Mt. Rogers, although not a very high peak, at 4,720 feet, is a very enjoyable day trip. It was surprisingly scenic, a trip I strongly recommend. It's close to several other peaks, Mt. Mitchell, N.C., and Black Mtn. Kentucky, and Clingmans Dome, Tn. You could easliy do all four in a three day weekend.
When you come to this sign, take a hard left. It's easy to assume you're just supposed to follow the jeep road you're on which veers left, and miss the narrow path that goes 90 degrees left. Doing so will still put you back on the trail, but it's somewhat confusing. This isn't the best marked trail I've ever been on, and I noticed several others also going the wrong way on my return trip.
The trail is almost level, and only climbs 1000 feet in four miles to the summit. As you cross this field, you'll see several dozen wild ponies scattered around in small groups of 2-3.
You'll get close enough to take as many photos of these guys as you want, as they don't really run away from people. Obviously they're used to hikers. Most of them look pretty fat, and you have to wonder if they've ever really run away from anything.
This footbridge crosses over the fence, and there's a campsite just past it. This is less than half a mile into the hike. On the other side of the fence a jeep road goes to the right. The trail goes straight. Of course, I missed this, and again, went the wrong way. Fortunately, the jeep trail ended up on the Appalachian Trail, so you can get back on track. My second wrong turn of three today.
The sky was beautiful today. Fields, waving grasses, a few scattered rocks, and rolling hills.
There were a couple of side trails, this one added about half a mile to the trip up, and it was well worth it. There was a lot of steep rock scrambing. It's marked by blue blazes, and it was quite fun and a good workout.
Look closely, and you can see the blue blaze in the center of this nice piece of rock. I worked up quite a sweat cutting through here! I had missed my brother in law, who was supposed to meet me for this climb. He camped out the night before. I figured by now we missed each other on the trail since I had gone off trail three times already. I did see his car in the parking lot, though....
Again, the blue blaze in on the center of the large boulder there. Much easier to go over the boulder than to try to trudge through the very gnarly brush on this leg. Going down the other side of this knob was also steep and fun!
The view from the top of the knob certainly was worth the scrambling to get there! Mt. Rogers, on the other hand, is so heavy with trees there really isn't a view, so enjoy this one on the way up!
After decending the knob, you're just a short trek away from joining up to the A.T. The trail from here on up to the summit is nice and sofly padded. An easy afternoon stroll. Just stay alert here as well, as it's easy to get off track here where several trails converge. Luckily I ran into a group of camping scouts who pointed out the correct route at an unmarked intersection.
The rooftop you see in the photo below is one of the A.T. shelters. A really nice one, compared to the overrun shelters in the Smokies I remember from many years ago. And who do I find resting here? My brother-in-law, Bob! It's always nice to run into a familiar face when you're a thousand miles away from home.
There's Dr. Bob, on the left, and his pal Dr. David on the right. Bob's pointing to the US Survey marker at the peak.
I should mention that just past the shelter, when you break off to do the final summit trail, the trees were so grown over, it got cool and "cave like" due to the thick overgrowth. It was even misty, and at least ten-fifteen degrees cooler! Other than that, the summit is uneventful.
That's Bob, with me on the right, for the obligatory summit photo.
Now which relative can I con into doing the next highpoint with me?
I have to say, Virgina and it's mountains are very beautiful. I had no idea it had so much open land. The roads are nice too, I look forward to coming back someday on a motorcycle. It's trips like this that make you look forward to the next one....
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