Mount Rogers is called the most scenic section of the Appalachian Trail, throw in some wild ponies and you have a great place to spend 3-4 days. The only down side is the 5 1/2 hour drive to get there. The drive must be worth it we have done this trip many times and many different ways.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gwj/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5302337
The weather can turn bad or good quickly, but that’s hiking in the mountains.
Leann at Rhododendron Gap, typically this is our night 2 destination
Back again, we started car camping the night before we started the backpacking section. This makes for a more relaxing trip
Jamie on the crest trail
They have various contraptions you have to go though around or over. These keep the ponies out of the wilderness and protect the vegetation
2010
Just a few pictures from our trip in 2010
We could hear the ponies chewing grass by our tent
It was starting to thunder and we were almost to Wilburn Ridge and did not want to be in the open when the storm hit. We set up a tarp and decided to wait it out….never even rained. Eventually we packed up and continued on the hike
Whytes on Wilbrun Ridge
First time we camped in this area and the last. The ground was very bumpy and nobody slept well
2013 A Very Wet Trip
2015
At some point we started sleeping in the van before a backpacking trip and really liked it. This made for a relaxing night and morning: we did not have to set up or take down a tent and we didn’t care about the weather until we started hiking.
This was another miserable weekend of weather on the mountain: rain and fog
We planned to camp at Grindstone after the backpacking trip and more rain was on the way. We covered the campsite with tarps and stayed dry
HAPPY TRAILS, STEVE