Latest / Virginia Outdoor Adventures: Hiking, Camping, Kayaking, Local Travel and more! / Summer Hiking & Travel Adventures: Shenandoah National Park, British Columbia, Mount Rainier, & Mexico City (Ep 90, Pt 3)

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Summer Hiking & Travel Adventures: Shenandoah National Park, British Columbia, Mount Rainier, & Mexico City (Ep 90, Pt 3) · Virginia Outdoor Adventures: Hiking, Camping, Kayaking, Local Travel and more!

• 0:00
  Jessica Bowser: From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is a mecca for outdoor travel and adventure. Virginia Outdoor Adventures podcast is your local guide for hiking, camping, kayaking, travel, and so much more. Get the information and the inspiration to plan your own adventure right here in Virginia, I'm your host Jessica Bowser. What do you get when you pack a season with mountain hikes, national park trails, sunset paddles, waterfall rappelling, and a little international travel? A pretty epic summer. In this episode, we're going on a North American extravaganza from the snow-capped Rockies of British Columbia to the trails around Mount Rainier and into the mountains surrounding Mexico City. Back in Virginia, there are sunset paddles in regional and state parks, a road trip to a national wildlife refuge, conquering the Cascades of White Oak Canyon, a weekend escape in Shenandoah National Park, and a sneak peek visit to the first Virginia's Adventure Towns episode of the new season, but this isn't just a recap of places I visited. Along the way, I'll share the trails, parks, paddling spots, wildlife destinations, and practical details that can help you turn some of these ideas into adventures of your own. So, if you're looking for inspiration for your next trip, or just want to discover somewhere new?
• 1:22
  Jessica Bowser: There's a lot to cover. Let's go. This is part two of a multi-part episode. On my third and last day in Shenandoah, I practically fell out of bed in the morning and limped my way over to the lodge to get coffee, all hunched over. That big hike I had done the day before was taking its toll, so I decided to take it easy that day. Switched out of my boots and into my trail runners and picked an easy trail. So I decided to hike to Upper Pecosin. I think that's how you pronounce it. The trailhead is just before mile marker 60, and it's very easy to miss as you're driving down Skyline Drive, it's a fire road, but there's a sign that says no parking, and I think that might confuse some people. It's not really a popular area, and I could tell immediately. Like as soon as I pulled in, there were no cars. I didn't expect to see anybody the entire time, and I didn't. It was wonderful because I jumped out of the car, and the first thing I heard was some sort of animal screeching, and I was listening for a while, going, "Okay, I know it's a bird. So I pulled out my Merlin app, and it was a broad-winged hawk, which was really cool because you don't see those too often. And it was very close. I couldn't find it though, but it was like right up in the trees above me. Getting to hear a broad-winged hawk, especially that close was really cool. I was really hoping to get my eyes on it, but we can't get everything that we want, can we?
• 2:45
  Jessica Bowser: So I headed off down this fire road, the Upper Pecosin Fire Road. It's a short hike. I'm trying to remember exactly how far it is to the ruins. There are ruins of an old church. You head off down the fire road, and before you even get to the ruins, you pass one of the PATC cabins, and this is one of the cabins that you can rent through the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. It's extremely primitive.
• 3:13
  Jessica Bowser: You know, there's no restroom.
• 3:13
  Jessica Bowser: There's an outhouse, and there's a beautiful outdoor fireplace and a picnic table, and really nice views from there. I've never rented one of these cabins before, but I hike past them all the time, and I'm looking at it, thinking, "Why have I never done this before? I think you like get a code to the lock or something like that is how it works. But the volunteers of the PATC do all the maintaining of it, so you pass that on the fire road. It's actually off the Appalachian Trail, so you go past that, and then you get to the ruins of the old church. And there's not much there. It's like an old. It almost looks like a dilapidated barn, is what's left. And then also some concrete stairs and some type of foundation. So there, there definitely was more than one building there. I don't know what exactly it was.
• 4:03
  Jessica Bowser: Like, I wonder if there was a church, and then maybe there was also there was some sort of barn or something for for animals. I don't know. I'd love to learn more about it, find out more about it. I'm sure that it's probably in some books about the history of the park. If anybody knows, I would. I would love to find out if you could even just point me in the right direction.
