It was dusk, we were back in the RV after a 4 1/2 mile (7 km) hike down and up a mountain and heading home. And suddenly, in the ditch right by my window, he sat and stared at me. Less than 10 feet away. He was probably waiting to cross the road. Unfortunately David and Dane didn’t see him – David because he was concentrating on the road and was by the other window and Dane because he was facing away from it. I am still elated – having seen a real bear outside the zoo.
On our hike we saw a lot of deer, several hawks and numerous chipmonks. Oh, they are cute, so tiny and such swift movers. Even if we saw 25+ we never got a picture. The bear picture is obviously not taken by me, I’ve borrowed it from Wikipedia.
The goal of our hike was the Dark Hollow waterfall by the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The Skyline Drive has been named the most beautiful stretch of road in all of America. And it truly is beautiful. We’ve stayed in the area for a couple of days, so tomorrow we’ll drive up the northern part of it, heading for Maryland.
The weather was perfect for hiking. I’m guessing it was around 24 degrees C, slightly cooler in the shade, which there was most of, the hike being in the woods. The first 2 miles was down, down, down till we reached the water. We sat by the edge of the stream and had our sandwiches. Then up, up, up for more another 2 miles. Phew, it was hard going, but since I’m convinced it’s good for me, and since it was such a beautiful trail, following the waterfall upwards, I was happy even if panting. Dane was of course jumping around like a mountain goat.
Larger scale pictures and a few more here.
I’m trying to read books that touch on the America we’re seing. I’ve read a couple of books by James Lee Burke. One with his Louisiana cop David Robicheaux (had read several of these years back in my crime-fiction period and been fascinated with the places he describes (Atchafalayan basin, New Orleans etc.)) and another about the civil war. I’ve just started yet another Bill Bryson book – this one about the Appalachian Trail – A Walk in the Woods. David is reading The Lost Continent, also by Bryson. On a somewhat other note I’m simultaneously reading a book I stumbled over in one of the four airports I managed to visit on my way to my aunt’s funeral in Texas: Mindless Eating. Need I say more? Well, I will (you knew that, didn’t you?). It’s a book about food psychology and it’s good. In numerous studies the author and his collegues have shown that we eat according to a whole other set of parametres than we think. And that’s ALL OF US. Nut just the mindless fools out there without control of self. If we eat out of a big plate, we eat more than if we eat out of a small plate. If we drink out of a tall, slim glass, we drink less than if we drink out of a low, wide glass. If the biscuit tin is within reach, we eat more than if it’s up on the top shelf. And so on and so forth. If you’re interested in food and eating (like, if you have children…), you should at least check out the homepage.
