Shenandoah Hiking trip - Part 3 of 3

The following is a travel log of my hiking trip in the Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia.

Part 3 of 3

Day 5 - Monday April 23 2007

Once again the day started off with the warm sun shining through the tent. I was up early and decided to air out all my gear that was starting to get a little damp from its constant use. It would be a day spent drying things out, relaxing and doing a bit of exploring. After a meal of Tang and oatmeal we hiked up to the rocks to the middle of the upper falls. We had some fun getting wet and dunking our body and clothing in the falls. This picture is of Jason and Emily hiking down the falls back to camp. We broke camp late morning and continued our trek east until reaching the lower falls at which point we started to ascend in a northerly direction. Our lunch stop was at one of the falls along the trail. It was cool eating lunch in the shadow of a mist and breeze coming off the falls. Our stamina would be tested during the next part of the hike as it would be all uphill to Appalachian trail. We sought some relief at a mountain fed spring. It was a relief when we reached the softly undulating Appalachian trail. We would hike the Appalachian Trail back to Jason car and it was a pleasure to hike along. We took this group picture along the Appalachian Trail. Once back at the car we loaded our gear into Jason's car and drove to Emily's car. Once at Blackrock gap we took some final pictures of Jason and Chris. Our next stop would be Outback Steakhouse for a filling meal after a couple of days out in the hinterland. The crab cakes and shrimp was a great way to start off the meal. Our main course was a thick and juicy steak.

Day 6 - Tuesday April 24 2007

I started the day off early and once again had a hot breakfast in the hotel. While eating breakfast I booked the hotel shuttle to drop me off in the Inner Harbor. I left the hotel wearing long pants but quickly zipped into shorts as it was going to be another hot day. As I was nearing the World Trade Center I spotted something that I had wanted to see and that is, an R2D2 USPS mail box. I stopped in at Borders to see if they had any Shenandoah hiking books but they were all out of stock. It was great to survey the construction in the Inner Harbor and take note of some new condos being built along the waterfront. I slowly walked along the waterfront stopping an sporting goods store with hopes of getting some Timbuk2 gear and may be a Patagonia top but ended up getting a travel t-shirt and underwear. While shopping my folks called and I was able to relay what a great trip I had and to catch up on news at home. My next stop would be Canton, where I stopped in at Safeway to load up on some last minute groceries. It was then back to the hotel to load up the large backpack for the last time. Jason and Adam met me at noon and we went for lunch at Rosina's Gourmet. It is sort of a tradition to go for lunch at Rosina's. After lunch, Jason dropped me off at the airport and I started my journey south to Atlanta, Georgia before heading north a little while later up to Ottawa. It was a really great long weekend. I hope that we can make hiking in the Shenandoah National Park an annual tradition.