• 4:26
  Jessica Bowser: I walked up to it and I was like, "Wait a second! I think I've been here before, but I couldn't quite remember. Like, I want to say it was like 15 years ago. I was backpacking with a group of friends, and I know we hiked down a fire road, and I know that we came across ruins and there were concrete steps, but I can't remember anything more about it. I thought we also hiked to an overlook, but there there really wasn't any sort of overlook on this trail. So if this sounds familiar to you, like if there's another part of the park that has ruins with concrete stairs, you know, let me know. I'm like texting.
• 5:00
  Jessica Bowser: Friend from 15 years ago saying,"I know this is a long shot, but what are the odds that you remember what trail we went down? Of course, he did not, but I would love to try to figure it out because it just sort of feels like a mystery that's hanging to me. But I love the hikes that pass any sort of relics from the history of the park before it was a park, when there were still residents living in the area. So, it could be a barn, it could be a cemetery, it could be a stone wall, an old foundation, a chimney. I just think it's really interesting, and also it always makes me think about this book that I used to read to my fourth graders called "Ghost
• 5:40
  Girl: A Blue Ridge Mountain story, and it's written at a sixth grade level, and I taught fourth grade, so I would have to read it out loud to them. But my kids would just like absolutely hang on every word. It's about it's a historical fiction, and the main character is a 12 year old girl named April, and it takes place during the Depression era, and it's very close to the time that it becomes a national park.
• 6:04
  Girl: President Hoover builds a cabin, which you probably know now as Camp Rapidan. The Hoovers come into the area, and the First Lady Lou Henry Hoover builds the first school. It's a one-room school for the kids living in the area because she starts meeting children up in the mountains and realizes that they don't have a school, and so it's just this wonderful story about what life was like during that time and for the people living in the mountains. And so it made such an impression on me because I read it to my kids every single year, year after year after year. Even now, when I hike up in the mountains. I'm thinking about the book, but the book helps you understand what that time period and life was like. And it's funny. I was just looking up like what the subtitle is for this book, and I found a site that's selling the book. By the way, it's five bucks. I want to say this thing was published in like 2005 or something like that because I can remember it was like really close to when I first started teaching, but anyway, somebody wrote this review of the book, which makes me laugh. She said,"I know this book was not written for women in their 70s, but I enjoyed it just as much as if I'd been 12 again. Not only is it an absorbing story, but it's a snapshot of the real history of that period and what life was like then, so I do recommend this. I know it's written for sixth graders, but come on, like it's an easy read, and it's interesting, and it's entertaining, and you will learn something from it. So look that up if you ever get a chance, and for five bucks, like really, like add it to your library. So I headed down the Upper Picosan Fire Road, saw the ruins, and then decided to keep going.
• 7:45
  Girl: And I didn't really have a plan for where I was going to go, but there are several trails that connect to the fire road, and I thought maybe I would pick up one of those. So I hiked a little bit further and came to a trail junction. I can't remember the name of this trail, and I was just looking on the park map to try to find it, and I can see the trail, but there's no name on it. So I wish I could tell you what it was, but it is unmaintained. It goes from the fire road all the way down to the park boundary, and so I was like, "Oh, this looks like it would be really pretty. Let me take this. And then I start to turn onto it, and I look, and I'm like, "Wow, this is really overgrown. And it became apparent very quickly that nobody walks on that trail, or so infrequently. I I just can't imagine that anybody had been on it recently. And so I was like,"Do I really still want to do this? I don't know why. Like normally, that is exactly the kind of trail that I would look for. Like, I want to go someplace where I am not going to find anybody else. I don't want to run into people. I certainly don't want the crowds, but like the quieter, the better. And personally, I think that your opportunities for wildlife sightings are just that much better when you don't have people all around you, usually that is like exactly what I would go for. But like something stopped me. Like I literally stopped dead in my tracks, and I was like, I don't, I don't know what it is, but I'm just getting like the heebie-jeebies right now. Like I couldn't put my finger on it. There was nothing logical about it, but something just felt off, and I had a moment where I was like, maybe I shouldn't do this trail. And then I went back to the whole like, well, I say I'm going to do something. It's going to scare me for year on this park.
