Away from the studio, far up in the Virginia mountains, there are herds of wild ponies and long-horn cattle roaming the Grayson Highlands. For Labor Day weekend, my girlfriend and I backpacked up to Mt. Rogers to see these animals for ourselves. I had been waiting to take the 4-hour drive from Columbia to the state park for months now and was finally able to book a reservation. It’s a beautiful, but relatively small park that connects to the Appalachian Trail.
The hike I chose took us up to Mt. Rogers, which is the highest point in Virginia. At the peak, there is an AT shelter called the Thomas Knob Shelter that provides refuge for thru-hikers during storms. During busy weekends, the animals tend to venture up the mountain to avoid the crowds and dogs. We found the long-horns at a bald spot around 3 miles into the hike. These animals are impressive, with full-grown bulls reaching well over a ton. Luckily, they paid us no attention and were peacefully grazing as I took pictures and marched past.
At multiple points in the hike, there are rocky outcroppings that are a great view of the park and surrounding mountain ranges. We took our time to enjoy all of them as we progressed to see the ponies. When we finally reached the peak, we had still not seen any horses and sunset was approaching. As my girlfriend and I scrambled to find a camping site that wasn’t littered with pony plops, we ended up accidentally getting off the AT onto the Rhododendron Gap Trail.
Sure enough, we stumbled onto an open field where a herd of 15 ponies were grazing. They came in a variety of colors and sizes, with the small foals among them. Hearing them neigh as the sun was setting and seeing them strutting along was so picturesque it was almost comical. After accomplishing our mission of reaching Mt. Rogers and seeing the wild animals, we pitched our tent for the night and retired to our sleeping bags.
After 11 miles and 2,000 feet in elevation, getting back to the car the next day was relieving. We had such a great time and were thoroughly pooped after the 2 days of backpacking. It felt great to be outdoors and away from normalcy for a couple days. It reminded me how good it feels to take a trip and break up my usual routine.
Go check out Grayson Highlands State Park but be sure to avoid the cattle and pony pies!
Hey y’all my name is Dylan Kunkel and I’m originally from Florida, the land of harassing alligators and gas station felonies. Big Gizzhead, fan of divorced dad rock, and all kinds of jazz. When I’m not at the station you can normally find me in the lab or the gym. Please email me for information or involvement with events and fundraising!