I had already set our vacation to Great Smoky National Park when I came a across a Youtube video by a backpacker named David Gray. Honestly I've been following Mr. David Gray's videos since a few months after our trip to Glacier National Park back in 2013. In his video posted last spring he and a friend hiked through a portion of the Grayson Highland's State Park via the Appalachian Trail ending on the Creeper trail. Although weather obstructed some of his views, those he did have were impressive. His video also documented his experience with wild ponies! I love horses and my son has interest too and with the views I knew we had to stop on our way to the "Smokies." If you are interested in watching here is the link to his video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojYxO5Xsqis! Knowing the weather could be everything from beautiful and sunny to snow I booked two nights at Troy's Pouting Cabin with Highland Hideaways! It is located just three miles from the entrance of Grayson Highlands State Park and actually borders it! We really enjoyed our stay here. Our son was asleep when we arrived so I slept most of the night down stairs with him while my husband slept in the loft. I didn't want him to wake disoriented and get scared. My only complaint is that the mattresses were too hard for me. I got up around 4:30am and moved to the couch. A few minutes later I heard, "Mama, Mama, what is this? A cabin, I love it!" A child after my own heart! My husband also commented that it was the exact floor plan he had planned to build on his land long before we met (we're still stuck in an apartment). I've always love log cabins and wraparound porches! The owners Mr. & Mrs. Reece were also very pleasant and a joy to deal with. The cabin was reasonably priced but next time I'd stay a whole week! A stream flows across the road, I would sneak out at night with a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy the sound. I really miss country living! If you are interested in staying here go here...... www.highlandhideaways.com After paying up for our parking pass we shot a pictures at the first overlook we came too, but the lighting was not the greatest so we tried again later in the day. One of the shots I took looked very interesting in Sepia which you will see below. After that we headed to the visitor center which had not yet opened. Eager to get our day started we opted to do the "Twin Pinnacles" hike located behind the visitor center. My husband loves rock scrambles so he was in his glory. Little man of course had to follow which made me nervous. I have a slight fear of heights so I often had to request my husband to come back and help our son. The "Twin Pinnacles" trail is a loop but you have to take an off shoot trail that is rather steep to get to the top of Big Pinnacle. Doing this affords you spectacular views of the park and Mt. Rogers (pictured right). We had some trouble getting our son to mind us at the top of the pinnacle. Thankfully he only fell on the rocks and not off the cliff. I am seriously considering getting a leash for him since he is getting too big to carry all the time. Discipline doesn't work well on him but I do need to figure out how to bend his will. The Twin Pinnacles was a total win with the only casualties being my child's knees and the LCD screen of "his" camera. He accidentally dropped his camera on a rocky surface while trying to put it back in its pouch. He likes trying to take pictures like Mama and Daddy so he was a bit sad the rest of the trip. Upon our return we stopped at the visitor center and found out that the Rhododendron Trail was the one to take in order to have the best chance of seeing wild ponies. You can sort of make the trail out in the photo above. On the way to the Rhododendron Trail our son fell asleep, so we opted to go find gas for the car. When we re-entered the park we stopped to shoot the overlook again! Evidently the Rhododendron trail and the search for wild ponies is "wildly" popular, the parking area for the trail was more than just a little overflowed. I had told my son earlier in the morning that we were going to see wild ponies on our hike. He responded by telling me "I'm going to tell Daddy to put you in a cage." I wasn't sure if he didn't want to hike to find the ponies or if he just did not believe me. Tucking him into bed that night I asked him if he enjoyed seeing the ponies. He responded by saying, " I am sorry for telling Daddy to put you in a cage." I guess he hadn't believed me. I spotted the pony to the left from a great distance. As we got closer I told my son not to chase after the pony but to let her come to him because otherwise she may bite or kick. He did very well and for once actually listened to me. When she came over I told him to hold out his hand and let her sniff him. He loved that and then was able to pet her. When she was ready to move he stepped aside and let her go. Another child also about three years in age was not so lucky. He ran right up to her and got bitten. The mother was not watching and even though it was evident he had been nipped she told her older daughter it was okay to approach the "gentle ponies." While my son tried to comfort and advise the boy I had to bite my tongue. Later we came across a small herd of ponies trying to graze. We made sure our son stayed back a ways from them and just watch. Other people were draping themselves over them and taking selfies. I could see the pony's patience waning as ears started flipping backwards. I pointed their ears out to my son and told him when their ears are back like that it means they are mad so lets keep our distance. Later that woman and her two kids caught up to us. They didn't have any water so my son shared his with the little boy who was quite thirsty. As we went to continue hiking we noticed the girl was visibly upset and limping away from a pregnant mare whose ears had been pinned nearly straight back. The woman didn't know why the pony had stomped or kicked. I told her what I had told my son and it turns out she knew nothing at all about horse behavior. People please do some research before going to places especially on the animals you may encounter. If you want your child to be exposed to "gentle ponies" visit a stable or petting zoo don't expect a wild animal to welcome you to its home with open arms! It's kind like feeding a bear and expecting it won't attack you! For the sake of her children I sincerely hope that woman learned something that day. Okay, I will get off my "high horse" now. We then decided to do a short hike on the Springs Trail in the neighboring Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. Here we left the crowds behind for more beautiful vistas and free range long horned cattle. When we came back the herd of ponies had moved a bit and had been joined by others. Then we heard a loud whinnie. Out from the bushes in front us came a magnificent stallion of whom I was able to get a few clear shots of as he joined the herd. It was amazing! I stood back with my long lens and shot some more photos but it was a challenge because of all the pony petters and selfie cell phone enthusiasts. Then a black stallion tried to challenge the stallion who had just joined up with the herd. To my amazement no one really backed away!
