Severe Weather

   Red Bull and his hiking buddies are back on the trail again!  There is impending severe weather so they decided to take shelter in the Rice Field Shelter on mile 641.5 of the A.T., elevation of 3,375 feet.  They hiked a little over  7 miles today, and stopped in the early afternoon.  The severe weather alert is in effect until 11:00 pm in Virginia.

   There is a large storm system causing severe weather on the East Coast.  We have had very severe thunder storms all afternoon and early evening at our home.  When I checked the Weather Channel, I saw that Virginia was included in the Severe Weather area.  I am so glad that Red Bull and his companions are keeping up to date on weather warnings, and sheltering when necessary.  There have been reports of tennis ball sized hail in West Virginia and New Jersey, with a tornado in Maryland.  There was a wind gust registered at 80 mph in Cape May, New Jersey and 35,000 people without electricity.  There were also 35,000 households in Maryland without electricity.  There have been many flash flood warnings, and I know the A.T. crosses many streams and is near many fresh water sources.

   It is good to know that Red Bull is in a shelter, although depending on the direction of the wind... it may not help much being a three sided structure!

Rice Field Shelter photo from The White Blaze
they look like stairs to nowhere...
that actually take hikers over a wire fence

Rice Field Shelter Privy - photo from The White Blaze
Not all shelters have a privy... luxurious!