• 9:34
  Girl: Like maybe this is it. And yes, I had already hiked in the dark, but why not add something else to the list? And yet I was still hesitant. And then I thought, what's that quote from Eleanor Roosevelt? Do one thing every day that scares you? Okay, well here it is. So off I went. I do regret that I didn't have my trekking poles. Not that it was a difficult trail, but it was so overgrown. It would have been really nice to just. Have something in front of me because I could not see the trail. Like that's how overgrown it was. I was just walking through brush, and I hate doing that because I'm always concerned about snakes. I would feel absolutely horrible if I accidentally stepped on someone. I mean, can you imagine just like going about your life, minding your own business, and some giant comes out of nowhere and steps on you. Like, what if I injured somebody, or worse yet, what if somebody died because I stepped on them? I would not be able to live with myself. I need to look out for our cute little friends under my feet. So it would have been nice to have those trekking poles to sort of push the brush aside. Now I know that snakes are not just hanging around in the brush waiting to get stepped on. They hear you coming, and they're going to move out of the way. But if you ever want to know more or learn more about snakes, I've got this awesome
• 10:51
  episode. It's episode 62: Virginia's Venomous and
• 10:54
  Non-Venomous Snakes: Hiking Safety Myths and Appreciation.
• 10:58
  Non-Venomous Snakes: And the guest is my friend Carolyn, who's with the Virginia Herpetological Society, and she tells you everything that you need to be concerned about and everything that you don't need to be concerned about. And spoiler alert: there's not much you need to be concerned about.
• 11:11
  Non-Venomous Snakes: Either way, if you haven't given it a listen, it's episode 62. I continued on down the trail at a snail's pace, both because I was looking for wildlife, but also because I just could not shake that creepy feeling the whole time I was hiking on that trail.
• 11:27
  Non-Venomous Snakes: Have you ever had that happen to you before, where you're just like hiking and you just get this like weird vibe and you don't know why? It's happened to me several times, but only three times within the park. Actually, one of those times I was with one of my podcast guests, and we had just finished hiking Old Rag, and we're coming down the fire road, and we're getting really close to the parking lot, and we heard footsteps running down the trail behind us. Except instead of passing us, they ran up behind us and stopped. And she and I had been walking and talking, and when we heard that, we both stopped and turned around, and nothing was there.
• 12:01
  Non-Venomous Snakes: And immediately, we both turned and looked at each other, and we were like, "What was that? I mean, her eyes were huge. I'm sure mine were too. It was so bizarre, and there was no mistaking it. It's not like one of us heard it. We both heard it, and we both reacted to it at the exact same time, super weird. She told me she's had a couple of incidences similar to that also happen to her. I've had some weird things happen to me. I don't know. Do you believe in ghosts? Because when I start getting that creepy feeling, I don't know what to make of it.
• 12:36
  Non-Venomous Snakes: Like there's nothing logically that makes sense, but it's just like it's something you can't shake, and I don't know how else to describe it. And they say that there are haunted trails inside the park, especially around the areas where people used to live. So you know, I don't know, maybe it's a possibility. Call me crazy, but I sometimes think that that must be what's going on when I start getting the heebie-jeebies on the trail for no reason at all, but if you've got some stories, send them my way because I love ghost stories. I'm a little bit obsessed with it, and would love to hear if you've had your own experiences-not not just in the park, but anywhere, anywhere at all, anywhere in this great big world. Let me know. I I love hearing those things, and you can message me by clicking on Send Jessica a text message in your show notes, or message me on the socials. So I went down the trail it so so slow that eventually I was like, okay, this is crazy. I need to turn around and go back because I wasn't getting anywhere. Like there was still a lot of trail left in front of me, and it was getting to the point where like trees were had fallen over the trail that I couldn't get around, and I was like, I think it's just time to go back.
• 13:49
  Non-Venomous Snakes: Besides, there was blackberry ice cream pie waiting for me at the lodge, so I turned around and headed back up. It's funny because once I started heading back, that creepy feeling sort of evaporated. I mean, it didn't go away completely, but it just was not as heavy as it had been, which I also think is really weird. Maybe that's in my head.
