morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-08-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 26.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up early this morning to avoid the heat. It was so hot, but at least there was a breeze. I crossed the halfway point today! Franky has been excited about a pub/restaurant that is 0.9 miles off trail and at mile 21 of our day. 0.9 is really far for hiking off trail, but this place also offers free showers, tenting, and wifi do we decided to go. This was in South Mountain, PA. The shower was outside, but warm and the people were so nice and hiker friendly. One guy even bought Franky and I a drink! It was such a great stop.We decided to hike back to the trail around 7:30 instead of staying. Right as we got back to the trail it started raining with lightening and thunder, pouring buckets. It also was almost dark. It's a bad idea to set up a tent in that much rain so we just kept hiking and put on headlamps. It was too dark to find a place to set up a tent by the time the rain stopped, so we just kept hiking another hour or so to the next shelter. We got there around 10pm. It's been an unexpected day day, but I'm feeling pretty good...until I have to put my wet clothes on in the morning. I slept naked in a shelter for the first time :o.
Date: 2017-08-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 26.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up late this morning after my long day yesterday and didn't leave camp until 9 am. Little did I know at the time that today would be just as big. Franky and I decided that we wanted to get into Harpers Ferry by Thursday instead of Friday, which as of this morning was 50 miles away. We didn't get to the shelter tonight until 9 pm. We had about an hour of night hiking. I don't think I'd like hiking alone in the dark, but it's not bad with another person, plus it's warm out. I feel pretty good after such a long day. My feet hurt quite a bit though. I have these blister calluses things on my heel that stick out pretty far, but it's no longer painful. They look pretty crazy. It's actually kind of hard to go to ed after such a long day. My body needs time to unwind I guess. It just hiked twelve hours straight with hardly any breaks and now I'm not moving it. We finally are out of PA and in Maryland! looking forward to getting into town tomorrow. Time to stretch and let my body heal.
Date: 2017-08-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: clear sky

Made it into town today! Long day and I¢m overall pretty exhausted. Franky and I made our way through Harpers Ferry, stopping for drinks and Ice Cream and the gear shop as we went through until we made it to the econolodge, a hotel. I showered and plopped on the bed, and I don¢t think I got up again after that. We ordered food to our room and watched TV. I don¢t think I¢ve been this exhausted in awhile. I reminds me of how I felt in Maine. In the woods, there isn¢t soft beds and couches, so it¢s easy to stay up and moving, but luxury makes a person lazy. That being said, I am so looking forward to post trail couch movie and sleep days.The trail has been nice. Rocky at times. We passed some historical spots today, which was kind of neat to look at. I¢m so looking forward to sleeping until I want to wake up, not when the sun gets up. I¢ve been looking forward to getting to this point on the trail for so long. Now that I¢m here, I just want to sleep.
Date: 2017-08-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day! This morning around 8:30, Franky and I made our way to continental breakfast. I texted my friend, Chelsea, who does my blog, and said that I was almost in Virginia. She texted back and said, ¢Oh! So you¢re almost done right?¢ I thought about this and realized that I am not even close to being done, barely over half. It made me feel like I don¢t have the energy or drive to finish. Thinking long term is deadly, it¢s much better to have little goals and things to look forward to. I started getting upset as I was eating and I must have looked bad because Franky asked me if I was ok. I started crying in the dining area of the hotel and he took me back to the room and asked what was going on.¢I¢m just¢¦tired,¢ I said, ¢I don¢t feel the drive to finish.¢ Good ole Franky coming to the rescue says, ¢Well¢¦that sounds like a personal problem that you need to figure out.¢ ¢¦thanks Franky, reeeeeaaal supportive there. I eventually pulled myself together and we packed up and headed out after washing our packs in the bathtub¢¦poor cleaning lady, I¢m sorry.We went to the post office where I got my package that included a new shirt, panties, and socks. I was so excited to get them! Eventually Scout made his way to Harpers Ferry and Frodo and Scout took Franky and I to stay at a friend of theirs. Rita and Sean, they were so lovely! They cooked us so much food and their neighbors came over. Their house was amazing with solar panels and all. Oh it was so nice. I¢m grateful to have stayed at their house and the bed I slept in was quite comfortable. I really miss sleeping in a bed and showers and towels and good food. The trail seems really long these days. It¢s nice to be around Scout again. He¢s a good pick me up.
Date: 2017-08-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.0

