Days 4-7 2-5 June 2015 Southern New Jersey to Shenandoah NP

2 June 2015 - Day 4   Woodstown NJ
Spent this rainy day with Midge's mom, Betty, at the Friend's Home in Woodstown, NJ. Ed's Maine driving license was supposed to arrive by US Post Office one-day courier before 3PM, but they managed to send it to White River Junction, Vermont instead. By 9PM it left White River Junction, hopefully headed south. It was a good rest day and chance to catch up with Betty.

3 June 2015 - Day 5 Woodstown NJ to Shenandoah NP
Still overcast this morning so Midge and Betty played rummy, with Betty winning (or at least getting the better hands).

With improving weather, it's more a restless day than a rest day as we'd like to head toward the Smoky Mountains. We're tracking the progress of the license as the one-day package moves into its second day. It arrived in Philadelphia PA at 8AM,  Bellmawr NJ at 9AM and as of 1PM was out for delivery. So, we should get off by 3PM. 

Our goal for today was the Mathews Arm Camp Ground in Shenandoah National Park, about a four-hour drive from Woodstown NJ. With a National Parks senior pass, it's $7.50 per night (half price) for a camp site. The drive was on interstates and major roads most of the way. No road-side rests the whole way, just exits marked for gas stations, fast food and motels.

Got to our camp site at 7.30PM amidst a heavy drizzle. Dinner of corn, green beans, rice and pork. By the time we'd finished dinner it was dark. The stove, lantern and most importantly the bed all worked well.

4 June 2015 - Day 6

Still drizzling this morning. Breakfast of porridge and all the fixings. 

Walked 5 miles return to Overall Run, the largest waterfall (93 ft / 28m) in the Park. 

The mist meant we had no panoramic views, but we did look more carefully at the things up close like the tulip poplar petals on the path, this wild columbine,

and this mountain laurel.

The drizzle was also an excuse for an afternoon stop at Skyland, one of the resorts in the Park, for a cup of coffee, a blog update with free power and wifi, and a sit beside the fire.

5 June 2015 - Day 7

We woke to a vastly improved day. The sun was shining on the ridges, but fog lingered in the valleys. We headed off with park ranger Sally for a hike up Stony Man, the second highest peak in the Park. Sally has worked in Shenandoah NP for 20 years and is a wealth of information on the natural and human history of the park. A few of the many things she identified for us included this 'chicken of the forest' fungus

the table mountain pine

and poison fly lily.

The view across the ridge were good, but valleys were still blocked by the persistent mist.

Sally left us at the top and we continued around the mountain. On the NW side we found this red-spotted newt on the Passamaquoddy Trail.

Later in the day we visited Big Meadow, a large open tract on the Skyline Drive ridge

and admired a grove of flowering black locust planted on one edge of the meadow.

.oOo.