• 14:07
  Non-Venomous Snakes: So I'm heading back up the fire road, and in the distance, I see what I think are more orange leaves on the ground, and then I start like looking closer, and I'm like, really? Like the leaves were really changing? No, it was not leaves. It was chanterelles. Oh my gosh, I was so excited. I ran through the woods, and when I got there, I think it was like the biggest crop of chanterelles I have ever seen in my life. I was so excited. I took my pack off. I pulled out my mushroom knife, which I am now the proud owner of. After doing an episode about mushroom foraging and learning about mushroom knives, and I started to cut until I discovered that they were like dry. It shouldn't be the end of the season for them. Like right around my birthday is always when I'm used to finding them, and the. So good! Oh my God, they're so so good. But these ones were just dry, and I don't know what it like what causes them to be dry. Lack of rain. I I just I don't know what was going on there.
• 15:11
  Non-Venomous Snakes: So I left the ones that were the driest, which was the majority of them, and I just took a few.
• 15:14
  Non-Venomous Snakes: I always carry a bag with inside my pack that I collect berries or mushrooms or like whatever I find. So I'm picking chanterelles and putting them in this bag. And then I found a really huge log, and I sat down and I dumped them all out. And I was cleaning them right there in the field, which is what is so great about a mushroom knife.
• 15:37
  Non-Venomous Snakes: The other end of it has a little brush on it, so you can brush off like all the leaves, the bugs, the dirt, like whatever's in there. Cut the ends off. If there's any like bad parts, cut those out too. It saves you so much time in the kitchen, and all of the mess stays in the forest. So and the bugs stay in the forest. So I was sitting there on the log, and everything was quiet. Nobody was around.
• 15:59
  Non-Venomous Snakes: I'm only hearing birds and nothing else, and I just sort of like zoned out. I was like in my happy place cleaning mushrooms, and I had no idea like how meditative that whole act can be. Like usually, when I'm collecting mushrooms, I'm just putting them in the bag and then I'm moving on. This was the first time that I've actually sat down with a big crop of them and intentionally sat there and cleaned for a while, and it was so zen. I don't know how else to put it. It was really nice. It was lovely. I would love to do this again. I don't intentionally go mushroom foraging like some people do, but I'm always prepared in case I find something. And when I find something, I'm super excited. And just getting to know some, you know, simple edible mushrooms that you can identify easily and not have to worry about misidentification.
• 16:50
  Non-Venomous Snakes: Just a great little tool to have because when you come across something, you know what it is, and you're prepared to take some of it with you. And once you get home, you have to know what to do with it too. That's the other piece of the story. Like, if you don't know what to do with it, sometimes it'll just sit in your fridge, or it'll end up going bad before you do anything with it. I have this awesome episode about mushroom foraging. This one was like really popular. I had so many requests for it that I had been looking and looking for somebody for a long time to be a guest, because as you can imagine, it's got to be somebody who's really reliable, incredible. Because we cannot have somebody, and when I say we, me cannot have somebody coming on my show who gives some bad advice and then somebody could potentially die because you don't want to eat the wrong thing in the woods. That is episode 80 with my friend Gabrielle Serberville. You might know her as the Chaotic Forager.
• 17:45
  Non-Venomous Snakes: That is her name on all of her social media pages. She has so many followers; it's kind of mind-boggling. But the episode is mushroom foraging in
• 17:56
  Virginia: wild edibles, seasonal finds, and foraging tips with Gabrielle Serberville, she also has a book out. It came out like right around the time that we did this episode, and I love it.
• 18:07
  Virginia: I read it cover to cover twice already. It is just a lovely combination of a memoir, but then also like how to forage, and then all of these recipes. I love it so much. It's just it's such an interesting mix of those things. I didn't think that anybody could put all of those genres together and have it work, but she did, and she's got some really interesting stories in there, going all the way back to her childhood, and then it it sort of like follows her whole evolution into foraging. If you're looking for the perfect Virginia mountain getaway, I've got a recommendation for you.
