Not only did it rain overnight, but the temperature was a lot lower than the forecast at 30°F.

Day Two

I woke up to a dull, dreary day. I had a good night’s sleep, but I was too hot and I discarded layers to get comfortable. Somehow, despite being up and about by eight a.m., it wasn’t until eleven-thirty that I was back on the trail.

An hour later I was at the Junction of the Ridge Runner North Fork Loop and the Ozark Trail. Sure enough, the trail was covered in loose leaves and was difficult to follow in places. Someone has been through and added new blazes, which made life a little easier, though the placement of the blazes seemed to be a bit erratic at times (three blazes within thirty feet at one point the next day, and at one place two within five feet on a straight section of trail). The apparent absence of blazes at a key point in the trail slowed me down a little until I decided just to bushwhack my way along until I found the trail again.

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