the Bear and the Breathtaking

Between the bear and the breathtaking views is a place we call Shenandoah. It's a place were the leaves are turing early this year and the cold winds are coming. It's a place where you might see a bear, coyote, turkey, or bobcat in the wild anytime. It's also the place where in the last couple days you might have seen the Peace Corps or Aramark staff laughing, playing games, or traipsing through the woods on a Shenandoah Mountain Guides lead activity.
Here's a quick slice of the last week.


The flying squirrel soars out towards the valley at Aramark's picnic.


Peace Corps staff working through their game/race on the summit of Blackrock Peak.


Rattler getting in some good rays on a talus slope.


Aramark staff playing games at the Skyland lodge lawn.


Before climbing forty feet up a big tree this bear decided it was time to use the little tree for a good butt scratchin.

Footprints

Watch how easily this 400lb bear climbs the tree!

Weekend Explorer

With many trips comes many personalities, this week we had the pleasure of introducing Emmy awarded host Jeffrey Lehmann and the film crew for Weekend Explorer to Shenandoah. As usual we had a blast! So much so that after the scheduled rock climbing and rappelling was finished, Jeffrey changed up the days itinerary and headed deeper into the woods so we could show him some more! Jeffrey and the crew know how to find the good stuff, and as the mornings fog turned into evening mist we hiked back up the hill 40 pound HD camcorder in hand, a bit tired but happy with the footage and the fun!

Based out of California the award winning, PBS television series, Weekend Explorer takes you along to incredibly scenic destinations around the United States and the world and it's about time Shenandoah made the list! But don't take my word for it, the link to Jeffrey's site is www.weekendexplorer.com, our show should air sometime around June 2010. It was great to meet the crew along with Jeffrey and to show them around our home. We wish them the best of luck with the show.

Rain or Shine

... and sometimes the colors seem to shine even more when its raining!

Summer Sun Fading

Well the temps are starting to cool in Shenandoah and the ideal hiking/climbing days are arriving. That's not to say you won't be seeing us at a swimming hole cooling off after a hard hike or possibly even canyoneering in a wetsuit, some of the best trips from the last week or so have put us in the water for at least a quick break. Here's a couple pics from last week, in the water or not.

Climbing the Sentinel in the bright sun and warming up, before jumping in swimming hole number two on Saturdays' adventure race birthday party.

What can I say, I'm a man who loves butterflies. A Red Admiral suns itself next to a pool.

It was nice enough out last week that we just wore the wetsuit tops for our canyoneering trip! (It's not quite as steep as this picture makes it look but it is as fun)!