We were on our second-floor balcony reading when we noticed someone below walk to the wooden railing separating the lodge grounds from the surrounding countryside. He pointed west toward the woods. Coming through the trees and into the small meadow were two bear cubs that commenced frolicking in the grass. They ran back and forth and one suddenly jumped and caught the side of a tree.

Unlike the Blue Ridge Parkway with three concessionaires operating four lodging facilities, Shenandoah National Park has a single concessionaire, Aramark Parks and Destinations, that operates all three of the park’s lodges. And while the four lodges on the Blue Ridge are spaced fairly evenly along the parkway, the three lodges in Shenandoah are clustered within 16 miles of one another.

Following a Thursday stay at Peaks of Otter Lodge, we drove north under blue skies to the terminus of the parkway at Waynesboro, Virginia. We decided to drive down the mountain into town for a few groceries, gasoline ($2.42 compared to $2.78 that we would find in Shenandoah NP), and a stop at the public library to email Kurt the Peaks of Otter story.

National Trails Day is just a couple weeks off, and with it comes time to savor, support, and celebrate the trails that wind not only through the National Park System, but throughout all public lands.