Rainy First Day Hike

It was very rainy on New Years Day.  Sandy and Alex wanted to relax and stay dry so after breakfast, I headed to Winding Stair Gap along US-64 for a first day hike on the Appalachian Trail.  The rain was very light when I first started.  Hiking northbound, the trail crossed Moore Creek on a footbridge below a small waterfall.

It would be nice if there wasn't so much clutter.  The trail continued up and passed a couple campsites.  In about 2 miles, I came to Panther Gap, though there wasn't much of a view though.

In around 4 miles, I came to a split with Silers Bald Shelter Trail (#373) and went down to the shelter as the rain was picking up.

It got pretty heavy for a while.  I made a loop but didn't bother going up to the top, since there would be no views.  So I just headed back down in the heavy rain.

I headed back and dried off and we watched a movie with Colin in the evening.