Determined not to waste the day with a fairly good forecast that the fog will clear and the rain is only called for early. I woke around 4:30am for the drive out to Shenandoah. Around sunrise the grey of rain and fog became visible. I continued on. Arriving at the park I checked in at Big Meadows to see if there were any spots available. “We have one available.”, the ranger said, “Do you want to look at it ?”. “No”, I replied , “I’ll take it.” Happy to not have to drive another hour to camp for the night I set out to hike. It was foggy and wet, as I hit the trail the rain got heavier. Traveling down hill wondering if I was utterly bonkers since I haven’t hiked in at least 6 months. I continued on and found some beautiful water falls along the way. I would stop and ponder and as the rain creeped through the trees and larger drops dripped from the leaves, should I photograph this, I mean I am carrying my camera and tripod all this way, it would be a shame not to use them. It’s raining I thought, well I will. So as I followed the trail and behind some groups wielding smart phones. I would pull out my tripod and set it up before pulling out my camera. I was quick already picturing the shot in my mind before exposing the gear to the rain. 2 quick shots at each falls and back in the bag everything went. I continued on the way for 7 waterfalls along the trail. Some falls were a little harder to get a good image at, so I would just stop and stand in the rain and enjoy them for a while. At one point going back up hill over slippery rocks, thinking I am very useless now if I happen across a bear, which I did not. All in all it was a fabulous adventure, one I would do again in the rain, since the falls swelled with water. A hot shower for $2.00 warmed me up before I cozied up in my car for the night.
