Mount Rogers National
Recreation Area
And Grayson Highlands
State Park
Virginia
July 26 & 27,
2012
Thursday, July 26
At 9:00 AM, I left Lagrange, Ohio for Grayson Highlands
State Park. Matt and Amy Raven departed
from Columbus, Ohio about half an hour later.
Thanks to a disagreement between my Google Maps and their Garmin, I was
able to make up a 40-mile deficit and catch up to Matt and Amy before arriving
at Grayson Highlands. After setting up
camp, we decided to check out a few of the State Park’s trails, the first being
the Cabin Creek Trail. The trail starts
through a thicket of rhododendrons and gradually descends to Cabin Creek, then
follows the cascading creek to Cabin Creek Falls before climbing back along the
ridge to the car. The other trail we
hiked before dark was the Rock House Ridge trail. We quickly discovered that the Rock House was a large rock that
they had put a picnic table next to at the trailhead. The trail did take us to one view, the same view that could be
seen from the overlook on the road. At
the end of the trail (or beginning, depending on your start) were a few replica
19th century buildings that gave off a PBS-vibe, so we went back to
the car. Returning to the campground,
we soon retired for the evening.
Friday, July 27
Unbeknownst to us at the time, going to bed would not result
in sleep. The forestation at the
campground is thick, and while we did not feel the full force of the wind on
the ground, we could hear it ripping through the trees above like a freight train. At various times throughout the night, each
of us believed that would be meeting our maker or going to need a new car.
With a potential threat of rain by early afternoon and
nobody sleeping anyways, we got up shortly after 6:00AM, took down camp and
made the short drive to the trailhead at Massie Gap. As we began the 4-mile climb, it was still very windy and dark
clouds were cruising by us and through us.
The first part of the trail was not very steep and well maintained and
we made good time. When we came to a
large thicket of bushes, we encountered several of the wild ponies for which
the Grayson Highlands and Mount Rogers are known. There was little time for socializing as both parties were all
business (us getting up and down that mountain as quickly as possible and
breakfast for them). From that point,
the trail turned to the right and the trail became considerably more
rocky. The higher we climbed,
visibilities decreased, both above and below us, depending on where the clouds
were rolling through. After
accomplishing most the climbing we would have to do, the trail turned sharply
and flattened out, and we were able to do this section in quick order. We passed the Appalachian Trail shelter,
where a few people had stayed the night before, and from there began the final
climb to the summit (we could not 
see the rest of the mountain we were about to
climb due to clouds and fog). The
summit of Mount Rogers is very different from the rest of the climb, it is
completely wooded with no views. It was
very dark and wet, reminiscent of the kind of place something bad would be
about to happen in the movies. There
are two summit markers, both are on large rocks and there is no sign
designating that you’ve arrived. After
wandering around for a while, Amy spotted one of the markers and we sat on the
rock and consumed snack cakes. 
As we began the descent down Mount Rogers, the skies
gradually began to clear and by the time we had reached the boundary of the
Grayson Highlands the sun was out in full force and it actually had warmed up
considerably. The return hike went
quickly, but the rocky climb down the mountain had resulted in sore feet and
knees. We returned to the campground,
showered, and departed Grayson (me for home, Matt and Amy for Virginia
Beach). The return drive for me was not
an easy one, driving through storms in West Virginia, Akron-Canton, and the
final stretch up Route 301 without the aid of AC or defrost. I returned home at 9PM.
Mount Rogers ranks as one of my favorite mountain summits. The wide open views and
climate were comparable to what you might expect in the Scottish Highlands
rather than western Virginia. In
retrospect, we were blessed with the weather we experienced, with the wind and
clouds on the ascent and clearing skies on the way back, we got to see Mount
Rogers in different ways on the same hike.
Its reputation as one of the jewels of the Appalachians is confirmed.
