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.