Day 44 - Thursday, April 8, 2021

The nights are consistently getting warmer. Last nights low was 47°. The weather forecast for today has changed a little where showers are now forecasted later in the afternoon and tomorrow will be dry. Today’s highs are expected in the mid 70s.

We are still hiking a “Nero” from Cross Clendennin Road, VA 641 (641.5 NoBo) to Cross Ave, VA 793 (636.1 NoBo) equaling 5.4 miles

We began hiking at 10:10 am under sunny skies; it was already 54°. We had an unanticipated late start as we used Google maps to locate Cross Clendennin Road and it did not agree with the AT Guide. It seems the AT was relocated onto Pocahontas  Road which Google did not indicate. First, we found the remnants of the old abandoned trail crossing at Clendennin Road  as Google showed. After some further recon, we found the trail crossing at the intersection of Clendennin Road and Pocahontas Road as the AT Guide made referenced to; we then started our hike as intended... Who’d ever think Google would not be right?? Just like Facebook is a perfect world 🥴.




Just as we were starting our hike a US Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer came down Pocahontas Road from the construction site. He informed us the 15+ mile closed section of the AT is not opening April 9th and may not open for 2 more weeks; which we all know is 4 weeks in government time. We will have to revise our hiking schedule as we now have to catch this section when we flip-flop back north after we finish the trail to Springer Mountain. That’s another thing we learned on the trail - be flexible 😳.




A moment of reflection or is it a GQ flashback? I think I was waiting for Turtle Power to catch up... so who took the pic then? 🤔 



Everything is turning green.



I had a few minutes to kill waiting for Jim (again) so I practiced my cairn building. 



Appalachian Trail National Scenic Trail Survey Marker, elevation 1944.0



Just another walk in the woods...



Just when you least expect it, you walk up to something like this... makes your day all worth while. 

We finished finish hiking at 12:55 pm. The temperature was 75°; the clouds have begun to roll in and the winds are picking up. The weatherman may be right forecasting late afternoon showers. 


After our hike we stopped at a local outfitter to restock supplies 😉.

Till next time... Happy Hiking  🥾 

😋

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