Appalachian Trail: Day 55
Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored. All the gear mentioned in this post was purchased by me at retail prices. I have no affiliations with any of the companies or brands mentioned.
I entered the Grayson Highlands today. The Grayson Highlands are the home of the famous wild ponies. I had mentioned them prior to leaving for my hike and was friendly threatened that I had to get photos of the ponies.
The terrain was pretty easy today. Lots of flat grassy areas with some rocks. Pretty much was I envision when I think of what highlands would look like. My biggest issue was I wasn't seeing any ponies.
I did a side trail to climb up the Wilbur Ridge to get a really nice 360 degree view of the highlands around me before reaching Fat Man Squeeze. Honestly, it wasn't much of a squeeze. I fit through with my pack on my back no problem. The name did remind me of a section in Rock City, a tourist attraction in Chattanooga, TN, that also had the same name. I haven't been there since I was a kid, but I recall that squeeze being tighter than this one was.
It wasn't until I was actually outside of the Grayson Highlands proper and almost to a place called The Scales where I finally saw a small herd of the ponies. They even had a foal amongst them.
I made it to Hurricane Mountain Shelter and thought I might have the entire shelter to myself. It was around 8:30 and I was just about to fall asleep when Fire Squirrel rolls into the shelter. We actually had a decent talk about the reasons we are hiking the trail and some of the trams in our pasts that we are using the trail to work through.