Cliffs (3,296 feet) mile 893.6 to South River Picnic Area (2,965 feet) mile 912.8, for a 19.2 mile day! We ascended 4,363 feet and descended 4,668 feet!

Started the morning with breakfast from a beautiful view overlooking the valley below and mountains in the distance, the same view we watched the most beautiful sunset of the journey from.

Then within a few tenths of a mile we came to an amazing view to the east, in this view we were able to see cloud inversions. I am not sure what it is about the cloud inversion that makes me so happy, but I do feel like I’ve talked about it before. Cloud inversion, or temperature inversion, it is also called, is when the normal air temperatures are inverted, meaning cold air is down at lower altitude, or elevation, and the higher temperatures are above the cold air.

A mile or so later we came to our first water source, it was a beautiful stream that we met up with about .2 up trail that when we got to where it crossed the trail it was a bigger flowing creek with some cascading water making that calming sound that cascades make.

Bring that we are in the Shenandoah National Park we often come to parking areas where folks in cars stop to check out the views, and sometimes there are information signs so they know what is around them, or, what they are standing in the middle of. In this case, the sign read Appalachian Trail. Thought the mileage is a little off from what it is today, 2,193.1 miles, all of the other information is correct and accurate. Because of trees blown down (blow downs) and other things, from time to time the trail has to be rerouted causing the mileage to change.

And, speaking of mileage, we crossed the 900 mile mark today.

It was a hot day today.! The lack of water along the trail in this area makes it hard enough, but add in the heat and humidity, it makes for some rough days. At some point I got an alert on my phone saying there was a severe thunderstorm warning, it never came though!

We were about where we had planned to camp for the night when we realized there was another wayside ahead that we could hike to and grab food. Therefore, we pushed on a few more miles and ended up with a 19.2 mile day and only 13.5 to get to the wayside.

About the time we finally got into the picnic area, the sky darkened but we never saw any rain! We were able to eat, setup our home and relax a little before bed!