Tales from the trail.

The Appalachian trail runs thru the Shanendoah National Park and we got to hike on a small portion of it. The hike we took us up to a rocky area where we had a 360 degree view of the terrain. WOW. A little nerve racking b/c we had to watch the kids like hawks so no one would stray too close to edges, but overall it was just amazing to look out and survey the trees, other mountains, birds, and Shanendoah Valley in the distance. At times, we were higher up then the hawks we were observing. The worst part by far was getting caught in a fast moving thunderstorm while we were on the hike. The best we could do was hunker down under a small rocky overhang and wait out the torrential downpour.

We saw a bear!! A young black bear was on the edge of the campground and my eldest daughter happened to notice it. After many years of camping, my wife and I have finally seen a bear.