Ponies & Waterfalls

Sunday, we woke up early and broke camp and then headed up to Massie Gap for a hike before leaving Grayson Highlands State Park.  Right at the trailhead, beautiful flame azalea were blooming fiery orange flowers.

Hiking the Rhododendron Trail, we started heading up, passing more beautiful azaleas and wildflowers, including ragwort.

The mountain laurel were starting to bloom here and we had a nice view of Twin Pinnacles in the distance.

The mountain laurel were not quite at peak, but the pink buds were very colorful.

A little further there was some flame azaleas with really deep orange flowers.

In a short ways, where the Rhododendron Trail and North Horse Trail met up, we saw our first wild ponies of the day - two adults and a little boy.

The mother pony used a trail sign as a scratching post and the little boy came over to emulate his mother.

Continuing on the trail we came to a larger group of ponies grazing just before the trail leaves the park.

There were several adults and three little babies, alternating between nursing and grazing for food.

We spent some time here getting pictures as the babies were really cute.

One was taking a little nap without a care in the world.

Sandy and I alternated between holding Alex and viewing the ponies.  He was very excited about the ponies, but not sure what he'd do with them, so we kept him a safe distance a way.  Continuing on, we entered Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and took the Rhododendron Gap Trail towards its namesake.  Another smaller herd of ponies were right along the trail and it was tricky maneuvering Alex around them as he really wanted to play.

There were some babies here too.

We definitely picked a good time to visit and see the baby ponies.

Continuing on, the trail crosses the AT and then finally intersects with the Crest Trail near Rhododendron Gap. We went right on Crest Trail for a quarter-mile to Rhododendron Gap.  Unfortunately, the rhododendron were all past peak - recent storms had knocked off any remaining flowers, though I did find one flower.

We climbed up the rock outcrop here for a snack and to enjoy the views of Mount Rogers and the surrounding mountains.

Even without the rhododendron flowers, it's still a beautiful spot.

After our break, we took the AT back Grayson Highlands.  Back in the park, we stopped again at the larger herd of ponies.  One of the babies came up and starting rubbing himself on my pants.

I try not to get too close or approach the ponies, but this one approached me and I didn't want to make any sudden movements.  I scratched his itchy spot until he seemed satisfied and then continued on.  At the intersection, we went right on Rhododendron Trail to head back towards Massie Gap.

Getting close to the cars, we weren't quite ready to leave, so we hiked the Cabin Creek Trail, going left at the split to hike the loop in the clockwise direction.  The trail descends steeply along a tributary to Cabin Creek and then follows the creek upstream.  We stopped at Lower Waterfall on Cabin Creek for a couple of pictures.

It was kind of warm so I took off my boots and waded in the shallow pool with Alex.  Above enjoying the main drop, I rock-hopped to the small island for a view of the upper drop of the waterfall.

Continuing on, where the trail cuts back to the right to finish up the loop, we continued upstream to the Upper Waterfall on Cabin Creek.  It's a long series of steep cascades but there's no good viewing spot.

I bushwhacked up a ways and then made a difficult climb down to see the upper most drops, but there was a lot of downfall so hard to get a decent picture.  Then we finished up the loop back at Massie Gap.

On the way home, we stopped at Foothills Brewpub in Winston-Salem for dinner and drinks before finishing the drive home.

Wilson Creek Hike

With the sweltering heat in Raleigh, we decided to head north for the weekend and try to stay cool in the highlands of Virginia.  We left Friday after work and headed to Grayson Highlands State Park.  It rained a bit on the way up, but was dry by the time we arrived.  After setting up our tent, we took Alex for a hike while we waited for Justine and Kristen to show up.  We started hiking down Seed Orchard Road along a wide old road.  In under a mile, we went right at a fork to get on Wilson Creek Trail and head down to the creek.  Where the trail met up with the creek, we continued upstream a short ways to a small waterfall.

The water level was too high to get across, but I think there would be a better view from the other side.  Then we got back on the main trail and followed the creek downstream.  In a short ways, we came to the main Waterfall on Wilson Creek.

