Drop Your Reds, Drop Your Greens and Blues

Hunkering down for another night in Luray, VA - home of the world(Virginia)wide famous Luray Caverns, the recently renovated and beeeee-autiful Mimslyn Inn and various antique stores and home cookin' establishments. Really can't complain - but back to the past few days in and out of Shenandoah:

* Bears. Lots of them. Baby bears, Mama bears, Papa bears, Sister bears, Brother bears, scaredy bears. On the road, on the trail, having picnics, climbing trees - but still generally fleeing from you upon sight. So bears and I are buddies these days. I've even worked the courage up to try to reach for my camera instead of running away (which, again, is what you're not supposed to do). Unfortunately I haven't been fast enough on the camera just yet. Fear not though, more bears to come...

* Deer. More specifically - fawns. Saw three fawns today near Skyline Drive and HOLY CRAP are they adorable. They're all wobbly on their legs, still have their spots and seriously are the cutest things I've ever seen. Putting Bambi back on the 'to watch' list when I return to society.

* Skunks. Copperheads. Saw one of each. Skunks, cute from a comfortable distance. Copperheads, terrifying. Snakes suck. It's been a pretty sweet week as far as wildlife goes though.

* Hikin' on the full moon. A fellow hiker planted a little idea in our head a few days back about seeing how far you could hike in 24 hrs under the full moon we had two nights ago. Turned out to be 51 miles after starting out from Blackrock Spring Hut at 8:30am to the Skyland Resort (read: breakfast!!) at 8:30am the next morning - not that there weren't breaks and an hour and a half nap from 3:30-5AM on the bathroom floor at a campground we passed right next to the trail. Also turns out dawn is a real adrenaline rush when you think you're not going to make it any further. While I generally have been less than a fan of the woods at night over the years, it was actually a pretty cool experience. Nothing like catching a glowing pair of green eyes with your headlamp off to the left of the trail...following you. While I tended to imagine the worst, I later on realized these were deer. Some other hikers who attempted the same thing that night actually saw a bobcat and stepped on a rattler during their own little adventure (insert shiver up your spine here). Another weird/cool moment was at a crossing of Skyline Drive where the trail emerges into this big meadow under the full moon with a fairly large old graveyard right across the way. At another point we were on the side of the ridge with the lights of Luray and other towns in the valley sprawled out below. Maybe some of these were hallucinations - who knows. Either way, it was a solid night.

* To any DC folks reading - I walked by Pocosin Cabin, Rock Spring Cabin and the Corbin Cabin trail (like hell I was going to walk all the way down from the ridge to the holler) over the past couple days. If I closed my eyes I could almost see Susie climbing a rock, Walker throwing an ax, Sean almost falling off a cliff, Jess opening a fresh box of wine, Lydia manning the wood stove, what have you. It was a wonderful feeling. Also on a long exploratory drive with Greenlite's parents who are visiting the trail right now, we went by Woodstock Tower Rd (read: A-FRAME!) but on the other side of the ridge. Another familiar sight.

* Gosh, what else. Pretty views, relatively gentle hiking compared to earlier parts of the trail, and getting ready for Virginia's swan song. I'm West Virginia bound. In two days I'm meeting Dad in Front Royal and can't wait!!! In 9 days I hit a quarter-century. Whoa. Will my joints start falling apart? Will I start reminiscing about the '90s? Did anybody see Zack Morris on Jimmy Fallon the other night?? (Thanks Cliff...really.) On that note, laaaters.