5/20/12 – 495 miles
I’ve stopped for the night at a campsite just north of Thomas Knob Shelter. I’m very close to the Grayson Highland State Park, famous for wild ponies and meadows of picturesque landscape. There are only two of us camped here. I’ve been leapfrog hiking with a young guy named Seminole . When we got here there were ponies all through the campground and you can walk right up to them and pet them. They try to lick the salt off your arms and legs. One of the ponies bit my pack when I took it off and I had to chase it away. I got some good pictures of them. I just hope they don’t come in the night and start chewing on my tent!
I’m embarrassed to tell this story but…
When I left Damascus one thing I forgot to resupply was toilet paper. I kept kicking myself all the way up the trail, pondering which leaves would make the best service when nature called. None of them looked adequate and I dreaded the thought so much that my system shut down, delaying the inevitable by one day. You’be heard the saying s*it happens, but thankfully trail magic happened first and the parking lot across from a popular trail had a restroom with extra rolls of toilet paper.