Shenandoah and beyond

After 900 some odd miles of walking, life has become (ever so slightly) easier. After Buena Vista we went over the Priest a comparatively large mountain. Hikers speculate its named the Priest since they have to confess after cursing the rocks on the way down the mountain. The Priest was excellent, it had Spy Rock near the summit, which was a large brain shaped rock we clambered to the top where we met some guys from Richmond. The shelter at the Priest was also exceptional as it was full of hikers confessions. 

The day after the shelter in the Priest, we hiked down the mountain then up Three Ridges a ridiculously tall and long climb. Probably a bad choice to do our longest day to date: 29.6 miles to be in a shelter for a rainy night. 

We stopped in Waynesboro for food at Ming's Garden Buffet. Ming's is the most legendary of buffets on the trail seeing as we've been hearing about it since Georgia. The buffet included a sushi bar, Mongolian grille, and 6 massively full tables of food. I think we ate for something like 3 hours to the amazement of a church group. We camped in a community park behind the YMCA and celebrated my 23rd birthday. Garfunkel got fancy cakes and birthday candles and gave me q-tips. Given the condition of my ears, this was probably one of my best birthday gifts to date. 

Right after Waynesboro we entered Shenandoah National Park which is renowned for its bears and roadside diners, hence our now easy lives. Shenandoah was painfully gorgeous with mountain meadows, distant blue mountains, easy climbs and falls, and clear weather. As Garfunkel noted, he saw a bear pretty close. I spent the next few days stewing with jealousy until I saw a bear cub one morning. Unfortunately, it took off towards momma as I fumbled for my camera. It was a breathtaking 15 seconds followed by 5 minutes of terror wondering where it's ravening, vengeful mother was lurking. 

Shenandoah is bisected by skyline drive, a scenic highway which the AT crosses about 7 times a day. There were 4 restaurants we could stop at for 2nd breakfast or 2nd lunch. The food was a bit pricey as expected but the ability to stuff 1700 or so extra calories into my mouth between meals is worth it, especially when there are blackberry milkshakes. 

Tonight we should be eating and catching up with more school friends Nate, Heather, and Ben. In the next few days we'll be in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia! This is considered the unofficial halfway point of the trail even through its maybe 60 miles short of the actual halfway mark. We'll be moving across 3 new states in about a day, so next time you hear from us we could be across West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. 

Enjoy the pictures included are a turtle, a snake (which I almost sat on), a deer I almost walked into around a corner in Shenandoah (the deer there were docile and approachable), and my sock line.