Well, since I made it to Harper's Ferry I have been resting.  Denise flew down to D.C. and we spent the Memorial Day weekend together.  It was fantastic to see her - we haven't seen oneanother since she dropped me off at Logan on March,17.  I arrived at Harper's Ferry ahead of schedule and was going to hike on a couple of days before I came into D.C., but Denise suggested that I take the time to rest my sore feet. I'm glad that I listened to her, because I feel much better.  We had a wonderful time in the city.  We toured around and saw the monuments.  Yes we walked.....it gave me a chance to break in the new shoes Denise brought to me.  We had some wonderful dinners, went to the Smithonian, and saw the Memorial Day parade.  It was sad to see Denise go.  Today, Tuesday, May 29, I am heading back to Harper's Ferry and jumping back on the trail.  The next three weeks will be a fast moving pace ( I hope).  It has been in the 90's this week, and hopefully I will have cooler weather the next couple of weeks. 

I have added another 139 photos for your viewing pleasure.  I am taking a couple of zero days in Harper's Ferry to rest my sore feet.  All of the hikers are coming in with sore feet, shine splints, or knee/ankle problems.  Compaired to most I'm fairing pretty well, but my feet are in need of a rest.

I have made it to Harper's Ferry, today, May 22 at 2:00 P.M.  Halfway Baby. I am thruhiker #184 to make it into Harpers Ferry from Springer Mt. I was  planning on hiking in yesterday, but my feet were sore, and it was pouring rain so I took a zero day at the ATC Bears Den Hostel, 20 miles south of Harper's Ferry.  It was a great place to take a zero day. I am over a week ahead of schedule.

Hi everyone.  Today is Monday, May 21.  I have just come through the Shenandoah National Park.  When I posted last I was in Waynesboro, Virginia.  Waynesboro is a great hiker friendly town.  They have this whole network of trail angel's, who when you call them, will come out to the trail head and pick you up and drive you into town, and bring you back to the trail head the next day or two when you are ready to start hiking again.  I planned on taking a zero day in Waynesboro, then I decided not to do so because I didn't feel tired, then there was this huge rain storm coming in so I decided that I will take a zero day in Waynesboro.  I'm glad I did.  There was between 3 and 4 inches of rain.  At breakfast on Tuesday morning, before I started back on the trail, I met "energizer" who is a section hiker from Saco, Maine, who just completed a 1,000 miles of the trail.  He had hiked from Harper's Ferry to Waynesboro and hiked in the rain yesterday.  He said that I made the correct decision to not hike yesterday in the rain - He said the trails were flooded and the rain was so heavy that he ended up with 2 inches of water in his back pack.  The trail through the Shenandoah Mountains was the easiest section of the trail to hike so far.  It is relatively smooth, and most of the elevation gains and losses are gradual.  The trail parallels the Skyline Drive.  Along the Skyline Drive, and accessible by side trails, are Wayside fast food restaurants and two resorts with more formal sit down restaurants.  I stopped at each one of these and had either breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It took me 4 days to hike through the Shenandoah's and on days 3-4 I had real meals (in addition to what I was eating from my pack).  I have lost 38 pounds and the size 34 inch waist shorts I purchased two weeks ago are too big for me now.  While in the Shenandoah's I have seen a total of 15 bears. For the most part when you hike up onto a bear or bears (mother and cubs) they will run away.  They are more fearful of humans than we are of them.  I had two unique bear encounters.  On my second day on the trail in the Shenandoah's, it was about 8:30 in the morning and I came to the junction of a side trail and the AT, I stopped to read the sign post to get mileage to the trail head I wanted to jump off to so that I could get breakfast at a wayside.  I heard all this ruckus in the treas above me.  I thought it might be turkeys or turkey vultures taking off because I disturbed them.  As I here all this snorting, huffing, and puffing, I look up and there is a female bear with her cub in this huge oak tree right above me.  The female isn't too happy with me, and she is climbing out of the tree towards me while making all this snorting noise.  I took off and ran up the side trail.  I stopped about 40 yards from her and she was watching me and I was watching her.  Finally the cub climbed back to the top of the tree and started eating again, and the female did the same.  Now, I'm on the wrong trail, and didn't want to bushwhack back to the AT, so I ran back down the side trail, and ran up onto the AT.  The bear just looked at me and went on eating.  That night I got to this Picnic Area at mile 904 and was about 6 miles short of the shelter and camping area that I was heading for at mile 910.  It was 7:00 PM and I decided to stop and cook dinner while it was light, plus it would give me the extra boost of energy to hike the next couple of hours, (and I wouldn't be cooking dinner at 9:00 in the dark while everyone is trying to go to bed).  This picnic area was huge, about 3-4 acres of grass, toilets with running water (and soap), and picnic tables. We are not suppose to camp at or within a certain distance of the picnic areas.  I decided that I was going to put in here for the night.  I had my dinner, washed up with soap in the bathrooms, washed my shirts in the sink, and set up my tent.  I found a spot in the back of the picnic area which would be difficult for a ranger to see me if they came through to check the park before sunset or at sunrise.  I figured, there is no one here, I'll put in at dark and be up and out before 6:00 AM, and who will be the wiser, and that is what I did.  No ticket, no fine.  Well, at 9:30, I'm laying in my tent and almost asleep when I here this grunting and snorting, stomping, and thrashing of brush in the woods behind me.  For 10-15 minutes I can hear it getting closing and closer.  I know that this is a bear since I've seen and heard enough of them by know.  The bear comes up to my tent and is sniffing around, then it moves onto the tree from which I have my food bag hanging.  I listen to it for another 10-15 minutes snorting and sniffing around that food bag.  Then by 10:05 I hear the bear move across the picnic area and back into the woods.  The next morning I look, and the food bag is still hanging in the tree.  I also saw lots of dear, rabbits, and snakes.  BIG, Diamond Back Rattlesnakes.  For the most part the Shenandoah Mountains were unimpressive because it was easy hiking and limited views.  However, the third day of hiking was spectacular views, especially the views of Sky Meadows Valley. When I left the Shenandoah mountains, I pulled into a hostel to shower, do my laundry, and eat more food.  I bumped into a couple of hikers that were ahead of me who I had been hiking with a couple of weeks earlier, "Dundee" and "Blue", it was good to see them.  I spent the next morning going into Font Royal to re-supply with a couple of days of food to get me to Harper's Ferry.  Yesterday, when I was leaving the Terrapin Station Hostel at the edge of the Shenandoah National Park, I came across a couple of families and a group of Girl Scouts out for a day hike - Happy 100 Year Anniversary.  Some of them are from Springfield Massachusetts.  I had a blast talking with them - they were fun.  This was the first group of Girl Scouts I came across; I've met a bunch of Boy Scouts out hiking and camping. After two days of hiking from Font Royal (each day about 18-19 miles per day) I pulled into the Bears Den Hostel about 20 miles south of Harper's Ferry.  I decided that since I am so far ahead of schedule and because my feet are swollen and sore, that I will take an unscheduled zero day here on Monday, the 21st and then hike into Harper's Ferry tomorrow.  I'm glad I did it is pouring rain and waterlogged hikers have been coming in all day looking miserable. I soaked my feet last night, and am soaking them in ice water today, and will soak them in Epsom salt water also.  This hostel is awesome, it is like staying at a mansion (well it is a mansion) or a 5 star resort - check it out at www.bearsdencenter.org . I have limited internet bandwidth here and they request that we don't upload pictures here. So, I will wait until I get to a Library and will upload the rest of my pictures - there is a lot of pictures coming.  That's all I've got for now.

