“Scattered showers and thunderstorms” are my least favorite words to see when leading a Tuesday activity. I imagine, “Yes, it’s still on, bring your rain gear” was not what most were hoping for either, when they checked the web site Tuesday morning. My husband, Bill, and I arrived at Sandy Bottom in a steady rain, and I wondered how many people would show up. Bruce, Bill and JP had been at McDonalds, and Ellis and Phyllis had assured me they would come. There were lots of cars in the parking lot, but they belonged to voters. It wasn’t long, though, before the hardy Tuesday Groupers started to trickle in, like the rain down my neck. Twenty one hikers, scoffed at the weather, donned their assortment of rain gear – do check out Bill B.’s rain shorts and other’s attire in his photos – and hit the trails. Actually, first we stopped in the Nature Center to see the hawk that Gwynn had donated, Bill sounded his conch, and then we hit the trails. We circled around Sandy Bottom and Crystal Lakes where the ducks and geese seemed to be enjoying the rain. Our group, too, seemed to be enjoying each other’s company, if not the weather. Those of us up front, and Bruce, in particular, deserve trail maintenance credit for the number of branches we moved off the trails, remnants of the previous night’s storm. The sun did peek out while we were on the Trillium trail, but not enough to dry the mud on the Whispering Pines trail. Fortunately, it was only a short slog, and it took us to the observation tower where we were rewarded with a nice view. We finished our close to 7 mile hike with a picnic lunch under the shelter, where the benches were remarkably dry. A handful of us topped off lunch with a stop at Dairy Queen. I hope everyone felt as I did, that we made the best of a rainy day. Thanks to all who came.
Check out Bill's pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill_billings/sets/72157665595979883/