Frodo got us all up early this morning to get to the trail. Sean and Rita had made a lovely breakfast of sourdough pancakes and peaches for breakfast. I took some extra to pack out and eat later. Scout¢s youngest daughter and her boyfriend met up to backpack with scout 6 miles into the day. We did a smaller day so that we wouldn¢t push them too hard. It¢s been a great day. I feel the weather changing to fall. The weather has been amazing. It¢s finally cooling down and I¢m finally in Virginia! I¢m ready for bed and not much in the mood to blog, so I¢m ending short tonight.
Date: 2017-08-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: broken clouds

We did the roller coaster today! It was the slowest roller coaster that I¢ve ever been on. The trail was kind of rocky and we had these constant up and downs for a good 13 miles or so. Today I passed so many weekend hikers! I can tell that we are getting close to Shenandoah's. Frodo met the 3 of us for lunch at a road crossing and then we slacked the rest of the day. I always feel so spoiled hiking around Scout. At the end of the day, Frodo scooped all of us up and drove us to stay at a friend of theirs. They fed us an amazing meal and off we went to bed. Such great people! It¢s a lot of work to feed and house hikers! I¢m so appreciative. Time for bed¢¦in a kind sized bed. I feel so clean.
Date: 2017-08-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: few clouds

I did not want to leave the king sized bed this morning at 6:20 am¢¦but eventually I got myself up and moving. For hiking 23 miles today, I feel pretty good. We started hiking around 7:30 and finished around 7 pm. The trail has been great, I¢m so happy to be back in Virginia. I feel like I¢m home. We are less than a mile from entering Shenandoah park. I¢ve been in a good mental place recently. My Harpers Ferry meltdown feels like a long time ago. Our day ended with a mile and a half uphill. I was surprised by how well my body handled it at the end of a long day. I flew up it.Since I¢ve been writing, a group of five guys showed up¢¦sigh, I miss girls. I¢m only a day behind Happy Feet! A girl SOBO that I¢ve never met. I can¢t wait to catch up to her. Time for sleepy sleep.
Date: 2017-08-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to rain in the shelter and no one moved. No one wants to wake up and pack and hike in the rain. It sucks. Eventually, though, that¢s what we did. The first hour wasn¢t so bad, but after that I was pretty soaked and my feet were wet. Wet feet are the worst. Scout Franky and I hiked sixteen miles straight without taking a break. We are now in the Shenandoahs. In the park, there are little restaurant/gift stores along the way. They are called waysides. We got there and I bought a grilled cheese and French fires and hot chocolate. I¢ll eat anything except meat these days, I¢m so desperate for calories. Franky and I were not planning on zeroing with scout, but when Frodo pulled up and we were wet and cold, we decided to go with them.The Shenandoah's are really nice. I¢m excited for my next five days hiking in the park. We ran into a group of southbound flip floppers at the wayside. Haven¢t seen any thru-hikers in quite awhile so they were a nice surprise. I¢m now dry and in a nice home. :)
Date: 2017-08-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: clear sky

Today has been one of my favorite days on trail so far. Weather was awesome, trail was nice, I got some views, and I was slackpacking today. I saw my first black bear on trail! Then I saw another one a little later with Franky. Scout still hasn¢t seen one. I also got really close to several deer today and I saw ponies! To top off the day, Franky and I stopped by a resort where we ate French friends and I had a piece of blackberry ice cream pie. So yummy! I also have exciting news that is happening right as we get out of Shenandoah. Well maybe not so exciting for you, but Franky and I are pretty excited!I¢m camped at a shelter where there is a group of Washington and Lee kids on a freshmen orientation trip. I chatted with them for awhile. I am loving the Shenandoah's! Definitely add this to places to visit if you haven¢t already. So stoked I saw two little black bear today!
Date: 2017-09-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: fog

