Bears!

Great views here
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After much deliberation over our next stop, Shenandoah National Park won out over the Maryland eastern shore (naturally this decision happened as we were getting in the car to leave DC).  We spent a few nights in the backcountry where we saw a bunch of black bears.  Maggie spotted one in a tree and we even heard one walking around our tent at night…which was a little less cool.  We hiked to some great views of the surrounding hills and valleys, explored an old cemetery in the woods, and enjoyed a bit of the Appalachian Trail.

Maggie relaxing after our hike into this campsite.
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The next day we did a day hike up “Old Rag” in another part of the park, which we HIGHLY recommend.  At the top you have to scramble up huge boulders and squeeze between rocks to stay on the trail, so it’s like a giant obstacle course.   It was right up there with the best hiking we’ve done all summer…it was a gorgeous sunny day and the perfect final hike of our trip.