A ranger in Shenandoah told me to skip the north loop of the AT and I did it anyway last October
I was planning a 3 day trip and this ranger at the Byrd Visitor Center told me the north loop near Marys Rock was washed out from storms and to take the fire road instead. I ignored him because the map still showed the trail open and I figured he was just being cautious. About 4 miles in I hit a section where the trail was basically gone, just mud and roots sliding down a 30 degree slope. Took me an extra 2 hours to get through and I tweaked my knee pretty bad. Anyone else run into trail closures that don't show up on the maps yet?
Tbh this is way too common and it drives me nuts. Had almost the same thing happen in the Smokies a couple years back, a posted closure at the trailhead that the guy at the desk said was outdated, so I went for it and ended up crawling over blowdowns for a mile. The worst part is you can't really blame the rangers because they're just going off whatever the last trail crew reported, and that info takes forever to make it to the maps. My rule now is if a ranger tells me something is sketchy I just believe them, even if it wrecks my plan. Sucks about your knee though, hope it healed up okay.