Camping Trip - Day 2

After our first night camping as a family of five, we were up early (of course).  We had bagels for breakfast and then packed up our daypacks for our first hike of the day.  We parked at Massey Gap in Grayson Highlands SP and started up the Rhododendron Trail.  We quickly joined up with the Appalachian Trail.  At about a mile we left the state park and entered Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.  We continued on the AT until we turned around at about 2.75 miles.  We changed things up a little and took the Wilburn Ridge Trail for about 0.7 miles on the way back (it pretty much parallels the AT but is a little rockier).

The boys at the trailhead:

And where we joined up with the AT:

Gray isn't in as many pictures because he was on my back in the carrier.

Most of the hike is exposed and completely different than other hikes we've taken the boys on.

At about 1.7 miles, we found what we had come to see ... wild ponies!

We didn't know ahead of time, but we chose an awesome time to visit the area because there were several babies!

We were sure to keep a little distance between the ponies and us, but they weren't scared of us at all and weren't bothered by us either.

This guy's mane was pretty awesome:

We went on top of a rock outcrop, had a snack, and watched the ponies from a distance for awhile.

This dude's mane was even better.  I read that their a pony nicknamed Fabio and I have a feeling this could be him!

We eventually continued on with our hike.  We crossed a more enclosed rocky hill with a good amount of rhododendron in bloom.

There is a little "tunnel" you have to cross through between the huge boulders.

After coming out of the rhododendron and rocks, we found another group of ponies.  There was a group of hikers by them petting them and so the ponies were coming up to us too (probably in hopes of getting some food - we saw plenty of people trying to feed them even though it's prohibited).

This little guy was super cute!!!

We continued on just a bit to a rock outcropping and stopped for lunch.

After lunch we headed back towards the trailhead.

We saw another group of ponies once we crossed back into Grayson Highlands.  This mama was munching away on the grass next to her baby who was sound asleep!

We finished our hike in the early afternoon and then returned back to our campsite.  We didn't get cell service in the park but we heard thunder and the sky was dark in the distance through the trees.  We expected rain overnight but didn't know when it would come in.  We decided we had enough time to fit in another short hike and were able to convince the boys they could do it.

We started the hike from our campsite.  We took Stamper's Branch Trail with our goal of turning around after we found a letterbox on the trail.

Brian carried Gray this time.

This hike was completely different than the first hike of the day.  It was in the the woods with complete tree cover the entire hike.

There was a creek close to our turnaround point with several blooming azaleas in the area.

After our hike we knew we weren't going to stay dry much longer so we quickly got a fire going and roasted hot dogs.  We finished dinner just in time and then got into the tent for awhile as the rain poured down.

After the rain ended, we took a walk around the campground and then chilled for a bit.  The tent camping area had cleared out and there was only one other person that we could see.

The rain started to come in again eventually and we decided it was time for bed!

Camping Trip - Day 1

At the beginning of the summer, we took a three day trip up to Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia.  Brian and I had been here once before when I lived in Kingsport.  The main reason I wanted to take the boys here is because they have wild ponies roaming around the park and I thought they'd really like seeing them.

The drive is long - almost six hours. So on the way up, we took a detour (and made the drive a bit longer) and stopped at Margarette Falls in Greeneville, TN.  This was our first time to these falls and was definitely worth the stop.

Gray got his very own Camelbak from Aunt Shannon this Christmas.

The majority of the hike followed the stream that is downstream of the falls.

The boys like to "meditate" for pictures all the time.

Margarette Falls:

We let the boys take off their shoes and play in the water at the base of the falls.

We played for a long time and then headed back to the trailhead.

After getting back to the car, we loaded up and continued on our drive to Grayson Highlands.

We had reserved a campsite beforehand but weren't able to pick out a specific one.  Because we got to the campground so late, there were only three sites to choose from.  We got site 2 which actually ended up being perfect.  The sites are very close to one another and since no one ended up using site 1, we were on the end.  It was Saturday night and the people around us were loud, even past quiet hours.  It was fine, but I would have hated to be in the center of it all!

We set up the tent and boys' hammocks, and then Brian got a fire started while I prepped dinner.

We had grilled chicken quesadillas with chips and salsa.

It was a simple meal but yummy!

For dessert we made Jiffy Pop.  It was the first time Brian or I had made it and it turned out great!  Rylan was VERY excited!

We chilled around the fire for awhile and then went inside the tent when it got dark.  We read books for a bit and then went to sleep.

I was worried about how Gray would sleep but he did awesome.  He was the first one to pass out and it wasn't difficult.  We have a 4-person backpacking tent and with four sleeping pads and four sleeping bags.  Gray got to share with me.  It wasn't spacious but we all had enough room.  And we all got enough sleep.