There are several nice drops along the creek, but the state park mentions a 25-foot waterfall on the creek and I'm pretty sure that this is the one they're referring to.  In high water, it was really impressive.  A little further down was a nice cascading section.

And a little past that was another scenic drop.

 I think all of these would have looked better from the other side, but it was getting late and crossing would have been tough in the high water.  We finished up the loop with a steep climb back up to the road and headed back to camp.  There were some flame azaleas blooming around the campground.

When we got back to our campsite, no one else had yet arrived.

Justine and Kristen ended up getting stuck in traffic and didn't arrive until well after dark.  We were all really tired by this point and went to bed early.

Grayson Highlands - Pinnacles & Cabin Creek

Due to some very loud snoring, I didn't sleep to well Saturday night and woke up at about 530 on Sunday morning. But I didn't want to let an early morning go to waste, so I grabbed my camera and drove to the Sugarlands Overlook towards the entrance of the park.

The sun was just starting to peek over the mountains to the east and provided some gorgeous early morning views.

As it rose over the mountains and broke through the clouds, the sky was alight was beautiful purple, orange, and pink, and the dim light illuminated the misty valleys nestled between the mountains in the distance.

So while I wasn't too thrilled about getting woken up so early, I was a bit appreciative of being given the opportunity to witness such a beautiful sunrise. I headed back to camp and most other people were starting to wake up. After we had breakfast and broke camp, we headed back to Massie Gap for one last hike in Grayson Highlands State Park. From Massie Gap, we hiked up the short, but steep Big Pinnacle Trail to its namesake peak for beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.

The weather this weekend had been absolutely perfect - mild temperatures with highs in the mid 70s and mostly sunny skies. So the views were incredible.

From here, we hiked along the Twin Pinnacles Trail towards Little Pinnacle. Along the way was a patch of beautiful flame azaleas in bloom.

We really lucked out with the blooms - the rhododendron and flame azaleas were peaking, though it was still a little early for the mountain laurel. We stopped again at Little Pinnacle to enjoy the view and then continued on the trail.

Just past Little Pinnacle is a really neat tree whose roots are growing over a rock, several feet above the ground.

The visitor center is right past here and then the trail loops back around back towards Big Pinnacle, and then back down to Massie Gap. But we weren't quite ready to leave just yet - one more hike to go. We hiked down the Cabin Creek Trail to its namesake creek and followed the creek upsteam. There are several pretty little cascades and waterfalls along the creek.

We stopped and had lunch at the Lower Waterfall on Cabin Creek, a nice 25-foot triple waterfall and then made our way back up, finishing the loop.

It was about 130 when we got back to our cars and started making the drive home. Being relatively close, we actually made it home at around dinner time.

Short Hikes at Grayson Highlands

Sunday morning, we woke up and broke camp, but wanted to get in a few hikes before driving back home. From the campsite, we headed to the Wilson Creek Trail, which starts just across the street from the group campsite and the camp store. The trail begins with a moderately steep climb down to Wilson Creek and follows the creek upstream. Although the foliage was thick with rhododendron and other plants, we were able to find a few nice places to climb out onto the rocks and enjoy the view of the stream tumbling over rocks and boulders.

Although the trail sign claims a waterfall on the creek, it was hard to find one specific "waterfall"; rather the entire length of the creek along the trail is constantly cascading as it makes it way downstream.

This also made for a moderately steep climb as the trail heads upstream. After about a mile or so, the trail made a very steep climb back up and met up with the horse trail leading back to the campsite. Then, we moved our car to the Massie Gap parking area. Since we hadn't seen many ponies the day before, we tried our luck again and followed the Rhododendron Trail up to the AT and went as far as the gate to leave Grayson Highlands State Park and enter Mount Rogers NRA. Still no ponies. But it looked like storms would be rolling in soon, so we had lunch on a rock, before heading back to the car and making our way back to Raleigh.

