Mount Rogers: Views, Ponies, and Crowds
Sept 9, 2016 8:08:24 GMT -5
Post by rpcv on Sept 9, 2016 8:08:24 GMT -5
My husband and I spent the long weekend backpacking in the Mount Rogers area with two friends. After the long drive from the DC area, we started at Beartree Lake and hiked a quick five miles to Lost Mountain Shelter on Friday evening. We spent a pleasant night camping near the shelter and we were the only ones there. The mice in the actual shelter are relentless. My husband put his food bag down on the floor of the shelter for a couple of minutes while he rearranged a few things on the picnic table. In that time, with us standing right there, a mouse chewed a small hole in his food bag.
Saturday, we hiked from Lost Mountain Shelter to the Mount Rogers Spur Trail/Thomas Knob Shelter. We started the day with an encounter with disgruntled yellowjackets. My husband got stung three times and I got stung once. Other than that, though, it was a really nice hike. The first half was a steady climb up to Buzzard Rock, where we had lunch and our first good views of the day. We had seen a few hikers to this point, but after we left Buzzard Rock, the foot traffic really increased. As we approached the Mount Rogers Spur Trail, we started looking for a campsite. We found a pretty poor one under some fir trees, so my husband and one of our friends held it while our other friend and I went to look for something better. There was no.room.at.the.inn. It was amazing. I have camped at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon and volunteer on Old Rag in Shenandoah and this was probably the busiest backcountry site I've ever seen. Pretty much every square of flat ground (and some not so flat) that wasn't covered in blackberry bushes had a tent on it. As we were about to give up, two guys with a large-ish campsite offered to share. We took them up on it because it was a much nicer site than ours. They turned out to be great company for the night and their campsite had a great view. We ended up sleeping under the stars that night because the site was a little tight for two more tents.
We hiked through a lot of this type of deep rhododendron woods at lower elevations.
The view from our lunch spot, Buzzard Rock.
Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana). These were going off all over the place under, as you would guess, Beech trees.
Sunset at our campsite.
Sunday, we woke up and hiked the out and back up to the summit of Mount Rogers without our packs. Then we returned and continued north on the Appalachian Trail. If I thought it was crowded the day before, Grayson Highlands State Park and Wilburn Ridge made the previous day look deserted. The area was beautiful, but there were a lot of hikers. We did see the famous ponies. We finally left the majority of the dayhikers behind after we passed a trail junction close to a parking lot. There was still a steady stream of backpackers, though. Even so, we had a really nice hike. We got periodic views of Wilburn Ridge and Mount Rogers all the way to the Scales. We spent the night camping near Old Orchard Shelter. Monday morning, we had a quick four-mile hike to the car at Grindstone Campground.
We paid to park at both Grindstone Campground and Beartree Lake. The fee is $5 per day at both places, which we figured was well worth it to avoid the issues that others have had at the roadside parking areas there. Overall, it was a really nice trip. We were mostly pretty zen about the crowds and you can't beat the scenery (there's a reason it is popular). If we go back, though, it won't be on a holiday weekend!
Sunrise at our campsite
My husband hiking across Wilburn Ridge.
The crowds surrounding the ponies in Grayson Highlands State Park.
One of the Grayson Highlands ponies.
Saturday, we hiked from Lost Mountain Shelter to the Mount Rogers Spur Trail/Thomas Knob Shelter. We started the day with an encounter with disgruntled yellowjackets. My husband got stung three times and I got stung once. Other than that, though, it was a really nice hike. The first half was a steady climb up to Buzzard Rock, where we had lunch and our first good views of the day. We had seen a few hikers to this point, but after we left Buzzard Rock, the foot traffic really increased. As we approached the Mount Rogers Spur Trail, we started looking for a campsite. We found a pretty poor one under some fir trees, so my husband and one of our friends held it while our other friend and I went to look for something better. There was no.room.at.the.inn. It was amazing. I have camped at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon and volunteer on Old Rag in Shenandoah and this was probably the busiest backcountry site I've ever seen. Pretty much every square of flat ground (and some not so flat) that wasn't covered in blackberry bushes had a tent on it. As we were about to give up, two guys with a large-ish campsite offered to share. We took them up on it because it was a much nicer site than ours. They turned out to be great company for the night and their campsite had a great view. We ended up sleeping under the stars that night because the site was a little tight for two more tents.
We hiked through a lot of this type of deep rhododendron woods at lower elevations.
The view from our lunch spot, Buzzard Rock.
Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana). These were going off all over the place under, as you would guess, Beech trees.
Sunset at our campsite.
Sunday, we woke up and hiked the out and back up to the summit of Mount Rogers without our packs. Then we returned and continued north on the Appalachian Trail. If I thought it was crowded the day before, Grayson Highlands State Park and Wilburn Ridge made the previous day look deserted. The area was beautiful, but there were a lot of hikers. We did see the famous ponies. We finally left the majority of the dayhikers behind after we passed a trail junction close to a parking lot. There was still a steady stream of backpackers, though. Even so, we had a really nice hike. We got periodic views of Wilburn Ridge and Mount Rogers all the way to the Scales. We spent the night camping near Old Orchard Shelter. Monday morning, we had a quick four-mile hike to the car at Grindstone Campground.
We paid to park at both Grindstone Campground and Beartree Lake. The fee is $5 per day at both places, which we figured was well worth it to avoid the issues that others have had at the roadside parking areas there. Overall, it was a really nice trip. We were mostly pretty zen about the crowds and you can't beat the scenery (there's a reason it is popular). If we go back, though, it won't be on a holiday weekend!
Sunrise at our campsite
My husband hiking across Wilburn Ridge.
The crowds surrounding the ponies in Grayson Highlands State Park.
One of the Grayson Highlands ponies.