Despite the people challenge this portion of the trip was my favorite and I really want to go back to explore more! I am thankful for the one day we had. We also hope to explore the "Virginia Creeper" trail by bike someday too! We found a section of that as we made our way back to route 81. I love the evening light in the photos below. Enjoy! We finished the Skyline Drive on day one, then rushed sixteen miles down the Blue Ridge following signs to Lake Sherando where we set up camp in the dark. I chose a site right across from the bathroom. We knew it was going to be cold so the three of us squeezed into my husband's two man timberline tent in our zero degree Browning sleeping bag! However we were not expecting it to get as cold as it did. I could see my breathe as I cleared up our dinner stuff (turkey sandwiches again). We were nice and warm inside our little camp so long as you didn't stick your head outside the bag! Although I didn't drink much I still had to get up in middle of the night for a potty run but the night sky was so pretty I didn't mind the cold too much. We were packed up and ready to go by 8:30 in the morning and it was a chilly 39 degrees. We still took a moment to shoot a photo or two of the lake. There is a trail around it but we had a long day of driving and a problem with the car. It was leaking Anti-freeze! We drove back to Waynesboro to buy some more antifreeze. My husband notice it wasn't the same color as what was in the the car. We made a few phone calls to eventually find out we needed a specific antifreeze for Nissan cars or the warranty would be voided! Good grief, why does everything have to be so complicated! We returned the antifreeze I bought and got directions to the nearest NAPA Auto Parts! So now over half of the morning was gone but we were finally on our way! First stop was the visitor center at Humpback Rocks. There was a historic farm there which we had fun exploring with our son. Inside the main cabin was a ranger stationed to answer questions and explain the about the homestead.. I think she had as much fun with my son as he did with her as she introduced to him to the old fashion wooden toys this family used to play with! From there we did mostly look outs with gorgeous weather once again! Along the drive we encountered many vintage vehicles. Despite shooting from the passenger seat of a moving a vehicle I did manage one decent shot of the type of vehicles that may have traveled the Blue Ridge Parkway when it first opened. At Yankee Ridge we stretched our legs over an old logging rail road track and tried to capture the beauty of Wigwam Falls. That night we wanted a warm dinner which we got at Peaks of Otter. Again, we set up camp in the dark near the bathrooms! In the morning my husband walked/ ran laps around the campground with our son while I broke down camp and carefully repacked the car. It was much warmer but the wind and rain of acorns kept us awake. We had recently replaced our hood thanks to a deer so now our brand new hood had 4 acorn dents in it!
Back on the road we photographed more gorgeous lookouts. We stretched our legs along the Roanoke River and to our son's delight got to see a train go by on the opposite side. We stopped at "Smart View" and observed a cabin with just that a smart view! We came upon a small dam along our route to which I tried to get down in front of for a photo, only to be chased away by a snake. We finally reached Mabry Mill where we waited a very long time for lunch which was delicious. I would recommend the chicken pot pie. The Mill was beautiful with the fall leaves. There was a man in the mill who discussed lumber with my husband. A lady working a loom in the main house and another ranger was spinning yarn. Our son seemed to really enjoy all the old buildings, wagons and tools. This was the pinnacle of the Blue Ridge and the last stop for us on this trip along the Blue Ridge. From there we grabbed route 58 and settled down at our rented cabin next to Grayson Highlands. This is where I will leave off for today! On October 18th we hit the road at 3:30 a.m. to sit in line to enter Shenandoah National Park and 10am! Our primary objective was to explore the Great Smoky Mountains but since we didn't finish exploring Skyline Drive I added a few extra days to the start of our vacation! Originally we were going to hit it on the way back from the Smokies but I know my husband, race to get home as soon as possible! I forget how many times I heard him say "I hate vacation!" Yet he'll tell anyone he had a good time! I think it is just a lot of driving for one person (I can't(shouldn't) drive) and we try to do as much as possible in too short a time frame! We also drove a section of the Blue Ridge and spent a whole day at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia. The blog on this trip is going be broken up into sections. Part 1 is obviously Shenandoah's Skyline drive!
Once inside the park we stopped in at the Dickey Ridge visitor center to use facilities and stamp our son's National Park's Passport. I inquired about the water in the waterfalls since there was a burn ban just the week before. We hiked to Land's Run Falls but it was hard to get a view and the water was hardly a trickle. I didn't photograph it but we got to stretch our legs. After we drove out to find a picnic area to put together our lunch of turkey sandwiches and apples. We had gorgeous weather, God surely answered prayers! After lunch we drove to approximately where we left off last year and photographed most of the overlooks. Some we skipped because the light was horrendous or they were overgrown with trees. We stopped briefly for a potty break at Loft Mountain and considered camping the night there. Instead we opted to push on another thirty plus miles to Lake Sherando to set up p in the dark (Our specialty so it seems)! I used a Circular Polarizing fllter for all my shots but often wished I had a lens hood for my 10-18mm stm lens! Enjoy the photos! |
Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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