What a breakfast! Weary Feet Hostess had a pile of food for us hikers. After a restful night in my tent, I was up eating scrambled eggs, sausage patty’s (my most favorite) and a stack of fluffy pancakes! it was hard not to finish it all. Sid had a double portion and he was thinking Food Coma and how many miles are we hiking today? After our big push yesterday, I had planned a Nero on the Trail. Little miles and lots of rest & relaxation.

Dismal Falls is our destination today. Maybe 2-1/2 miles with a slight climb but so worth it. We did a little road walk to get back on trail then climbed the some 20 steps to get back on trail. Back to the Green Tunnel. Sid is not impressed with the tunnel. He says it all looks the same. Well, to a point he is right. I appreciate the tunnel as it provides shade and some amount of comfort. It has tall trees, big trees, trees of many shapes, sizes and variety. But in the end, it really is applicable when hikers refer to it as, well, the Green Tunnel!

We arrived at Dismal Falls shortly after 11am. Sid already scoped out a campsite along the way. There were a few people here but most are leaving now. Maybe as the day warms up, more will arrive. But as of present time, it belongs to Sid and I. It’s a large limestone rock slabs with waterfalls cascading into a 5-6’ deep swimming hole. It’s quite nice and I imagine many of the locals come out here.

In Sid fashion, there were snakes to find. First was a harmless water snake, possibly a gardener snake. It was fairly small and had no rattles. Sid walked up Dismal Creek and by the time he made it back, Cough Drop and Dragonfly found a Copperhead. Now that’s trouble. I did not get close enough to take photos but one of the other hikers showed Sid and I a video of it. Cooper snakes are venomous and something not to be messed with. It evidently slithered away back to the dark hole that it came from!

As it warmed up, many locals had showed up. Families with kids, adults with beer and everything in between. I guess Sid attempted to get a ride out of here as he is in dire need of Taki’s! The Mom came over and offered to drive us into town as it is on their way home. Oh my word Sid! No, thank you and they probably don’t sell Taki’s in Virginia anyhow. The older daughter grimaced and said she had the Blue Taki’s yesterday. We stayed at Dismal Falls and did not take a ride anywhere.

By afternoon the sun was shining and Sid and I jumped into the swimming hole. There was another hiker who showed up, Butt Flap and he started the parade of hikers dipping in the pool. It was so refreshing after sitting on the shoreline for sometime. Butt Flap had minnows nibbling at his feet giving him a much needed pedicure. I looked down and found a Crawdad munching on my foot. Oh my goodness, I must have more debris to be defunct and they called in the big guns. We rock climbed to get out of the pool as there was no other option to vacate the pool.

So another day in the books. It was a super relaxing day with little miles and not much to do. Those are needed from time to time. This is Sid’s fifth day on trail and he’s covered some miles. I am getting used to my new Sidekick, as I call him. He’s relaxing in his tent and will most likely stay there the rest of the afternoon. Dinner is Red Chili and Beans with Summer Sausage. He told me he’d rather have Top Ramen every night. Wow, he just might be a thru-hiker in disguise!

““Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭23:12‬ ‭NIV‬‬