Milepost 0 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. You can always tell the BRP from Skyline Drive: the former has no white lines along the edge, the latter does.

I'll be with the PATC for a while (and they have an easy section to maintain; it includes 100 miles of CCC built path in the Shenandoahs).

Yellow Swallowtail. The first I've seen.

How pretty.

This snake, even with its jaw unhitched, is going to have a mighty hard time with that frog. But A for effort.

The rattler from afar.

And a bit closer.

He's a fat one. But so beautiful.

Rattle! Rattle! Rattle!

Sans flash. The bugger wouldn't get out of my way.

Of all the animals along the trail, I found the most interesting and beautiful to be the eastern timber rattlesnakes. Maybe it is the intrigue of their venomous fangs, or their tendency to sun themselves on or near the trail.

Views in Shenandoah. There weren't many.

Shenandoah is a narrow range surrounded by flat farmland.

Another rattler. This one was tame, and only rattled when someone leaned directly over him. He (she?) was also about 50 yards from a parking area, so he became a tourist attraction. Even more of one than the thru-hiker.

Rattlesnakes are beautiful. You can see the rattle abut two inches to the left of the head. Maybe try a larger version to see it well.

Same snake, different lighting. I saw these two snakes within about an hour of each other, and I'd see only one other on the trail. I came with inches of stepping on him in Pennsylvania.

The rattler again.

Shenandoah's trails are so well constructed, as someone put it: "sidewalk flat," that even the talus slopes are cleared.

Showers in the distance, but it stayed dry.

A bunny rabbit.

A perfectly-lit black-and-white moth.

Fawn.

Fawn with mom. Cute.

One swallowtail flies, the other eats from a Michigan Lily.

Yeah, I used the flash.

More swallowtail and flowers.

A swallowtail in motion. I really like these pictures.

And a still swallowtail. The colors are great.

Sidewalk flat and straight as an arrow. If it hadn't gotten really hot, I would have blasted through the 'Doahs. Still, it did heal my bad ankles.

Shenandoah was settled in the late 1700s and then bought by the government and depopulated in the 1930s. Thus, cemetaries still exist and are maintained.

Blurry owl.

Another blurry owl.

The cliffs near the Pinnacle caught some water, and the views were hazy, but nice.

Skyline Drive winds well below the trail.

The CCC built retaining walls for the trail. It is so nice.

More Michigan Lilies. In bunches.

Michigan lilies with swallowtail.

A monarch peeks out from behind the milkweed.

Now the monarch comes out on top of the milkweed and feeds.

The trail, trampled through the lush green forest.

Can you find the bear in this picture?

How about in this one? Or is is sasquatch?

There he goes!

The quaker campers took pictures of me as I threw my bear ropes. They hung their bag on the stupid, not-high-enough bear poles. I threw a rock over a thick branch 40 feet up. If I'd had more than 150-pound-test P-cord, we could have hoisted up a camper. But the liability might have ben an issue. Here I am tying the rock.

And I let it go, with the cord attached to my belt.

Got it.

Fitting that my best and highest bear rope throw would be captured for everyone to see. On my fourth attempt, I got the rope over a 40-foot-high, very sturdy branch. It was not a small rock, so I had to get a good throw on it. I met a bloke who had a rock ricochet in to his face. Ouch.

Crossing Skyline Drive for the Umpteenth time.

Snake skin. Cool.

Staring contest with a turtle. I can run faster!

I win, and the turtle goes in to his shell.

look close, and you will see the walking stick.

Dragonfly.

This blaze means that the trail goes around the tree, whilst climbing and then descending. Or something.

Beautiful, historical, the AT has it all.

A close up of one of these moths I kept seeing.

And another lily.

The Roller Coaster is notorious. Why does the trail traverse these hills instead of staying on top of the ridge? The top, Mount Weather, is where Dick Cheney goes to hide. Too bad I wasn't carrying a gun, I'd like to pop a cap in Dick Cheney's evil, bald head. (Thin ice)

Falls in Reservoir Ravine.

Bears Den Hostel, in an old stone estate.

With a nice view across the Shenandoah Valley.

OUT OF VIRIGINA!

After about a month and at least 535 miles. Wow.

The Appalachian Trail 1000 Mile Marker at the David Lesser shelter. What an accomplishment. Only 1174.6 to go.

The Shenandoah River.

Me and the ATC in Harpers Ferry.

And again.

Okay, we get it.

Next to the ATC sign. You can see where they covered "Conference" with "Conservancy" since they recently changed their name. I need a shave.

Me, (Cousin) Lazar and Harriet. He had the nice camera, I was jealous. He was jealous that I could walk 1000 miles.

Seth and Ari SOBOed in 2003. I never found Julie Lim's photo. I was #675 or so.

While I was waiting for Ted to call I took time lapse photos in the Metro. I thought nothing of whipping out a camera in the Metro and setting it on a trash can to take pictures. I came close to taking out my wallet and waving around twenties. But I got some cool pictures.

More Metro Rail pictures.

More Metro Rail pictures.

More Metro Rail pictures.

More Metro Rail pictures.

The architecture is so 1970, but it has actually aged pretty well. I wonder what DC would have been like without the Metro. It seems to be pretty well used.

More Metro Rail pictures.

Systemwide delays because of the heat. Hey, I hiked 70 miles in three days in the 100-degree heat.

More Metro Rail pictures.

More Metro Rail pictures.

More Metro Rail pictures.

The train pulls out, the passengers stand still and watch.

More Metro Rail pictures.

The mall and the Washington Monument. On a hot, but pretty, day.