Shenandoah National Park is the second and last national park that NOBOs cross on the AT. The park’s reputation for hikers is that it’s a cruise and a vacation with all its stops along the way where you can grab a burger or the famous blackberry shake AND you can even aqua blaze (canoe instead of walk) for a few miles. The reputation is quite the opposite of that of the Great Smokey Mountains, the other national park that hikers pass through. Before entering the Smokies, there is a lot of nervous anticipation for unpredictable weather and aggressive bears. But the Shennies? There is much anticipation for easier mileage, lighter food transportation, and opportunities to indulge.
Shenandoah Review
By all accounts, he was very excited about Shenandoah. Not only does it have a stellar reputation, but it also feels like the last major section to conquer before you’re just a few steps away from finishing the entire state! Come on! It all sounded great, but I was actually quite disappointed by this stretch. I discovered that if I had to choose between walking the road or staying on the trail every day… I had major decision paralysis. I was sick of having these options! Take me back to having a path north all the time! 
The Waysides were nice, but too much of a good thing can get boring. Walking towards a small treat every few days is very motivating, but walking towards a small treat every day… or a few times a day… loses its shine. I’m still grateful that I don’t have to carry a full load of food!
Many people choose to walk along the road because they say the views are better on the road. Better, but not good. Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Roadwalking is what it sounds like: you walk down the road. I was hoping there would be a shoulder to give me room to walk as it is very popular here; However, it was the worst shoulder we had ever seen! There are hardly any shoulders and overgrown grass on the sides: also known as snake city. We had to be careful taking care of them. I ran towards a rattlesnake on my shoulder and jumped out of my skin. I called my friends who were walking behind to warn them. They crossed the street BUT they didn’t know where exactly they had seen him so they thought they had passed him but NO! Singe crossed back almost exactly running towards the snake. Ha ha ha. Luckily there were no incidents. Another problem with roads is that campsites are often close to roads, so it can be quite noisy. 
On top of all this, the blackberry smoothie failed. We got one that wasn’t mixed well, so it was basically just a smoothie with chunks and blackberries at the bottom. I will say I had a sip from another hiker later on a different trail and it was much better. 
Highlights
Of course, there were some good moments among the monotony. We had a mini reunion for one night with our entire tram!! Fam4 was also there and we all laughed and gossiped around a big bonfire! 
One of my sister’s friends came up from Richmond for a day hike with her adorable dog, Obi, and then gave us some magic on the trail! It crushed him. It had fresh fruit, cookies, soft drinks and most importantly, Martinelli apple juice. It started all crazy for us. He was also staying the night and had extra room, so TA-DA we had a night at the lovely Skyland Ranch! We had an elegant dinner there and shared a bottle of wine listening to live music. How stimulating!
What got us through the Shenandoahs the most was our shared love of the Love Trapped podcast. Our tram likes to listen to the same series of podcasts or audiobooks to have a little book club/shared culture going! Loon, Singe and I got drunk on Love Trapped and talked about it at every rest stop. It’s WILD and just the entertainment I needed while walking on the big days. 
It felt great to leave Shenandoah. And when you get to the end, you’re about to knock on West Virginia’s door! You stop by for ice cream at Front Royal (obviously) and then you board The Roller Coaster and voila! Harper’s Ferry Time! Our team pushed hard in Shenandoah to get us to Harper’s Ferry together before Loon got out of the way for a wedding. I’m glad we had something to keep us going quickly because I wouldn’t have wanted to spend more time at SNP!
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