Mt. Rogers is one of the more "remote" eastern state highpoints; although the Appalachian Trail passes within a few tenths of a mile of the summit, there is no auto road leading reluctant hikers just steps shy of the top. The standard route, beginning at Elk Garden, climbs through a dense birch forest, then gives way to a large open area of shrubs near the summit. The final pitch climbs into a thick grove of spruce & fir that obstruct all potential views; trying to walk even a brief stretch off trail shows just how tight the forest is. The true highest spot is a little past the rock outcrop which contains the benchmark.

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2005.01.15 - Mt. Rogers was the last state highpoint I visited on a six-state swing through the Midwest / East in January of 2005. I had just spent a bit of time dodging icefall on Kentucky's Black Mountain, and was eager to continue on to a real hike. As opposed to being a simple drive-up summit, Virginia's highest point could be reached via a 4.3 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail. Based on some reports I had read, the Elk Garden approach seemed to be a more scenic and less-traveled route, so I had decided to begin the trek from there.

While making the drive from Kentucky toward Grayson Highlands State Park, I noticed that the county road signs didn't exactly match what was on my Rand-McNalley atlas. I stopped at a few local shops in the area, and eventually found out where I needed to go. As it turned out, even that information was slightly askew, so it took a fair amount of driving in circle before I actually found the correct roads to take. Anyone else heading this way should be forewarned that there has been a lot of recent construction which makes navigation somewhat more difficult. I eventually reached the Elk Garden AT trailhead, though it was a bit later than I had anticipated.

As I unloaded my gear from the car, I noticed that there was virtually no snow anywhere. There were a few small patches, almost not worth mentioning, and in fact, it seemed much more like autumn than winter. The temperature had begun to dip near freezing, however, so it at least felt like winter was here.

The trail began meandering up a slope, with great views of Mt. Rogers opening up to the east. As I hiked higher, there was a slight yet noticeable pain in my left heel. I didn't think anything of it at the time, and even if I had, it likely wouldn't have made me turn around; I hadn't come this far just to bail 50 feet into my last hike. The trail quickly entered the forest, inhibiting any views until much later.

As the shade of the forest began to fend off the sun, I noticed some ice and snow along the trail. There were strange hair-like fibers of ice that seemed to grow directly out of the ground like a strange breed of winter grass. I had never seen anything like them. I contoured up and over an intermediate bump just prior to reaching a trail confluence at Deep Gap. From this point on it was onward and upward.

As the white-blazed trail climbed higher, the surroundings grew considerably more rugged. I was now hiking on the rocky slopes of Mt. Rogers itself. Recent melt / freeze cycles had left large patches of rock-solid ice in various places on the track. Were it not for my trekking poles, I definitely would have slipped on several spots. The poles were providing another benefit as well; the pain from earlier had grown much stronger, and I could now feel that it had taken up residence in my Achille's tendon. My poles served as crutches as much as anything. I pushed on despite the pain, and before too long, the final trail junction came into view. Turning left onto the Mt. Rogers trail, I walked past many more icy patches and eventually reached the summit.

I dropped my pack next to an outcropping containing the U.S.G.S benchmark, and began to explore the area. The true highest point was, in my opinion, in some trees a few meters away from the survey mark. The air was remarkably colder than before, and my camera battery wasn't too happy with the new conditions. After spending 15 minutes or so on top, I started on the descent.

My ankle began to hurt much more by this point. My pace slowed to almost a crawl. It usually takes me about half as much time to descend as I spent on the ascent, though on this occasion, the hike was actually longer on the downhill leg. Thankful that I didn't have any more peaks planned for this trip, I hobbled down back to my car just as the sun shone its last rays of pink, purple and orange. Though I had only reach two peaks on this day, as opposed to the 4 during the prior 24-hours, I was definitely satisfied to be down.

With several hundred miles left to travel back to the BWI airport, I had plenty of time to think about what a great excursion this had been. Although the conditions hadn't really resembled a true winter, I was able to climb through much more snow and ice than I could have at home. Plus, there was the satidfaction in reaching six highpoints in only 2 days! The dark and lonely mile-markers slowly ticked away as I headed back home.