1024 Miles Down

Well, Shenandoah was pretty much what we had been led to expect: easy grading of the trail with fairly easy climbs during most of its length. Shenandoah has quite a few waysides that we visited which are basically just restaurants. I think they don't call them restaurants so as to remind us hikers that the prices are about 200% higher than normal restaurants. Regardless, they made the days even easier since we didn't have to carry a lot of food with us. We had about 10 minutes of hail during a thunderstorm during which we hunkered down at a low elevation, but that same day we saw plenty of wildlife. Early in the day, we were walking in a grassy area when I heard this sound unlike any I'd ever heard before, and what did we discover not a meter off the trail but a fawn that jumped up and bounded into the forest looking for its mother. We saw the mother a minute later running toward the sounds of her baby. If that wasn't enough for one day, we also came across a bear that was calmly eating maybe 15 meters off the trail. We also, on a later day, saw a mama bear with her three cubs once we were at a shelter for the night. One day, we were picked up by T-toe's mother and went to visit her cousins in Gainsville, Virginia, and we also busted out one of our longest days since we began (I don't remember exactly how long, but it was well over 23 miles I think). We FINALLY made it out of Virgina (no offence, Virgina, but you're one long *$#%&#% state). We stayed in historic Harpers Ferry at a really nice inn, and my girlfriend arrived after a grueling day of traveling from the other end of the country. We're now in a hostel in Maryland, just over the state line, and T-toe will join us tomorrow at a shelter we agreed upon. Excitedly we look forward to the second half of our trip having walked over 1000 miles. The official half-way point mile-wise is only a few days away. You'll next hear from us probably somewhere in Pennsylvania. -Sparky