Mount Rogers Hike

Mount Rogers Hike

This was one cold and windy hike. As we are driving to our destination point to drop off a vehicle, snow began to cover the ground.

Some 1hr later we arrived at the start, temps around the mid 20's and lots of wind. Don't think I have ever hiked in this much clothing.

Part of the Virginia Creeper trail

Camp #1 about 15 miles. Task, get as much wood and water as possible. General rule of thumb, get enough wood you think will last the night, then get 3x that amount.

Poor man's saw

Nothing like a fire to warm the body.

Yep, that's the water source. You would be surprised how much water you can pump out of a little hole.

It was around 19 the next morning.

Nothing like toasting your buns first thing in the morning

Somebody either had some serious intestinal problems or was really bored. This was the entire Dr. Suess story on the outhouse wall.

My entertainment during a break

Heading upward towards the Boy Scout Shelter about 17 miles away.

This was really weird. there hundreds of yards of irrigation type hoses weaving thru a portion of the woods. If anyone knows what this stuff is, let me know.

Mount Rogers peak, our destination, off in a distance.

There was about a foot of snow at the top

Weaving our way to the top Sad sight, acres of trees killed by acid rain.
Destination Reached, Boy scout shelter ahead

One of the cool things about this shelter is the views and sunsets

I thought this was a cool pic.

This is a double decker shelter. There were two windows with lots of air blowing in. I found a good use for my 1$ emergency blanket. Just a little ducktape and foil, a great shelter from the wind.

8pm is hikers midnight. The problem with getting to sleep that early is your wide awake around 5am before the sun is up. So we packed up and headed out. Just a few 100 yards from the site, we were rattled by the noise of large animals. There are 100's of wild ponies in the area. Thought these pics were cool being before sunrise.

the eyes were a little scary.

About 4 miles into the hike, the sun pops up. this was the last pic of the hike. ran out of batteries.