October 30, 2021

Good Morning,

It’s going to be a wet and dreary Saturday, with little change in the overall conditions up top. Rain is in the forecast from start to finish today, with temps hovering just above freezing. We caught glimpses of our first snow flakes of the autumn season yesterday among the persistent drizzle and rain, but the rest of the weekend appears as though it’ll stay too warm to catch many more. The rain showers should linger into the first half of Sunday before skies attempt to clear. Winds are going to remain breezy for the next several days, with gusts upwards of 25mph at times. That’s going to keep things feeling extra chilly up here, even if the thermometer reads higher than 32°, so be smart and layer up to stay warm and dry if you insist on visiting the summit in these conditions.

US 441 (Newfound Gap Rd), Cherokee Orchard, and Roaring Fork roads were all reopened yesterday. Big kudos to the NPS road crews for attacking it all and providing access to visitors. We’ll be returning to a 5:20 PM supper time for this evening’s overnight guests. We’re still gathering intel on each of our approach trails after the major wind event on Thursday. We’ve learned of a number of trees down on a few of them, but we can at least confirm that Trillium Gap is clear from top to bottom. In order to keep those farm fresh eggs coming, got to make sure the path is clear for our awesome llamas!

​Have a great day.