I planned to wake up early today, but that didn¢t happen. Franky and I left around 7:30. It¢s getting light really late, it¢s hard to wake up before 7. I had plans to meet Frodo at a lodge for breakfast and Franky hiked on. I didn¢t see him the rest of the day which as odd for me. Well, I saw him once I got to the shelter. Sometimes we get on each others nerves hiking together all the time¢¦quite often actually. I had a nice waffle chocolate chip breakfast and then hiked with scout for awhile after breakfast. I spotted his first black bear encounter for him! Then we saw another not long after. It¢s cold today. I hiked in my fleece and rain jacket all day. It started raining around noon and never really stopped. There is a lot of rain in the forecast as well. I¢m wearing all my layers right now and I¢m chilly.I saw a little bobcat today! That was cool. I was excited to get to the shelter and talk to Franky about my day. I¢ve snacked and drank water and I¢m ready to snuggle down tonight. I hope it warms up soon. Two other ladies section hiking in the shelter with us tonight.
Date: 2017-09-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: clear sky

Ugh¢¦Barf as my old hiking buddy Buck would say, rain all day. One light to the day is that Frodo gave me an umbrella to hike with today! This worked pretty great¢¦except for when the wind got really bad. The best part about having an umbrella is that when I have to pee in the middle of the night, I can just pop open the umbrella and run out instead of messing with rain gear.I listened to my audiobook for most of the day while hiking, it makes time and climbs go by quickly. Frodo offered Franky and I a dry place to sleep tonight in a hotel room¢¦ so of course we took her up on it! Frodo has been such an angel to us. I¢m nice and dry with a full belly and room full of great people. I¢m getting pretty close to my college stomping grounds and I spent a long time tonight planning logistics for meeting up with friends. Logistics are hard. I plan to not spend too much time in the area, I don¢t want to lose my hiking momentum and I am getting excited to finish¢¦I still have a ways to go though.
Date: 2017-09-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: few clouds

The miles flew by today. Frodo got us up around 6 am, and by 7 we were on the trail. Easy trail today and nice weather. No rain Franky and I are stealthing about 2 miles north of Waynesboro VA. I feel pretty strong these days. We crossed so many day hikers today. I love when they find out I¢m a thru-hiker and their response is, ¢But you look so fresh and clean!¢ I always take that as a compliment. It¢s amazing how clear my skin is when compared to my diet and hygiene in the woods. My body is taking care of itself, and that is pretty cool.I love the cooler temperatures these days. It feels so good to hike in my fleece without sweating. Tomorrow I have a surprise for you guys!I¢ve had such a nice evening, I am very content at my current state of being.
Date: 2017-09-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: broken clouds

Franky and I got ourselves rolling this morning and walked two miles to Waynesboro, where, here¢s the surprise, we met Buck! Buck as been off trail for almost a month and he finally got his ducks in a row and jumped back on with Franky and I. He will have to go back and finish the section he missed after springer.I love Buck, but this means it¢s back to me feeling like a little sister as I hike behind the boys, never fast enough to keep up with them.Today we hiked Humpback mountain which was pretty long, but not too steep. At the first view, I looked across and could see wintergreen, a ski resort where I have been to multiple times, across on the other mountain side. I am in familiar territory and it feels great. We finished our hike around 5 pm at Reeds gap where Frodo picked us up and took us to Devils Backbone, a brewery, a few miles away. This place is pretty sweet. They let hikers camp on their property. To make the day better, my friend from college, Katie, and her boyfriend came to meet me for dinner. Scout, Frodo, Not a Moos, and Aloha were also there. Aloha is another south bounder that has been hiking with us lately! ¢¦I¢m always surrounded by guys and have been missing girls. It was a big hiker dinner. I had so much fun. I¢m looking forward to seeing more friends in the next 100 miles.
Date: 2017-09-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.0

