along a ridge that runs south from Mount LeConte.  The Boulevard trail follows this ridge from LeConte to the Appalachian Trail.  The wind is from the west, or moving from right to left in the picture. As the wind rises up from  rises up from the valley to the crest of the ridge there are no clouds to the west, but as soon as the wind crosses the ridge, clouds boil up from the east side like  smoke from a volcano, creating a vision of smoke rising out of the ground.  After a couple of hours it diminished, but it was an amazing sight while it lasted.

A view from Myrtle Point.

On Myrtle Point, even with the Smokies haze, the view is what you go to the mountains for.  Although, you might see something similar from a car, there is nothing like getting to the top of a 6000 foot mountain on your own feet and taking your shoes off while resting in the sun and the clouds.  Yes, sometimes you are in the clouds.  Myrtle Point juts out into space and is a granite point surrounded by low growing Myrtle shrubs.  It is accessible only by walking at least six and a half miles up and over Mount LeConte or by hiking over seven miles from Newfound Gap along the Appalachian and Boulevard trails.  Thus, the view above  is not a sight everyone will see with their own eyes. You should try though, because it is incredibly peaceful and restful, to sit there and look out at the mountains and the ever-changing sky.

Near the crest of Mount LeConte, along the Boulevard trail, there is an Appalachian Trail through hiker shelter that gives the through hikers a respite if they decide to take Boulevard to LeConte and then venture down into Gatlinburg.  Since our last visit to LeConte about 6 months ago, the National  Park Service installed a new composting toilet for the use of the through hikers.  It seems to work well, but like every thing else I’ve been talking about.  It’s up hill to get there.  In fact, at the bottom of the Alum Cave trail the National Park Service erected this sign which has warnings to hikers to take precautions

National Park Service Trail Map and Warning

because of the footing.  The sign states, in part: “This trail is steep and rocky.  Wear sturdy boots with adequate ankle support.”  Further, if you look closely, you will see that the sign also indicates that the summit is over five miles away, at over 6,500 feet and takes four of five hours of hiking to reach.

An easy part of the Alum Cave Trail

The part of the trail shown above is in the lower half of the trail. As I stated earlier, the new composting toilet at the through hikers shelter is near the summit of Mount LeConte and there is no way to get there, except on the trails.  So, take a look at what the National Park Service installed for the through hikers to use.

ADA toilet at 6500 ft elevation along a rocky trail at least six miles from the nearest road.

They have their very own Americans with Disabilities Act approved toilet.  I have carried a back pack up or down every trail leading to this toilet on all sides of Mount LeConte.  I guarantee you that any person who required such a toilet as part of his/her normal life would not be able to roll their wheel chair to this toilet, even if you carried them to a spot within a quarter of a mile from the toilet. At Goneguru, we want everyone to have a quality life and to enjoy travel and the great outdoors.  We support research for such disabling diseases as Multiple Sclerosis, but some things just don’t make sense.   If you can explain to me the logic in why this toilet was configured to be ADA approved, please do so.