• 18:45
  Virginia: Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Iris Inn and Cabins and nearby Afton Mountain Vineyards make an incredible base camp for outdoor adventure.
• 18:56
  Virginia: The two properties are only about nine miles apart and surrounded by some of Virginia's best public lands and hiking trails, you can spend the day exploring iconic destinations like Shenandoah National Park, Humpback Rocks, or the waterfalls of Crabtree Falls.
• 19:09
  Virginia: Then return to relax in the mountains. If hiking is the reason for your trip, be sure to ask about the Iris Inn's Trail Hikers Package. Whether you choose a cozy room or one of their private cabins tucked into the forest, you'll have a peaceful place to recharge after a day on the trail. The cabins offer a quiet mountain retreat where you can slow down, soak in the scenery, and enjoy the fresh Blue Ridge air. When it's time to unwind, head over to Afton Mountain Vineyards. Their estate-grown wines reflect the character of Virginia's Blue Ridge, and the tasting room offers sweeping vineyard and mountain views that make it easy to linger over a glass, it's the perfect way to celebrate a day spent outside. Another reason I love supporting these businesses is that both the Irisin and Afton Mountain Vineyards are proud Virginia. Green Travel Partners, helping protect the beautiful landscapes that make this region so special. So, if you're planning your next hiking adventure, make a weekend of it.
• 20:10
  Virginia: Stay at the Iris Inn, enjoy an afternoon at Afton Mountain Vineyards, and discover why the Blue Ridge is one of Virginia's most unforgettable outdoor destinations. Start planning your getaway now by clicking on Iris Inn and Cabins and Afton Mountain Vineyards in your show notes. Heading back up the fire road, I saw several piles of bear scat on the ground, and that got me excited. And I know you're thinking, why are you excited about poop? Well, I'm excited because I haven't seen a bear in the park since the mange outbreak started in 2020. I remember a time when I used to see a bear every single time I went into the park. Sometimes several bears in one day, and once that mange outbreak got started, that was it. I haven't seen any since then. I've seen some evidence of them, like the scat or you know, flipped boulders, or flipped logs, and trees being torn up. But other than that, like I know they're there, but I haven't actually seen one. And there was just an article this past week from DWR.
• 21:13
  Virginia: DWR is the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. They put an article out about how they were trying to treat some of these bears, and many of them were treated. They were re-released into the wild, and then they would catch it again.
• 21:28
  Virginia: And if you've seen the pictures of what these bears with mange looks like, it's just so sad. I mean, they have lost all their fur. Their skin is super nasty looking, and they're usually like just laying there, lethargic and really, really underweight. It's a mite, and it gets underneath their skin, and it makes them really itchy. So they spend all their time scratching, and their body is trying to fight off this infection and burning calories way too fast. So they're not eating, and they're burning extra calories. A lot of them starve to death. It's just, it's really, really sad. Oftentimes, it will just resolve itself in the wild, and so they don't usually need to be treated. But it does get so severe that it can kill them. So it's sad. If all I did all day was scratch to the point where I couldn't even eat because I was so busy scratching, I would just be laying there too. I'd be like,"Somebody come put me out of my misery. But just seeing the scat made me excited because it's like one of the first indications I've seen of them in a really long time. And I'm waiting for the day when they become common again. When I walk into the park and I know that I'm going to see one, and I know that there are people out there who are like, "Oh my God! What am I going to do if I see a bear? Well, pretty much the same thing you would do if you see a snake. Admire it, feel grateful.
• 22:44
  Virginia: You get to see a wild animal in its natural habitat, and Shenandoah National Park is known for black bears.
