After a good night’s sleep, Cindy and I were the first to be seated for breakfast in the dining room at 7:30am.  Breakfast was included so I chose the “Eggs Appalachian“…similar to Eggs Benedict, but on a biscuit instead of a muffin.  It was tasty!  Our box lunch consisted of a sandwich, an apple, a granola bar and soda of choice, prepared by the Lodge, at a cost of $11.  We had filled our water containers with ice and water before breakfast and were ready to hit the trail by 8:00am.

Today’s hike was 7.7 miles from Big Meadows Lodge to Skyland Resort in Shenandoah Nat’l Park.  I would rate this section as moderate in difficulty level because of the length.  There was a variety of terrain ranging from level and soft to rocky and on an incline/ decline.   I especially enjoyed the ferns that were growing alongside the path in many sections.  It created a very lush look.

This little guy was only about an inch in length.  Cindy spotted him and thought he was a toy at first because he didn’t move.  We were able to stick our cameras right in his face and he didn’t budge.

At this section, we had to make our way across the rocks that had slid down the hill.

I didn’t grow tired of looking at the green….every where green!!  We only passed a couple of groups of people hiking.  After being warned by family/friends of all of the possible dangers…bears, snakes, deranged hikers, mountain lions…I had armed myself with a large pocket knife!

Cute mushrooms!

More deer about 1/2 mile from finishing!  It took us about 5 hours to arrive at the next lodge….which is about 2 miles per hour.