Hungry Mother State Park, VA - Molly's Knob Trail and Lake Loop Trail

So after we gotted done with the pawsome hike at Grayson Highlands State Park, we wented back to the cabin and I went to my bedroom for a nap.


When mom woked me up for last potty call, I could not walk to go down the front steps to the grass and mom had to help me. Seems I had owies in my left front leg. Owie. Wot to do? Mom checked my paw, leg and shoulder and gibbed me a massage but we could not tell where the owies woz coming from. Mom sayed we would see how it be in the morning. So on Toosday morning, June 22 it woz better but I rested all day on the porch wif mom while she readed her book.



We did a little 4.5 mile hike to Molly's Knob in the late affernoon to see how my leg be and it woz better. So to tell you about the Molly's Knob hike, I has to gib you the story about how Hungry Mother State Park gotted it's name.

The Legend of Hungry Mother

Legend has it that when the Native Americans destroyed several settlements on the New River south of the park, Molly Marley and her small child were among the survivors taken to the raiders’ base north of the park. They eventually escaped, wandering through the wilderness eating berries. Molly finally collapsed, and her child wandered down a creek until the child found help. The only words the child could utter were "Hungry Mother." The search party arrived at the foot of the mountain where Molly collapsed to find the child's mother dead. Today that mountain is Molly’s Knob, and the stream is Hungry Mother Creek.

So we be hiking to the top of the Molly's Knob.


On the way there woz a kewl deck to rest on coz it woz steep climbing up the mountain.


Wot woz not so kewl is wot Jadya and Kelly did to the beeotiful deck. Shamie on you gurls! That be the same as being a noggty litterbug.


And we catched a nice view of Hungry Mother Lake from up high:


Finally, after much climbing up high, we reached Molly's Knob Summit. Wowser, how beeootiful!





Then we comed back down off the mountain and taked a little detoor to my spot at the lake so I could kewl off in the waters. I see the lake, I is coming....



Rememmer on my furst day here when we picked up litters at my swimming hole? Well, doggone it, there woz alreddy noo litters!



We picked up a whole poop bag full and taked it to the trash can wot you has to walk rite by:


I say GRRRRRR to lazy litterbug peeples wot cannot take their trash a cuppul of steps to the trash can.

So then on Wensday morning of Joon 23 rilly early we gotted up and walked the 6 mile loop around the lake. It woz almost all flat and easy hiking for my leg wot woz getting better. The lake woz kewl looking in the fogs with the sunbeams coming up ahind the mountains.






We crossed a bridge where I founded some p-mail:


More p-mail along the lake:


More p-mail in the woods:


It do be a rilly good thing we did that hiked rilly early. We woz on the trail by 6 am and back at the cabin by 8:30 am. Later in the morning we taked a ride into town where mom buyed herself a Veggie Delite sub at Subway for lunch and buyed me a noo toy at Walgreens while she woz in there picking up some stuffs. Mom did bring the spare car key so she could leave the air condishunning on for me in the car while I wated. Rite after noon when we gotted back to the cabin it started raining and rained all afternoon. Mom and I woz on the big stone porch and we both napped in the rain. We stayed dry coz we had a rufe over our heds.



When mom woz not napping she woz reading her book and kept waking me up when she would LOL while reading. She rilly liked this book and buyed it speshul to read on this trip. It be called "Things You Find on the Appalachian Trail - A Memoir of Discovery, Endurance and a Lazy Dog" The dog in the book, Rufus, wot woz adopted from the humane society and hikes the Appalachian Trail, is a hoot! My gramma wants to read it so we be snail mailing it to her. If'n any udders would like to read it, send me you snail mail address at shepshawnee@cs.com and mebbe we can has each one wot reads the book snail mail it on to the next. It do be an expensive paperback book ($28 at Amazon.com) so it be nice if we can make good use of it and have lots of peeples wot wants to read it. Mom says it should cost $2.38 to snail mail it on to the next one wif the postal peeple media rate so that be well werth it. So let me knows! We do think we should limit it to my furrends wot follows my bloggie so we can keep track of the book if'n that be OK.

Grayson Highlands State Park and Mount Rogers, VA

On Monday, Joon 21, we woz up at the crack of dawn and headed up hilly, windy country roads to Grayson Highlands State Park where mom sayed they has wild ponies and where we would be climing up to the top of the highest mountain in Furginia, Mount Rogers! Pawsome! This hike woz 10 miles long. On the way to the pawking lot, we passed a roadside overlook wot we stopped at:


We had to take the pikshur into the sunbeams so it did not turn out so good but here is a closer-up one:


So we parked the car and got to hiking and not far into the hike, OMD, there they be, THE PONIES!!!!! They live there and nom the grasses for the park so they be like free lawn mowahs.


Our eyes locked and the pony commed over to me. He told mom to keep at the udder end of the leash, he only wanted me, not mom. So mom stayed back and the pony commed closer.


We checked each udder out and he commed even closer:


The next thing you knows, we sniffed each udders noses and started SMOOCHING!



Then mom moved a step over to get a better shot, spooked the pony and he bolted. Dang, mom! We woz hasing such a wonnerful time smooching.

So we went on up the Wilburn Ridge trail wot woz lots of rawk climbing but at the top we had grate seenik views.






Is that some beeootiful mountains or wot? They woz as far as our eyes could see!

Then we hooked up with the Appalachian Trail. That trail shore is efurrywhere!






It woz all sunbeams there and very hawt so mom founded a little tree with a spot of shade and a nice view for us to take a brake and kewl off a little.


While we woz sitting there some peeples on rilly big horsies comed by. Those horsies woz skeered of me and stayed far away. I dunno why. Dussn't they know I gib horsies smooches?


Then we headed on towards Mount Rogers but first passed a shelter. This is where peeples wot hike the whole Appalachian Trail sleeps in coz it do be taking them 6 months to hike the whole thing and they has to sleep somewheres.


The shelter even has a litter box a bit up the way:


There woz a sign on the shelter wot sayed water woz out back and we woz needing more waters coz the sunbeams woz so hawt and maked us drink more than usual. The water do be a spring inside the fence. The fence is to keep the ponies out so the peeples can drink the waters but no worries, the waters trickled down the side of the mountain for the ponies so they can has some too.


I kewled myself off where the spring waters trickle down while a nice man wot woz there used hims pump and filter to put more waters into our bottles for us. It do be very nommy ice cold spring waters.


Finally we woz close to the top of Mount Rogers in the trees up there:


All of a sudden we wented into this mossy forest wot feeled like somebody turned the air condishuning on!


And here I is, at the summit of Mount Rogers, the highest mountain in Furginia, 5,729 feets up high! (The highest mountain in Noo Joisey be 1,803 feets up high.)


This be one of the medals wot marks the spot (there be four of them but we only seened one) wot the arrow points to above:


As we headed back down the mountain, we seened some adorabul baby ponies but they woz skeered of me and did not come close enuff to gib smooches. That be OK, they just yunguns wot not knows about us dogs yet.



And we founded anudder spot of shade for a brake and I rilly woz needing it!


So I got lots of Shawnee Cam shots, prolly coz there be so many sunbeams up there.














Whoa, that be a lot of Shawnee Cam shots!

There be NO LITTERS in Grayson Highlands State Park all the way to Mount Rogers. We shore hope that be coz there be no litter bugs, not coz the ponies nommed the litter - YIKES!