Date: 2007-05-30
To: View Entry
Miles today: 20.0

I am headed toward big meadows tonight to see if I can get a room at the fancy lodge, thus allowing me to skip luray and go on to front royal and possibly waynesboro. I really ought to be stopping at each town though, a good group is immediately behind me.The shenandoahs are a good place to come if you want AT-lite. There are camp stores with resupply, laundry, and showers and waysides with cheeseburgers and milkshakes. The miles are easy and the shelters are crowded.On the other hand I found another deer tick, I saw two more bears (I am not going to bother with details from here on unless something interesting happens), got serious lightning, the views suck, horseflies circle like planes around king kong until you paw them from the sky, we're always near a road - skyline drive - and there are a lot of dead trees so the underbrush is grown up, giving the woods a distinct "vacant lot behind the strip mall" feel.But my podcasts and the good company are keeping me entertained. Pundits are all over the board about what the economy is going to do this year, the length of time required for the housing market's ripples to finish, the bond market acting weird, payrolls increasing with unemployment way down all factoring in. They all seem to agree that being way overextended in international funds is a super good idea. Done and done.Did 22 yesterday, planning 20 today.*****There was an uncomfortable incident this afternoon. I saw what was the fifth bear of the day standing off to the side of the trail, a juvenile. Long past yelling as soon as I see them, I kicked some rocks. He looked over at me."hoo-ah!" I was tired, on mile 19.5 out of 20. He timidly took a few steps and stopped. Still way too close to the trail. I kicked more rocks, raised my arms over my head and got louder, "ya! Ya! Ya!". I could already tell something was wrong, but yelling was the only trick I knew. He froze, clearly panicked, and the louder I yelled the more planted he became. Then I heard the crash from behind me. *Expletive*. Mom. She was very large, and clearly unhappy. The only upside was that she was bounding toward kiddo and not directly at me.She stopped directly between us, and kiddo took a few steps toward her and hid behind a bush. They were still between me and maine though. My mind raced, trying to think of experiences from which to draw upon in this sort of situation. Mutual of Omaha, Quentin Tarentino movies... nothing. Meanwhile my mouth continued to make gutteral yelling noises. Slowly the bears retreated into the forest together, apparently deciding killing and eating me wouldn't be this evening's "teachable moment" after all.Earlier in the day I actually took pictures of two other bears, one which thought he was cleverly hidden yet his ample rump stuck out around a log. The other bear was actually standing up, but my impression was that he was trying to see where I was rather than threaten me, but he posed for pictures nonetheless. I actually got the pictures because I thought to myself that the grove looked good for bears and I'd been meaning to get pictures. I think I am officially a forest dweller now. For a long time I've been able to tell what altitude I am at, if there's water or a road nearby, and if someone is a thru-hiker at a glance, but this was my first time foreseeing a bear spot.Bears like... Light underbrush they can hide or see over. Mild temperatures and broken sunlight. Ridges, and especially flat spots in ridge dips. Nearby boulders and heavy brush. medium-short visibility. Altitude. There are exceptions for each of these.