• 22:54
  Virginia: So if you actually get to see one in the park, you are one lucky duck. After heading back to the lodge and getting my blackberry ice cream pie. I then left the lodge and went over to Big Meadows. This is my favorite place in the entire park. I just think its beauty is so understated and maybe even underrated. People come to the park for the overlooks, the waterfalls, the summits, and I think they overlook the prettiest part of the park, which is also the simplest part of the park. I think is is the meadow. It's just beautiful. The history there is also really interesting because the meadow exists because Indigenous people use prescribed fire to clear the area, and while blueberries and other plants bring deer into the open fields, and once they're out in the open, then they're easier to hunt. So they use prescribed fire to keep that area open, and that's why we have big meadows today. And I have an episode about prescribed fire. It's from season two. It's episode 25. It's called Good Fire, and the guest is Sam Lopez, who works for Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources as a wildlife area manager. And she talks about why we need prescribed fire, how we use it here in Virginia. I had a lot of fun talking to her because I volunteer on prescribed fires occasionally, and it's a really amazing feeling to get to set something on fire and know that you're doing it for a good reason, and then actually come back to that area and enjoy the wildlife there. I've had that happen before. One of my favorite places to watch woodcocks in the spring is a field that I got to burn one year, not that long ago, and then when I came back in the spring and the whole area was cleared out, and the woodcocks were doing their their mating flight dance and their meeping, it took out a whole different meaning. I'd been going to that place year after year after year to see woodcocks every spring, but that year was. Especially cool, but also because all the other people in the area were like, "What? Why does this look like it's been burned? And I'm like, "Because it has been, and I did that. Known as the Grand Canyon of the South, Brakes Park is a hiking destination in the heart of Appalachia. You'll find trails for every skill level, featuring geologic wonders, canyon overlooks, stream crossings, and abundant wildlife, stay close to the adventure with lodges, cabins, and campgrounds inside the park.
• 25:31
  Virginia: Beyond the breaks, the heart of Appalachia invites you to hike and bike through breathtaking mountain landscapes, paddle hidden hollows, reel in trout from crystal clear streams, or hop on an ATV to conquer the rugged Spearhead trails. Take a scenic drive, embark on an elk tour, and explore Virginia's treasured Southwest, where you'll also find vibrant local dining, shopping, and celebrations. Your next outdoor adventure starts in the heart of Appalachia. Tap the links for Breaks Park and Heart of Appalachia in your show notes.
• 26:07
  Virginia: But Big Meadows is a place that I love to go around sunset. It can be brutal in the summer, in the middle of the day because of the heat. But at the end of the day, it's not hot. There's usually a breeze. It's just really nice to walk around all of these little trails that are probably mostly deer trails that people follow, and look at all of the different plants and try to identify all the wildflowers.
• 26:31
  Virginia: I love using the Seek app. I know a lot of people use iNaturalist. Seek is a companion app to iNaturalist, so it kind of works in the same way, but you can go around taking pictures of whatever you find, and it will identify it for you.
• 26:45
  Virginia: And it's just a really cool learning tool, I think. So I will just wander around these trails, sometimes pick wild blueberries, but mostly just admire the flowers and the sunset. It's just it's such a beautiful, beautiful place, and I bring everybody there. Like any time somebody asks me if they can come with me up to the park, or if I have visitors from out of town, I always take them to the meadow at sunset. And everybody's reaction is the same. They're kind of like, you know, what are we doing here?
• 27:16
  Virginia: You know, we we want to go to an overlook or we want to go to a waterfall, and I'm like, no, but just look around, like just just enjoy what you're seeing and look around. And it's like everybody has the same reaction where they just are surprised by what they see, and it's just like an understated beauty. I remember one of my friends saying, "I like this. Like he's just like looking around, nodding, going, "I'm kind of into this, yeah. Right? It's just a really lovely way to end the day. My husband has instructions that if I die before him, he's supposed to donate as much of my body as possible to science, and if there's anything left over, he's to cremate it and sprinkle my ashes across the wildflowers in the meadow, and that way, I can become a wildflower and be a part of the meadow forever.
• 28:04
  Virginia: Isn't that lovely? I think you need a permit for that, by the way. Like, don't go getting any ideas that the next time somebody dies, you're just going to go sprinkle all their ashes everywhere. Because if somebody catches you doing that without a permit, I think you can probably get in really big trouble, but the other thing that's really popular with the meadow is their dark sky programs. And in fact, when I was there the other night, I was out there past dark, and I was coming back up the fire road towards my car, and there are rangers out there with red lights around their ranger hats, and people sitting out on blankets everywhere and chairs, and they had telescopes they were setting up. And I thought about sticking around, but I was already checked out of the lodge, and I needed to drive home that night. And I probably would have had to wait like another 45 minutes to an hour for it to be really dark. And I just didn't want to do that. It was I was tired. It was getting late, so I headed home. But that was my three-day visit in Shenandoah National Park. Pure magic, as it always is. What's the hashtag they used to use?
