Blue Ridge County - March/April 2014 - 5

E

From the
Editor

Kurt Rheinheimer

Don't Feed the Ponies!
SOMETIMES, THEY DON'T GIVE YOU MUCH CHOICE.
This was a few years back, as The
Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All and I
were nearing the completion of one
glorious part of our now-10-year,
every-weekend hiking odyssey (oddity?): We'd had saved the best for last
in covering all 550 miles of the
Appalachian Trail in Virginia.
And with all due love for all the
other Virginia AT wonders, the Grayson
Highlands are indeed the best.
Five thousand feet are, after all,
5,000 feet, and the crispness of the
air, the openness of the balds and the
high-country vegetation are all distinctively different from anywhere
else in the state. This day took us first
to the wooded summit of Mt. Rogers,
the state's highest peak, and then
down onto the open section toward
Grayson Highlands State Park.
It was along this section - just
beyond Thomas Knob Shelter - that
we came upon a tiny pony mom and

her baby, about as tall as your knee.
With only minor aggressiveness from
mamma, Gail busted out the nuts we
had as part of lunch; mamma pony ate
those enthusiastically as new pony
nursed. And then mamma made it
clear - pushing her head into Gail and
her pack - that she had't gotten quite
enough. (Apologies, park officials, and
readers, please see an open letter to
the ponies at mcsweeneys.com.)
We didn't eat any nuts with lunch
that day, though, on a rocky point
looking down on the blooms of
Rhododendron Gap on a June 15, it
was a wonderful, memorable lunch,
complete with two long-sleeve layers
each, views of mountains, of more
ponies and of horse riders below.
This issue's photoessay - see page
34 - provides a nice taste of the
ponies of the Grayson Highlands,
courtesy of Danny Redd. And whether
you walk in for a day hike from Va.

W Worth a Click
Worth a
Click

1

More Photos of Wild Ponies
Visit BlueRidgeCountry.com/Ponies to view
even more stunning images from our page-34
photo essay about the Wild Ponies of the
Grayson Highlands by
photographer Danny Redd.

2

Gail Rheinheimer ponders an AT sign in
the Grayson Highlands: Who knew the
wild ponies could actually read!

600 or Grayson Highlands State Park,
or backpack in for a night or three,
keep an eye out for the ponies -
they're a nice bonus to the other
wonders of Virginia's rooftop. 

5 GREAT REASONS TO VISIT BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM TODAY.

3

Watch a Cabbage Patch
Doll Being Born
Visit BlueRidgeCountry.com/CabbagePatch to
see a Cabbage Patch Doll being born at the
BabyLand General Hospital in Cleveland, Ga.
Video by Joe Tennis.

4

Get an Inside Look at Sugarland
Cellars

Learn More about Horseback
Riding at the Dillard House

Visit BlueRidgeCountry.com/Sugarland for a
video tour of the Sugarland Cellers in
Gatlinburg, Tenn. Video courtesy of
VisitMySmokies.com

Visit BlueRidgeCountry.com/Dillard for a
video interview with Pam Thompson, owner and
operator of the Dillard House Stables.
Video by Joe Tennis.

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5

More from North Georgia
Want to learn more about Lake Chatuge? Step
inside Charlemagne's Kingdom? How about see a
jetovator in action on Lake Nottely? Then visit
BlueRidgeCountry.com/NorthGA!
Supplemental content by Joe Tennis.
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MARCH/APRIL 2014 | 5
Blue Ridge County - March/April 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge County - March/April 2014
