Mount Rogers, Virginia 5,729 feet

Climbed 9/05/2015

Mount Rogers is one of four state highpoints Evelyn and I ascended during a week-long trip in southern Appalachia. (The others were Clingmans Dome, Mount Mitchell, and Black Mountain.) It was definitely the most enjoyable.

For one thing, the trip up Mount Rogers is an actual hike, about eight miles round-trip, on the Appalachian Trail no less. (The others had a road to the top.) For another, our base camp was the cool little town of Damascus, Virginia, also known as Trail Town USA.

One of the benefits of our highpointing quest is discovering out-of-the-way places that we wouldn’t otherwise visit. The Appalachian Trail passes literally down the main street of Damascus, and the town is also traversed by the Virginia Creeper Trail, the Trans-America National Bicycle Trail, the Iron Mountain Trail, the Daniel Boone Heritage Trail, and the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail. We were there on the day of the Iron Mountain Trail Challenge, a 50-mile trail run that starts and finishes in the town park. We stayed at the Old Mill Inn, overlooking the ducks in the mill pond.

Relaxing with the ducks at the mill pond

We drove Highway 58 up into the mountains and up into the clouds. Visibility was fairly low by the time we reached Grayson Highlands Park. We parked in the backpacker’s lot and stumbled through the fog trying to find the start of the Rhododendron Trail, which at this time of year had more goldenrod than rhododendrons.

Late summer color

As we approached a meadow on Wilburn Ridge, we saw shapes emerging from the mist. Too heavy to be deer; too small to be cattle. What were they?

PONIES!

Early settlers released Shetland ponies here as a way to control the hawthorn bushes. The ponies are also comfortable at 4500 to 5000 feet of elevation. The park today is home to just over a hundred wild ponies and very few hawthorn bushes on the lower slopes. Adorable… but please don’t feed or pet them; they are wild animals.

We turned south (and uphill) onto the Appalachian Trail, following its trademark white blazes. We met a few people coming north on the trail, carrying full packs and complaining about the rockiness of the trail ahead of us.

White blazes mark the Appalachian Trail

We crossed open meadows that surely had expansive views, but we felt that the lack of views was a reasonable trade-off for the comfortable hiking temperature. The trail got narrower as it started up rocky steps into Rhododendron Gap. The trail passed through a literal gap in the rocks, and the scenery abruptly changed on the other side: bushes and trees crowded the sides.

Through the rocks

Can we pass please?

From here the trail followed the undulating ridge. We passed lots of nice-looking camping spots, several of which had campers in them. The clouds started to lift, giving us partial views.

Seeing a bit more clearly

Not long after passing a backpacker’s shelter on Thomas Knob, we came to the short spur trail that led to the Mount Rogers summit. As we climbed the last slope, the scenery abruptly changed again: we entered a mossy forest. Which meant no views from the top despite the rising clouds.

Practically a rainforest

The trail curved around a rock outcropping and came into a small clearing. A couple sitting on a boulder welcomed us to the summit. They pointed to the USGS marker, saving us time we would have spent wandering around the clearing. As it was, we still had some confusion because Mike found a second marker on a rock that looked like it could be a tad higher. We sat on the summit boulder and ate some fudge we'd bought the previous day at Grandfather Mountain.

Our 39th state highpoint

Apparently not the summit, just another USGS marker

The clouds continued to lift as we made our way back down, showing us the views that had eluded us on the trip up.

We KNEW there were views beyond all of that morning fog

The trail was more crowded as afternoon arrived; we passed many groups headed toward Mount Rogers. When we reached the first meadow, we found crowds of families admiring — and petting and feeding! — the so-called "wild" ponies.

We returned to Damascus and bought snacks from the grocery store. We sat down in the town park near the finish line for the Iron Mountain Challenge. We stuffed Bugles into our mouths as we marveled at how strong the finishers looked even though they had been running since before we sat down for breakfast.

And in the evening, they had fireworks in the park.

Summary quote from Evelyn: "I really liked that hike. I'd TOTALLY do it again. :-)"