Grayson HighlandsThis trip is from back in mid September. Me and Tessa (Folk & Wayfarer) were in route to Ohio to shoot one of her weddings, when we realized our route would take us right by Grayson Highlands State Park, aka land of the wild ponies. Tessa might be slightly more obsessed with horses than me (evidence of that below), but this is a place I’ve heard about and seen pictures from but never got an opportunity to go, and I think it pretty much blew us both away. The Appalachian Trail runs right through the park, so our plan was to hike in looking for ponies and camp just off the AT. We found the ponies pretty quickly and spent a lot of time with them before hiking back and gearing up with our camp gear. We camped as close to the ponies as we could, which I don’t think you’re technically supposed to camp within the boundaries of the state park, but we did it without anyway. These ponies are WILD but they’re pretty docile (as long as you dont stand behind them. Yes, I got kicked). The weather wasn’t ideal for the normal person, but I think the damp, foggy conditions make the photos looks pretty awesome and it kept the crowds light (I think we only saw 1 or 2 other people). The weather during the day didn’t make me think at all about shooting the stars, but that evening it cleared up and we were treated to a clear/cloudless sky lit up with stars, you could see the millkway with your bare eyes. It was a pretty memorable trip that I don’t think we’ll forget anytime soon. Tessa blogged her photos from this trip on her blog, check those out here!!