Skyline

Foggy Days on the Parkway.

The past three days found us saying goodbye to the Parkway and hello to a new National Park. On Sunday we hiked down the rest of Humpback Mountain in the fog. I wish I had more interesting pictures, but hiking through that thick mountain fog makes for pretty poor visibility, and thus hurts the quality of my trail stories. I actually like the foggy days, though. The clouds keep the heat away, and the moisture keeps the bugs away, but I don't have to walk through the drenching rain. Pretty refreshing, actually. On Monday, we got to hike our first miles in the Shenandoah National Park. It's one of the most famous parks on the East Coast, and the local Virginians are definitely proud of it. Even in the first few miles, it wasn't hard to see why.

Lines in the sky. No wonder the main highway through the park is called Skyline Drive.

Tractor seats and Radio Towers.

Turns out, the park is full of interesting things to learn, not just pretty things to see. There's tons of scientific and historical knowledge to be gained here. There are informational signs all over the place, usually accompanied by a gorgeous view.

A "Talus Slope," meaning "harsh home." Apparently they are patches of football sized rocks where nothing will live or grow. Very interesting.

Sign explaining Talus Slopes.
Hikers aren't the only ones who liked these mountains. Old Stonewall used them for strategic purposes during the Civil War.

I told you the knowledge came with a view.

Today, we hiked 14 more miles of the park. Mostly, the hiking is along wooded ridgelines along the highway, occasionally popping out for a good view by the road. As Trail Angel Mamma noticed, the forest does seem different here than in the parts of Virginia we hiked before. The trees aren't as tall, and there are more deciduous trees than evergreens. The trail through this section looks easy on paper, but is less so in reality. Although we didn't encounter any big climbs and descents, we were constantly tackling little ones. The trail is never flat, just constantly undulating up and down 500 feet. We were very glad that we had planned to meet the Trail Angel Mamma for a picnic lunch today. We found a pretty spot with a nice view and Mamma brought us pork chop sandwiches and fresh fruit. What a treat. You can't have mayonnaise if you want to carry your lunch in your hiking pack.

Picnic Time!

View from the picnic.

Our lunch must've been very, very good, because as we were packing it up, an unexpected guest arrived looking for a handout...

"Hey BooBoo, we gonna get ourselves a pic-in-ik basket!"

That bear walked right up to our picnic sight, and wasn't scared of us at all. It looked very small, like a young bear, and it was very skinny. I would've given it some food if it wasn't strictly against all the park rules and common sense and I didn't know that it would only make the critter pester me and every other person it saw for more. We hiked another 6 miles after lunch, and actually saw a little bear cub way up in a tree at the end of our hike. They must be everywhere in this park. We've moved twice in the past three days, and I have to admit that the moving and hiking recently has worn me out a little bit. I'm especially glad to have the Trail Angel Mamma and the Trail Dog to come home too this week.

At the end of a long hike, Trail Dog makes the best pillow.