It was one of those days when a picture of the GPS screen can best describe the journey.
We had heard about a place called Shady Valley, and were sad that we had just missed their annual Cranberry Festival that is proudly advertised on their water tower. Who knew that cranberries grew in these mountains?
With a little internet research, Mark discovered that this valley was once a bog where wild cranberries flourished. The moisture was trapped in the valley, like a bowl sculpted by the mountains that surround it. Then a man-made channel drained the land, and turned the bogs into agricultural fields. Today the natural conservancy group is working to bring some areas back to their original bogginess, and have reintroduced the wild cranberries. We stopped by the conservancy office (nicely disguised in the local tractor dealership). They gave us directions to Orchard Bog, on federal land off the beaten track.
At the tractor dealership we were instructed where there was a "nursery" of cranberry plants, and how to find the berries.
The berries grow close to the ground on runners that have tiny leaves. October is the time for berry harvest, so our timing wasn't so bad after all.
We were told we could pick a hand-full. Most of the harvest has been picked and frozen to be used in products that will be made for the 2017 cranberry festival. It sounds like the volunteer firemen's cranberry pancakes were quite popular this year.
It's an hour's drive to get to our next destination--Grayson Heights State Park. We had never heard of this park until a fellow biker mentioned it. That's how we find some of the best places to wander! We were thoroughly entertained by the mountain's fall foliage on the way. To get a little exercise, we parked the car at a random trail head parking lot and took off on a path that went straight up.
We were surprised to see those now-familiar white blazes on the trees. We had stumbled once again on a segment of the Appalachian Trail.
After that bit of exercise, we were back in the car until we crossed the border into Grayson County, and the state park that bears its name. It's actually named Grayson Heights State Park, because it enjoys some of the highest elevation in the state. We could look down on some of those parallel ridges of mountains that we love to see through the blue haze.
We stopped for information at the park office, then headed out on the Rhododendron Trail to score our next elusive treasure--wild ponies.
We were only a half-mile into the trail when we found the first herd of six mares and one stallion. It is illegal to feed or pet the wild ponies, but they certainly don't mind people getting close for pictures.
These little ponies are called "Virginia Highlanders" and were bred because they are small in stature and suited for the mountainous terrain. They were once privately owned, but since 1974 they are managed by a nonprofit group and allowed to meander through these public lands.
These ponies are part of a grazing program in the United States Forest Service. Each September they are rounded up for the Grayson Highlands Annual Fall Festival. At that time they are examined by veterinarians, and extra stallions are auctioned off. They are then divided into herds of mares with a single stallion. We would assume that the colts are usually born in the spring, but this mare is so round that we think she might be pregnant this fall.
Grayson Heights State Park is also well known because it includes two miles of the famous Appalachian Trail. For the second time today, we are hiking on the AT.
After so many miles on the tree-canopied AT, we think that thru- hikers will enjoy the wide-open views as they walk through the state park.
There are about 100 ponies living in this state park and the Mount Rogers Recreation Area next door. This fence separates the two public areas.
We found this second herd of wild ponies on the national recreation area land. Since we were a couple miles away from any parking lot, we had this group to ourselves.
As we stood at a distance, the stallion was the first to come towards us as if he was protecting his harem from intruders.
But one of the mares passed him and walked right up to Mark. Even though it is illegal to feed the ponies, obviously there are hikers that do that. It turns the ponies into beggars, even though there is more than enough grass on these mountains to support them.
This picture isn't of an illegal pat, it's a straight arm gesture to say, "Sorry, we don't have anything to feed you." The park literature says that these ponies can also bite and kick, so keeping your distance is good for both the ponies and the hikers.
This second herd included six mares, one stallion, and two colts that were a bit camera-shy.
The open fields of the national recreation area were littered with large boulders that make for some great rock scrambling. A pile of rocks is an open invitation to Mark to see what he can see from that higher perspective.
Mark took a panorama shot from his perch on the boulders, and could see for miles around.
If you look very carefully in the center of the picture you can see Denisa's green blouse showing up among the evergreens far below.
He could also see clusters of something bright red against the clear blue sky.
A close-up reveals those are clusters of red berries found on the mountain ash trees. They look a little like the cranberries we found earlier today. We found out later that they can be used to make jelly, but they are too acidic to enjoy by themselves. Because these berries hang on the tree through the winter, birds depend on them for nutrition when it gets really cold outside.
While Mark is looking at wide landscapes from atop boulders, Denisa is more likely poking around short stems close to the ground. She was surprised to see this perfect nest just a foot off the ground, built among stalks instead of tree branches.
The ingenious design of this nest connects it to the plant stalks. This spring and summer it was surely shaded by leaves for protection. When we find a perfectly formed nest that was cleverly assembled by a bird brain, we feel like we have wandered into another of His wonders.
Most of the trees inside the state park are past their peak, and we see many bare branches. We thought it was interesting to look across the horizon to find this one small area of peak foliage nestled in a little valley surrounded by bare trees.
As we were hiking back to the parking lot, Denisa had just mentioned that it would be nice to find some more ponies. We walked over the next hill and came upon our third herd of the day. This is Mark, hanging out with the stallion, his long locks glistening in the sunlight. (That would be the pony's locks--not Mark's.)
On the trail, Denisa thought this must be the Fabio of the wild pony world, with his long blond mane hiding his face. Interestingly enough, when we got back to the car, we read the park's brochure that had a picture of this popular stallion that they had nicknamed "Fabio."
Fabio's herd included this mare with interesting markings. We think these pudgy little ponies have made a great addition to our hike through Grayson Heights this afternoon!
The sun is already low in the sky as we make our final hike through the woods to the parking area. We had planned to also hike the Twin Pinnacle Trail today, to the summit of the third highest mountain in the state of Virginia. But we took the long loop in the park to see the ponies and ran out of time. It's been a full day of discovering the treasures of cranberries and wild ponies today. We still have a long drive through the mountains to get home tonight, so we'll just have to return to this area on another trip some time!
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