Saturday, January 21, 2012

Rain Delay

It started gently early yesterday evening - just a nice pattering rain that came and went. By dawn it was raining buckets, and it wasn't going to magically stop when the sun came up. So much for Camelot.

Well, by 10AM it seemed to be letting up - just misting a bit - so off I went to get in some hiking. Unfortunately Mother Nature wasn't quite finished. Another shower drenched me for the next hour. Fortunately my rain-friendly clothing dries quickly, so the shower didn't slow me down. I had a relatively short day planned - about 11 miles, so despite the 3 hour rain delay, I got it all in.



The rain had one big advantage - it swelled the pretty rapids and falls on Laurel Creek, over which the new AT-dedicated footbridge passes. The rest of the day the trail presented interesting variations on familiar themes. It was foggy much of the time, so any potential views weren't happening.

The day was mild and calm - none of the ice and snow that hit the upper mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Here the temperature lingered in the low 40's from before dawn to well after dusk.

And once again today - I think it's now six consecutive days - I did not meet another person on the trail. I stopped at another shelter today - Jenkins Shelter - and the log book once again had no sign of the snow-loving long distance hiker I met (Peter). I'm now quite sure he got off the trail at Pearisburg. Hope he's OK.

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The GPS detailed track of today's Day 21 adventure is shown below, complete with embedded photos:

AT Day 21 - More of Brushy Mountain at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Virginia

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