So Much Laughter

I just realized that I have posted lots of media lately, but not much in the way of updates, so here goes. After Glasgow, we ran into the northern half of the Virginia Highlands. Many big climbs stacked back to back. On one bald, Dancing Wind and I got stuck in a hellacious thunderstorm and we had to dive off the trail and cower on a woods road until it passed. The scene when it blew over was magical. We spent a nice restful day in Waynesboro before heading out for the Shennies.
The walking in Shenandoah National Park was smooth and pretty easy, but not very interesting either. There were wayside restaurants with blackberry milkshakes and a wonderful day away from the trail with my friend Max Factor, who treated my friends and I to a resort day. There was also the traditional hiker solstice celebration at 12:01 on the 21st and another Latvian celebration on the 23rd for which I wore a huge oak wreath.
After the Shennies there were a couple of great nights hosted by the PATC at Bears Den Hostel and the Blackburn Trail Center. Thanks especially to Bob the ridgerunner for all his assistance.
After a run of mounds called the Rollercoaster (we made a clicking sound as we climbed, and threw our hands in the air and screamed as we descended) , we were in Harpers Ferry, the ceremonial halfway point. It is a beautiful town on the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. We got our pictures taken at the ATC offices and spent the day with Spoonz mom. The next day all but Stickshift and I headed out. He and I found beautiful B&B on the bluff overlooking the Potomac called Laurel Lodge. Chris and Ed made us feel right at home. We had a nice restful day. The next day after running some errands we decided to try the Maryland challenge, all 41 miles in 24 hrs. I'll detail the results in my next post.