I've done it, I've figured out how to add pictures

I've figured out how to add pictures.  Next week, when I get to Harper's ferry I will upload the rest of pictures and add them.  until then enjoy.  I will be on the trail for the next 6 days and won't hit a hostel until the 21st.  If they have internet access I will upload the rest.  Also, if you click on the link to the pictures it will increase the viewing size.

Well I give up.  I have spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to connect my Google Picasa picture album with pictures of the AT to my Google Blogger so that you can see pictures.  I can't make it work, and everyone else is using anything but Google Blogger (because google is a lousy blog format) so I can't get any of the techno people to give me a solution.  SOOOOOooooooooo the end result is no pictures.  Because I just can't figure this out.

OK, today is Monday, May 14 and I am in Waynsboro, Virginia.  I am taking a zero day.  I had planned on taking a zero day here, then I changed my mind and I was going to skip this town and go on to Harper's Ferry.  But when I got the weather report yesterday that we will be getting over 2.5 inches of rain today, I decided to hold up here and get caught up on things and head back onto the trail tomorrow.  I am trying to upload pictures but I am having a difficult time figuring it out.  Hopefully I will get it figured out.  The last few days have been a blast.  Now I know I talk a lot about FOOD and Trail Magic, but I can't tell you how fantastic it is!.  It is great to get the food, but it is also great to meet the people who a providing the trail magic. I think this is some of the most exciting part of the adventure.  I am so enjoying Virginia, and I can't believe I will be in Harper's Ferry in a few days and onto Maryland and Pennsylvania.  Since the last blog entry, I have had my first slack pack experience.  I stayed at a hostel called the Dutch Haus and met up with a couple of other hikers who slacked packed (one guy "daypack" - this is his 3rd AT hike) who convinced me to do the same.  I was driven 20 miles up the trail, took a small backpack  and put in a litre of water, water purifier, camera, phone, and lunch & snacks, and was dropped off on the trail and hike southbound back to the Dutch Haus hostel.  This was a blast.  As I was going south I met up with people I was hiking with and said my good bye's to a couple who would be going onto a different hiking schedule, and I met up with a couple of people who have been ahead of me and who I've been following in the shelter logs.  One hiker, "Doctor Dave" is from South Berwick.  I've heard about him since I started and what a nice guy he is.  I met up with him on the slack packing trip and then this morning I had breakfast with him at the hotel (he was finishing a zero day from yesterday).  I'll catch up with him tomorrow and hike with him a bit through the Shenandoah Mt's.  I will be starting through the Shenandoah Mt's tomorrow, March 15, and expect to complete this section by March 21.  This will be Harper's Ferry.  HALF WAY BABY.  Yesterday was mother's day and I got to a road crossing on the Blue Ridge Parkway around 10:15 (about a half hour after I stopped for a mid morning snack overlooking a view of a huge valley) and there were three trail angel's "king" who hiked the trail in 2010, Joe who hiked the trail in 1973 (when it was really a challenge), and his wife Sarah.  The served breakfast including pancakes, sausage, hot coffee, Gatorade, soda, watermelon, strawberry's, snickers, oreo's, granola bars, and more.  I had so much fun hanging out with them I stayed until 12:00.  They kept trying to get me to stay to have lunch which included BBQ pork chops, grilled potatoes with lots of butter, and more.  When a couple of other hikers showed up I took my leave and headed back onto the trail.  All is well, and I am going to walk over to the Chinese Buffet and stuff myself (I have lost over 30 pounds - my new size 34 inch waist shorts are even too big now).  I will come back to the library later today and attempt to upload photos.