Day 41: Dismal Falls

Wet tents in the morning.... and a slow start. I got out and on the road first of our group. Twas a quick 10 miles to Jenny Knob shelter for lunch. No water sources the whole way, though. Lunched with a group and stayed until the boys showed up. I hung my tent to dry even though there were still a few spinkles here and there. The boys arrived and made pizza pan biscuits which entertained everyone. They did a MUCH better time this time than the first try on that snowy day in the Smokies.



So, I ended up having a 2 hour lunch break. It was ok though. We were planning a long day of hiking. After leaving the shelter, I came across another bright orange salamander. Last time I saw one, my phone was dead, so I couldn't take a blog photo. This time, I caught one. Very cute.

Kept walking and the guys caught up with me. Hiked together for a while and hit the suspension bridge. Deets, Power Pack, Slow Go and Cuz were there celebrating crossing the 600 mile marker by mooning Deets as she took a photo. Yay for 600 miles!!

That group was going to camp at Dismal Falls (great name, right??), which was .3 miles off the trail, but we said we'd see them there. Hiked on - kinda tired. Got to the falls and it was a great little spot. We were hot and sweaty from hiking and the water was cool. Xan, Brian and Slow Go jumped off the edge (15 feet?) and were instantly refreshed. (I stuck my feet in and thought about wet hair in the evening and decided to tick this off my list later on in the summer...) I took photos.

We decided to have dinner there since we'd be rolling into Wapiti shelter kinda late. Made dinner in a beautiful setting as the water rushed by. While I was cleaning off my spoon and stove, it began to rain. The boys had only just finished making their food! We all hustled to pack everything up quickly and get our boots on. I threw everything in my pack, buckled down and got the rain gear on right as it started to really come down. How does this weather sneak up on us so!!?!

So I ended up leaving early since I had finished eating and was all packed up. The boys found a dryish spot under the trees and ate their dinner.

I hiked on and digested and hoped for short miles. It would be 6 more till the shelter, and we'd already done 18. I took a short break after walking am hour or so in a beautiful tall, redwood-type forest, and the boys caught up. We walked the last LONG two miles through lowlands and muddiness till we FINALLY came across the Wapiti shelter around 8:50pm. And everyone was in their bags ready for bed! No room in the shelter, so we three tented in the sprinkles. Late snack before bed (24miles = lots of food), giggled a bit with the kids in the shelter (Achilles, TC, Powder and Russell, and Dewlap and Rainer), then went to bed. Glad we managed to keep going, since tomorrow should be another good one (16), rolling into Pearisburg to see my aunt Jeanne and Wendy. Excited to spend a night with them in Blacksburg!!

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-- Posted from the trail...

Location:Wapiti Shelter