Day 42
We were sad to leave Woods Hole today, but it was time to head out. We had a few cups of coffee and hit the trail a little late, but we had a short day planned. We started “down” the mountain to Pearisburg and were actually going uphill the first 7 miles. The terrain was again rocky, rhododendron, and ridgelines with no views. Today, however, I got a fourth “R”, RAIN! It began raining about noon and continued to steadily rain while the temperature dropped as well. We got to Angel’s Rest at 1 pm and began an immediate descent down to town. The rain and the terrible trails in VA made for a muddy, steep, rocky, slow descent into town. After nearly falling down the hill several times, we made it to Pearisburg around 2. We wanted to go to Dairy Queen, but it was a mile off trail. We stepped back on trail and made a few calls and had lunch. While eating, we got really cold and tried to warm up. Snagglefoot called and asked if we wanted to split a hotel room. Being frozen and wet, we decided it would be a great idea and that we were terrible hikers! We got the last room in town as well! The rain and cold made a lot of hikers stay in town and we got to reunite with several hikers as well. The photo is of Snagglefoot, Nokey, and me freezing on the porch at The Rendezvous.