Dragon in the Rain

9-25-09 day 115
start: Catawba General Store, VA
end: Pickle Branch Shelter, VA
daily mileage: 12.6
total mileage: 1492.1

Got up late and un-motivated due to steady drizzling rain. Looking at the sky you could tell this was the kind of rain that could go on for years...

It was as mile back to the trail so we hit the pavement and after about a 1/2 mile Disney realized he forgot his hiking poles and had to run back and get them. I stood in the rain and waited but lucky for me I have been carrying an umbrella that was finally getting some use. After lunch the trail crossed through a series of cow pastures. Fields and such are notoriously bad for getting lost, and this was no different. There's no forest for the trail to cut through and you can only see it by the tramped down grass, not to mention there's no trees to put blazes on. Plus you gotta watch out for steaming piles of cow plop.

The only noteworthy feature of the day was the Dragon's Tooth. It was a cool craggy series of rocks the trails climbs up the ridge. We haven't experienced anything like it since NH, and it was fun to have some rock scramble again. There were even re bar rungs in the rock. At the shelter we me up with Fiddler and Cricket. We met guy named No Money yesterday and he showed up later.