Mount Rogers Hike

After breakfast, we got ready for our hike to Mount Rogers. We carpooled from the campsite to Massie Gap and started hiking just after 9. We followed the Rhododendron Trail up from Massie Gap to meet up with the AT and followed this trail southbound to the border of the state park. At the gate, we saw the only wild ponies of the trip - a small herd of about six.

Of course, we had to stop and greet the ponies and get some pictures, then continued on into Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.

We continued along the AT across Wilburn Ridge stopping at a few rocky areas to climb up and enjoy the wonderful views of the surrounding mountain landscape.

Perhaps my favorite thing about the Grayson Highlands area (well, except for the ponies of course) is the exceptional views over the meadows to the surrounding forested mountains. The grazing ponies and unique geology of the area help keep the vegetation limited to grasses and smaller bushes. Throughout the area, fields upon fields of wild blackberries were growing, but unfortunately, had not produced berries yet.

We continued on to Rhododendron Gap and continued along the AT into Lewis Fork Wilderness. Shortly after passing Thomas Knob Shelter, a spur trail leads up to the summit of Mount Rogers. About half way up the trail, we crossed the "inverse treeline", where the open meadows changes to a wonderful "enchanted forest" of red spruce and frasier fir.

At the summit of Mount Rogers, we stopped for lunch, then headed back down the mountain. We stopped again back at Rhododendron Gap and climbed up the rocks here for more fantastic views.

The rhododendron were clearly past peak bloom, but many were still flowering. Also, in certain places the petals had dropped along the trail giving the appearance of a pink carpet along the trail. Absolutely beautiful!

From here, we took the Pine Mountain Trail through more rhododendron forest, a few open areas, and then into a transitional mixed hardwood-evergreen forest to Scales. And from here, we followed the Scales horse trail back to the campground. A total distance of more then twelve miles. We shuttled drivers back to their vehicles at Massie Gap then had dinner at camp, and a few of the most hardcore hikers, myself included, left for an evening hike along the Twin Pinnacle Trail. We parked at the visitor center and hiked the trail first to Little Pinnacle and then Big Pinnacle where we stopped to watch the sunset over the mountains. It was a bit cloudy, but we still managed to get some great views of the sun setting.

We finished up the loop and then back to camp just before it really got dark. I took perhaps the most refreshing shower of my life before heading to bed. I was quite surprised by the quality of the showers at the campsite here - private showers with warm water and even massage shower heads. After getting back to camp, I fell asleep almost instantly about getting in the tent.

Grayson Highlands Camping

This weekend, Sandy and I headed to Grayson Highlands for a weekend of camping, hiking, and fun in the Virginia Mountains. We left Friday in the late morning and stopped in Sparta for lunch, arriving at the park just before 3. We checked in and set up camp at the group site and while waiting for the others to arrive, we did a short hike. We parked at the Massie Gap parking area and headed down to the Cabin Creek Trail. We spotted some beautiful flame azaleas headed down the trail. At the junction, we forked to the right and headed down to Cabin Creek.

A sign indicated the trail continued to the left and a falls overlook was to the right. There wasn't much of a trail heading to the right, more of a climb over rocks and bushwhacking through thick vegetation. Foliage and branches blocked most of the views of the creek and falls, but we did manage to get out onto some rocks in the creek to get some pictures. We continued up for a while, bushwhacking until it got too thick to continue, then headed back down to the trail and continued along the creek. The main falls, a pretty little 25' cascade that splits into three, is about midway down the trail. But even here, it required a bit of careful planning to rock-hop and bushwhack to get to a good spot for a photo of the falls and creek. We finished up the loop and made the climb back up and to Massie Gap. Before heading back to camp, we left the park to stop at a gas station and pick up some last-minute supplied and stopped at Sugarlands Overlook on the way back for gorgeous views, then returned to the campsite.

By now, most of the rest of the group had arrived; we cooked dinner on the campfire, then went to bed. We would need as much rest as we could get for the challenging hike the next day.