Today is my 3 month trailiversary! Woke up at Devil's Backbone [The brewery ??? haha should've gone to Bold rock ;D]. They offer a hiker breakfast for only $5. It was eggs, fruit, toast, orange juice, coffee, and meat for the meat eaters. Such a good deal. Then they gave the four of us a ride back to the trailhead and gave us free hats! They have it going on there, let me tell you.Today was a hard 16 miles, but it didn¢t really feed hard. At the footbridge we crossed today, a friend of mine left some trail magic for me hidden under the bridge! So thoughtful. I was really excited to find it. We did the three ridges today and the priest. The priest is a really big climb. It was rolling thunder as I started the climb, and a mile in, it started down pouring with lightning and the works. I felt powerful as I scaled the five mile climb. I¢m now cozy in the priest shelter with friends and a full belly. We are having fun looking through the ¢confessions log,¢ hikers are supposed to confess their hiker sins here. Pretty good stuff! You¢ll have to take a trip up here if you ever want to know my trail confession.
Date: 2017-09-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rain all day. I hiked most of the day with Aloha which was kind of nice since I¢m usually hike hiking with Franky. I stopped eight miles in at a shelter and ate, then I powered out fourteen miles without taking a break. A lot of what I hiked today was familiar, which was pretty cool.After walking a long long long time in the cold rain, we came to long mountain wayside, a parking lot that I have driven to many a times. Here, franky Buck and Aloha and me waited for my good old friend Joe Malloy to come and pick us up. He has a little house that he uses for storage where he drove us for the night to stay dry. This house is funny! Pretty good sized with lots of beds. No hot water though sadly :/ but there is a really really old dryer that we are using to dry our stinky clothes. I hate to say this¢¦but we are stinking the place up with our gear. Sorry Joe! It¢s so nice to have a dry place to stay. It¢s nice to be back in my stomping grounds. Joe brought us pizza for dinner which we devoured pretty quickly. Thanks Joe!Oh, I also saw two baby bear cubs today!
Date: 2017-09-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today, I¢d say, has been one of my favorite days on trail. Joe picked us all up around 7:30 am and took us back to the trailhead. I have hiked everything that I hiked today previously, and it¢s some of the best trail on the AT in my opinion. Bluff mountain was a big climb, but a nice climb. I remember taking seven days on a backpacking trip three years ago to hike what I just did in a day.The boys found a stray dog earlier in the day and they hiked with the thing all the way into Glasgow. From there, the Sheriff came and got him. He was a pretty cool dog, though, we all enjoyed hiking with him.To top off my amazingly perfect hiking day, I got picked up at the James River footbridge by Tasha. Tasha hiked the trail in 2004 and she is a great friend / role model of mine. I got to meet her 12 week old baby boy for the first time. We had a big healthy dinner where I put down some serious calories. I am so happy to be somewhere familiar. I¢m looking forward to sleeping in a bed that I have slept in before. I love this family so much.
Date: 2017-09-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

I woke up in such a luxery wrapped in the quilt of the bed. I heard little indie waking up her parents as I lyaed around for another hour or so. This is, in a way, the closest thing to my own bed that I have. My parents just sold their house and I no longer live at college, so the trail truly is my home these days. When I need to put down an address, I usually look dumbfounded for a minute, contemplating which friend¢s address I should use this time.Breakfast is waiting for me when I make my way to the kitchen. They have so much going on in their lives, and they are still catering to me. I should be doing everything I can to help them out, but I¢m not. I¢m soaking it all in, a little overwhelmed. My life is so simple these days, it¢s easy to get overwhelmed. All I really need to do is walk. Eventually we get the babies ready and Tasha and I head out. She drops me off at the trail after dropping off her daughter at daycare. I feel like crying as I head to the trail, but I don¢t. I¢m so happy to have spent time with Tasha, and upset because we forgot to get a picture with me and baby Van before heading out.Since I didn¢t start hiking with the boys today, I spent most of the day hiking alone, and that was quite nice. I really needed time to just be in my head. The weather was perfect and the trail was nice. Most of the day was spent climbing uphill. I took the day really slow and enjoyed taking my time. I fell good, really good, and I¢m looking forward to taking a day off with my besty, Jessi, in a few days. It¢s been a good day. At the very top of the climb, just past the tower thing, there was a short side trail to an amazing view. I took it and hung out with two day hikers. They sent me on my way with a bag of cherry tomatoes that were home grown and I meant to share them with the boys tonight¢¦but I ate them all in less than a few minutes. Oh my gosh they were so amazing.
Date: 2017-09-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Franky and I woke up this morning and raced each other to the privy. I won. Buck and Aloha laughed at our weirdness. The weather and trail has been absolutely amazing. Virginia is slowly winning over top spot over Vermont as far as my favorite state on the trail. Halfway into our hiking day Buck, Franky, Aloha, and I stopped into a campground just a bit off trail. I had a grilled cheese and milkshake and more junk food that I don¢t want to admit to. I can eat so much shit and it doesn¢t make any difference to my body. The second half of my hiking day was just as great as the first half. I feel like I can walk forever and never need to stop. My body is a machine. I feel incredibly strong¢¦at least my legs, upper body not so much [Welcome to my life Briana]. It feels like I have very few miles left 740-ish to springer which means 600 for me. That seems like nothing. You know what¢s amazing about the fall? No bugs! Life is really good right now.
Date: 2017-09-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 19.0

