Reaching the top of Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia, is a lesson on how it's about the journey and not the destination. At 5,729 ft., the top of Virginia towers over the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains but is shrouded in second growth spruce trees. We approached along Wilburn Ridge on the Appalachian Trail from Grayson Highlands State Park, passing through open high country that affords one stunning vista after another. The mid-October trip was unusually cold; the jet stream had pushed Canadian air deep into the Appalachian mountains, bringing snow and sub-freezing temperatures to the southern mountains. This brisk weather flash-froze precipitation on vegetation, coating everything above a certain elevation in white frosting. Dramatic light and cloud patterns combined with the snow made this outing one of the most breathtaking we've ever experienced.