Virginia Fall

Updating from the small town of Montebello, VA, we've now passed into and out of Shenandoah National Park are in the meat of Virginia's section of the AT.

We've had some of our roughest weather the last few weeks. In Maryland we hiked 15 miles in the rain, with the temperatures in the low 40's. This is Priya in a bathroom that we used to hang up our gear and cook dinner - the only dry place available.

Christian's parents met us in Harper's Ferry at the bridge crossing into West Virginia - the "spirtual halfway point", as this is where the Appalachian Trial Conservancy Headquarters is located.

Our first night in the Shenandoahs we slept under the stars at this sweet spot overlooking the valley.

Fall in the Shenandoahs...the leaves were amazing.

Some berries still left at the end of fall. We saw 4 bear in the Shenandoahs, all trying to stock up for winter.

A view of the trees as their leaves turned. The past couple of days have brought wind and rain, so from here on out we don't expect much fall foliage to be left.

We caught the sunset off these clouds as we hiked into camp late one evening.

Fall colors on a tree just south of Shenandoah.

Most of the leaves we saw had turned orange or yellow, but this stand of young trees had a cool red color.

Trees in the fog. We've been hit by more rainy weather recently than in quite a while, making staying dry and keeping equipment dry a challenge.

Getting deeper into Virginia has brought us back into bigger mountains - we've climbed above 4,000 feet elevation for the first time since Vermont, and have consistently been above 3,000 feet. We're looking forward to what the rest of Virginia has to offer, and the Smokies are beckoning.