So I did not do this blog when I was supposed to, and three days later I don¢t remember anything from this day! My memory is so terrible. I¢m looking at the guidebook now to refresh my memory. Yeah, this was just a really unmemorable day haha! I headed out of the shelter listening to my audiobook in the morning. The trail passed the Blue Ridge parkway several times. We were planning to stay in Trouville VA, but then realized that the free camping advertised in our guidebooks wasn¢t really a thing, so exhausted and ready for a zero day with still a day to go before our zero day, we decided to all split a cheap hotel room in Daleville. This was just another day on the trail. Probably my most unmemorable day so far. Oh well.
Date: 2017-09-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 20.0

Today has been awesome. The boys and I had a lazy morning in the hotel room topped off with a lame continental breakfast. Eventually we started our hike for the day. This is such a good section of trail to hike, in between Daleville and Catawba. We hit Tinker Cliffs and MacAfee¢s Knob all today. It was amazing. Today has been cold, I ended the day in all of my layers. We hit MacAfee¢s Knob at the end of the day on a Monday right before a big hurricane warning, so we got it mostly to ourselves which was nice. This place can be completely packed with hikers. As a thru-hiker, hitting a cool spot to find it flooding with day hikers is kind of annoying. We took our pictures and reminisced on how far we have come and how much we have left. Today is a special day because once we got down to the parking lot, my friend, Jessi, came to pick us up. All of my belongings are stored at her house, so it was strange to be reunited with my things. I put on clothes that I have not been carrying on my back for a month, and that was a bit strange, I feel as though I would just the same wear my backpacking clothes. I got kind of overwhelmed trying to go through everything. Tomorrow I need to get my next foot resupplies organized for her and switch out my gear for the rest of the trip and all of that jazz. Overall it¢s so nice to recoup at Jessi¢s house. I¢ve been looking forward to this.
Date: 2017-09-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Zero day! Also day 100! Yesterday I started to feel under the weather, and that has continued today sadly. I feel like I get sick so easily. I¢ve been going through everything, organizing for the rest of my trip, and I also typed up 20 days worth of blogs to help my friend, Chelsea out, who has been behind with it, so hopefully this will help catch it up! [I am now caught up with every journal entry I have in my possession, hah! Until I get the next bunch....(9/29)] I¢m wearing my favorite green pants and a sweater. I feel like I¢m in a completely different life right now than trail life. I¢m glad that Buck and Franky came with me to zero because without them, I would truly feel completely detached from the trail. I¢m not done yet, though, I still have a good month left. That being said, I¢m excited to get back into real life. I don¢t know, it¢s a catch either way. I¢ll miss the trail as soon as it¢s over, I¢m sure. I¢ve done so much moving around and changing throughout my life, readjusting is something I¢ve become quite good at, so I don¢t think post trail depression will be that bad. Guys, I still have so many packaged beans left from Santa Fe Bean Co. It¢s kind of insane. I¢m going to start carrying my stove again now that it is getting cold. I also have added my base layers back into my pack. Thank you Frodo and Mom and the Douglas family for the packages to help on the rest of my trip.Jessi just got back home, so time to do fun things and enjoy my day off! I love getting messages from you guys, so feel free to sign the guestbook!