AT Day 70: Virginia Green Tunnel

Daily Miles: 22.0, Total Miles: 994.1

Bill, a shuttle driver, got me back to the TH at US Route 522.

A clear, sunny day on the trail through the sometimes overgrown green tunnel. Saw a trail volunteer later in the day with a weed whacker trying to make some headway.

I had lunch and water at Manassas Gap Shelter and soon entered Sky Meadows State Park. A nice change of pace to hike through a few open meadows.

Wanted to blame it on the noticeably heavier Black Diamond hiking poles but I fell down twice today. The first time was when I quickly stepped off the trail to let a trail runner get by me. No warning but I could hear her pounding down the trail behind me. My shoes slipped off the rock I was standing on and I fell straight back. She at least stopped and offered me a hand to get up. The second one was my foot clipping a rock and falling hard on my knees after both hiking pole collapsed. Painful and one bloody knee but otherwise OK. Should have done it before, but I then tightened up the hiking pole connections.

I crossed the busy US Routes 50 and 17 and got another two miles to an inviting flat tent site next to a babbling brook.