We had worried about Retread camped out behind the shelter through last night’s terrible storm, but he was the first to pack up and leave this morning, proclaiming he “slept right through it.” He said he had worried about us during the big lightning strike, so it must have been really close.

Initially the trail was in good shape after all the rain, but after crossing Highway 58 we were increasingly slowed by slippery rocks and mud holes. The climb up to Buzzard Rock was long and with trail conditions we could never get into an even pace. The foggy weather did nothing to lift our spirits and blocked what should have been some spectacular views. While taking a break at Buzzard Rock, the clouds lifted just a bit to show us indeed we were getting high again, but after that, the trail could best be characterized as a “stream.” It was no fun trying to pick out dry spots on which to hike.

A restroom at VA 600 gave us a chance to offload our trash (always a treat), and signaled the start of the Virginia Highlands. The four-mile climb up Mt. Rogers would be rugged even on a dry day, and today was certainly not that! The only really enjoyable event occurred when X got to feed dried fruit to the ponies in the herd of wild horses we encountered along the trail.  (N was not as pleased when the ponies tried to chew his hiking poles for the salt while he was taking pictures!) We were both pretty beaten up by the time we reached the turn-off to the summit on the left and could see the shelter as the trail followed the ridge off to the right. Low on water and late in the afternoon, although scheduled to go further, we decided to call it a day at the shelter.

We were pleased to finish all our chores well before dark, and be settled in on the second floor of this fairly new shelter well before Hiker Midnight. Two other items of note: N took the opportunity to backtrack to the side trail for a 1.5 mile trip to the Mt. Rogers summit, which even without a pack was an exercise in stream walking, and, at the end, not a great photo opportunity (X was content to be within 300′ of that elevation in her sleeping bag on the shelter’s second floor!) And #2, the local rescue squad came up in their ATV to carry out thru hiker “Old Hiker” who late in the afternoon had slipped on the mud near the shelter and badly sprained (maybe broken?) his ankle. He left Springer on Leap Day this year, and had been off the trail once already for three weeks nursing a soft-tissue injury. He re-started his hike two days ago at Damascus. After several hours of rest, he’d determined he couldn’t go on. Other hikers at the shelter appreciated his generosity giving away his remaining food and as we all watched him depart with the rescue squad there was a mutual feeling of true heart-break for him.

At 5,430′ elevation, we’re expecting a chilly night…