Day 32 - Saturday, March 27, 2021

Today we are hiking from Cross Jennings Creek, VA 614 (758.5 NoBo) continuing to Apple Orchard  Mountain Falls Trail (769.8 NoBo)  equalling 11.3 miles; so TODAY is a short hike 😒.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for heavy rain so we are thinking about doing a “Nero” in the morning before rain starts in the early afternoon.     (Nero - Short for “nearly zero,” or a partial day off (very few miles walked) during a long-distance hike.)

Because today was a shorter hike with favorable weather conditions we started later than normal. That and we slept in a little to get some extra rest from our long hike yesterday. We began hiking at 10:45 am. Skies were sunny and the temperature was already 62°.

Trail debris along the trail. Most areas south of Skyline Drive have been cleared.

The Bryant Ridge Shelter. When reading trail blogs and journals many talk about how bad the shelters are; they say they are dirty, run down and rodent infested. I haven’t seen a bad one yet and this one was actually very nice. It even had a second floor  loft that could accommodate 10-12 hikers. I imagine conditions might not be as nice when the “Tramily’s” start forming and large groups share the same shelter. (Tramly - a group of thru hikers that hike together.)

We were hearing thunder and lightning strikes in the surrounding valleys. Checked weather report and the forecast has completely changed; now calling for 90% rain in the afternoon. Earlier forecast was calling for only 7% - 9-% rain. Jim decided to bring smaller day pack which did not include his rain gear. I always have mine in my pack 😉. We decided to not have lunch at the shelter and to pick up the pace. I do not like hiking in the rain... 😆 

It began raining about 1:00 pm. I couldn’t post the other picture taken.... I wasn’t happy 😡?

This is the only thing that likes rain... it sure does make the forest green. 

We finished hiking at 4:45 pm. I was happy then that it was over. There’s another thing that I’ve seen while hiking that I don’t like, makes no sense to me as well as being inconsiderate; for a lack of better words. We have seen literally hundreds of  plastic “doggie poop” bags littered along the trail. I can’t believe they were put there to be “picked up” when they hike out? First of all,  one should be responsible for your pet and bring it out with you - LNT; but it would certainly be more environmentally friendly to discard just the “doggie poop” off the trail in the woods rather than leave the plastic “doggie poop” next to the trail ? 🐶 💩... 😡 That’s all I’m going to say about that... (LNT - leave no trace)

Till next time... Happy Hiking  🥾 

😋