It was raining Friday when we began this hike and didn’t stop until Saturday evening.  We were grateful for Thomas Knob Shelter because by the time we got there it was pouring down rain and it saved us from putting up our tents in the rain.  It’s a two floor shelter and there was a crew on the upper floor when we arrived.  We took the second floor and dried out and had a nice dry night.  It rained all night long and was raining when we left the shelter the next morning.  We hiked approximately 4.7 miles to the Wise Shelter where we ate lunch out of the rain and then on to Old Orchard Shelter where it stopped raining about the time we arrived.  It continued to rain on and off until we left but nothing to the tune of the rain from the previous days.  Turned out to be a very relaxing night as we had that shelter all to ourselves.  It’s only a single floor shelter so we were lucky there was no one else there by the time we got there.

We had a great time regardless of the fact that it rained nearly the whole time we were there.  And of course we had to hit our favorite Mexican restaurant in the area called El Puerto 3 before our long drive home.

My Gear

GEAR LIST

MSR HUBBA 1 – NEXT GENERATION IS MSR HUBBA NX & MSR HUBBA NX FOOTPRINT

Snugpak Chrysalis 2 Sleeping Bag, Chestnut Red

MOUNTAINSMITH LOOKOUT 45+ IS NOW Mountainsmith Lookout 50 Backpack (Evergreen)

THERMAREST NEOAIR TREKKER SLEEPING PAD

THERMAREST RIDGEREST SOLITE SLEEPING PAD

SNOW PEAK TITANIUM MINI SOLO COOK SET

MSR POCKET ROCKET STOVE

GRAND TRUNK NANO HAMMOCK & TREE SLINGS

SEA TO SUMMIT ULTRA SIL NANO TARP PONCHO

 

 

 

http://www.fs.usda.gov/gwj

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/grayson-highlands.shtml#general_information

http://www.us-parks.com/fs/lewis-fork-wilderness/lewis-fork-wilderness.html

Below is a rough itinerary of this trip and an image of the map and route I followed.