• 29:12
  Virginia: Shen Love. Yeah, it is absolutely Shen Love. The next morning after getting home from Shenandoah, I went to check on my birthday wish list. So we're coming all the way back around now, circling back. I checked on my birthday wish list, and I was nervous to look at it because I had this feeling like we I wasn't gonna reach the $750 goal, and I did not want to be embarrassed that I couldn't get people to give. And I opened it up and we were only $180 away from the goal, which I was surprised. I was like, "Wow, okay, this actually is working.
• 29:50
  Virginia: I had a couple people sign up for memberships, which is amazing because that's a monthly giving program. But all together, so far, the total is.
• 29:57
  Virginia: Today is $1,215. There were over 40 people that contributed, and I'm so grateful. I can't even find the words, honestly. I'm like equal parts surprised and equal parts grateful, and I want to mention everybody who donated, just because I feel like it's definitely worth a shout out. So thank you to Donna, Laura, Jim, Kelly, Kevin, Christina, Bill, Sherry, Corey, Gina, Anna, Mindy, Dan, Christine, Todd, Jason, Allison, Pete, Jeff, Kevin, D, Joel, Scott, Tracy, Jim, Michelle, Ross, another Scott, Jennifer, Lori, Shannon, Cindy, Sue, Ronnie, Pete, plus four anonymous contributors and two new members, and those are Anna and Rob. So thank you so much. I was really touched that so many people jumped in, especially many days after I stopped asking. There's been a new contribution every single day this past week, and that really means a lot to me. It's also a huge, huge help. This podcast can get a little pricey at times. You know, $750 is probably an underestimate of what the monthly expenses are. I actually think it's much closer to 1200, but I was afraid if I asked for 1200 that that would be too much, and I ended up getting $1,200 anyway. So I probably should have just set that goal in the first place.
• 31:30
  Virginia: But this makes a really big difference. Truly, it does. And you all are awesome. I don't know what else to say. You all are the best.
• 31:39
  Virginia: Thank you so much for supporting me and for supporting this podcast. This episode is probably going to be, if not the last, then maybe the second to last one of season six, and then I'm going to take a very short break for a couple of weeks while I get ready for season seven, which is going to launch in the fall. Seven years of a podcast is a really big deal.
• 31:59
  Virginia: Most podcasts don't last past seven episodes. That's the national average. So for this one to still be going seven years later is a heck of an accomplishment. And I owe it all to you guys because if you weren't listening, there would be none of this. So thank you to all of you who contributed, who listen regularly, who share episodes with your friends and family, who subscribe to the newsletter. There's so many different ways to support the podcast, and every time I ask, you all are there, and I appreciate that more than words can say. That's where we'll wrap up with part two. When we come back next week for part three.
• 32:40
  Virginia: We'll head much farther from home with hikes through the snow-capped mountains of British Columbia, the trails around Mount Rainier, and some high-elevation adventures in and around Mexico City. And there's still plenty more closer to home, including sunset paddles, waterfall rappelling, a road trip to a national wildlife refuge, and a visit to the next destination in the Virginia's Adventure Town series. There's a lot more adventure ahead, so I hope you'll join me next week for part three. Virginia Outdoor Adventures is inspired by and supported by listeners like you, which is why your messages and feedback means so much to me.
• 33:22
  Virginia: You can text me directly by clicking on "Send Jessica a text message" in your show notes. I answer questions, respond to comments, and share your feedback on the show. Never miss a new episode. Sign up for my email newsletter and receive my listener resource guide with the top podcast episodes, a Virginia Outdoor Bucket List and exclusive brand discounts for my listeners. Click on newsletter sign up in your show notes or visit VirginiaOutdoradventures.com.
• 33:51
  Virginia: Thanks for listening. Until next time, Adventure on.