6 hrs, 16.1 kms

The Shenadoah River is a beautiful river with perfectly spaced horseshoe bends down the valley . Unfortunately you can't appreciate these from ground level. I do come across one of these bends, and decide to go ahead and take my video clip here, to have at least one next to the river. I'm in a bit pressed for time, so I can't spend a lot of time exploring the river. I kind of rush through my next town, Toms Creek--which isn't much more than a few houses and shops along the highway. I'm determined to reach my major milestone today: Woodstock, Virginia.

What's special about Woodstock? Well, back in August of 2003, I was living a peaceful middle class life in a nice neighborhood, but I had a growing restlessness--a feeling that I could be doing much more with my life than this. Then one day after work, I got in my car and went to see the post-Apocalyptic move "28 Days Later". Something just snapped inside me and I got in my car and starting driving with this amazing feeling that I could just wander on forever.

Now of course, I didn't . I reached the town of Woodstock and the pragmatic side of my brain kicked in, I wandered around a little, then drove back home and went back to work the next day. But that incident did awaken in me the realization that we can break from the clutches of the routine of life and chase after our dreams. A few months later I took a month off work to wander around India... a few months after that I took another couple weeks to travel from Mexico to Panama and back... and have been traveling on and off ever since.

So Woodstock has a symbolic meaning for me. Here is where it all started. And now, hiking from Chambersburg to Woodstock on foot has a special meaning as well: I'm showing myself that Great Adventures are not just about traveling around the globe. Sometimes the greatest adventures can be within walking distance of your home.

I think this is a good stopping place. There are plenty more towns further down the valley to explore--in fact, it's another 440 kilometers just in the state of Virginia. But I think I'm ready to put a period at the end of this Superhike--at least the south side (I do plan to hike north from Chambersburg for a good ways).

Maybe someday I'll come back and see what's beyond Woodstock... Maybe explore the towns along the endless Appalachian Valley that stretches the entire length of the country.... Maybe head east and get back on the Appalachian Trail.

Or maybe not. Maybe I've discovered enough about this part of the world... and it's time to explore something different.