morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-29
From: VA 60/Buena Vista, VA

To: Porters Field, VA
Miles today: 15.9

800 miles down.Had excellent weather today. Started hiking North at 10:15AM. Climbed 2000 feet to Bald Knob, which was not a Bald. Climbed it much more quickly than I thought I would. From there I went over Cold Mt. and and Tar Jacket Ridge, both of which were in fact Balds. Stopped at the Seeley-Woodworth Shelter a little after 4PM for water and dinner, but could barely do either because the gnats were swarming in full force. Hiked another mile after dinner to this campsite where it was not nearly as buggy. Also built a small fire here too. The smoke helps to keep the bugs away. Also here are Greenwood, Orange Dust and her dog Bee. I have been seeing them off and on since Daleville. They started the trail March 20th, the day before me, but it took until Daleville before we actually met.
Date: 2008-05-30
From: Porters Field, VA

To: Maupin Field Shelter, VA
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: few clouds

Slept well in my tent last night and woke up about 7AM. My rainfly was dry inside and out. Bonus. Started the day with a long climb up a mountain called The Priest, a 4,063 foot peak. Near the top I stopped at the shelter there for a break. All the trail register entries there were written in the form of a confession. Pretty funny. The climb down The Priest was even longer than the climb up. Went down 3000 feet in 4 1/2 miles to the Tye River where I took another break on the river rocks. It was pretty warm out so I dunked my head in the river to cool off before starting the next climb up the Three Ridges. Bearbait and I were originally thinking of stopping for the day at the shelter on the upslope of the Three Ridges. Bearpack meanwhile wanted us to push on to the shelter on the far side of the Three Ridges. We told him we would think about it and we ended up taking a blue blazed side trail to the far shelter, which cut off about 4 miles of our hike over the Three Ridges, just to see the look on Bearpack's face when he saw us there ahead of him. We ended up getting there two hours ahead of him. It was great. Looks like tomorrow will be a long day into Waynesboro, where, finally, we will see Indiana Jones.
Date: 2008-05-31
From: Maupin Field Shelter, VA

To: Rockfish Gap, VA/Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I could not fall asleep until midnight last night. It was warm inside my tent and I went to bed lying on top of my sleeping bag. Woke up about 5AM and slept off and on until 6AM and finally got up and on the trail by 7:30AM. It was warm and humid even at 7:30AM. Basically I just did a long day to push into Waynesboro before the afternoon storms hit. The storms never really materialized. Once in town though Flamethrower caught up to us. Team Discovery, finally reunited. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner with Walky Talky, Dust in the Wind, Inchi and Sherlock. Flamethrower's dad is also here to hike through Shenandoah with him.
Date: 2008-06-01
From: Rockfish Gap, VA/Waynesboro, VA

To: Rockfish Gap, VA/Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero Day. It was not originally in my plans to zero here, but I am a little ahead of schedule and Bearbait and Bearpack both needed to resupply and hit the outfitters. Bearpack also wanted to zero because he would not get to zero again until meeting up with his girlfriend at Port Clinton. His schedule for getting to Port Clinton by June 22nd works out for me since I am planning on taking a day or two off in Exeter once I get there too. So I probably will not zero in Harper's Ferry now that I am zeroing here. I did laundry and light resupply this morning. I am not planning on taking a lot of food with me into Shenandoah because I can resupply in the park at various campstores and waysides, which also have grills. Also this morning I had breakfast at the epitome of the Southern country greasy spoon called Weazies. But the big excitement was finally getting to see Indiana Jones.
Date: 2008-06-02
From: Rockfish Gap, VA/Waynesboro, VA

To: Blackrock Hut, VA
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

First things first. I thought the Indiana Jones movie was a little over the top even for an Indiana Jones movie. But I still enjoyed it and will watch it again someday. Today I entered Shenandoah National Park, the land of blackberry milkshakes, tame deer and numerous black bears. I'm loving it already. The terrain and grades are pretty nice so far. No huge elevation changes. It was warm but nice out today too. The bugs were not bad until later in the afternoon. Tomorrow I'll come to my first wayside where I can eat and resupply. The trail pretty much runs parallel to Skyline Drive through the park and we must have criss-crossed it half a dozen times today. South of the park SD is the BRP.Went over Bears Den, Calf and Turk Mts. Here at the campsite, the park provides bear poles to hang your food from. Basically all it is is a tall metal pole with hooks at the top and another metal pole you use to lift up your food bag and hang from the bear pole out of the bear's reach. And because the pole is metal the bears cannot get a grip to climb up to the bags.
Date: 2008-06-03
From: Blackrock Hut, VA

To: Hightop Hut, VA
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: overcast clouds

One month in Virginia today. Second day in Shenandoah.Stopped at the first campstore and wayside today. Had a good second breakfast of donuts and soda at the campstore and then lunch at the wayside grill, where I had one of the park's famous blackberry milkshakes. So good. I plan on having as many as possible before leaving the park. Also saw two babies today - a fawn and a cub. Saw the fawn with its mother fairly early this morning. It was about the size of a small to medium sized dog and had a lot of little white spots on its back. It must have been fairly new born because when it walked its movements were all herky jerky as if someone had marionette strings attached to its legs. Saw some other deer today as well, all of which had little fear of me. Saw the bear cub a little later in the afternoon when we were doing some road walking on Skyline Drive. It was off to the left in the woods about 50 yards. We did not see a mother so we did not linger long. On second thought it may have been a yearling cub. Hard to tell with the sizes. Either way it was my second bear sighting of my hike.Being in Shenandoah is like being on a vacation from the AT.
Date: 2008-06-04
From: Hightop Hut, VA

To: Big Meadows Lodge, VA
Miles today: 20.4

900 miles down. Third day in Shenandoah. It stormed most of last night but I stayed dry in the shelter. I did not sleep very well though. It was my first night in a shelter in over a week, it was warm, and there were ants in the corner of the shelter at my feet and a mouse running around on the floor below my head. I slept lightly and kept waking up from dreams of ants and mice crawling on me. I was awake and on the trail by 7:15AM. The rain had stopped but everything was still wet and it became humid as the sun rose higher. Climbed Hightop Mt. and had lunch at the Lewis Mt. Campstore. From there I climbed Hazeltop Mt. as dark clouds grew in the west. As I was descending it rained a bit adding to the humidity but the main thunderstorm held off until I was indoors. Also pulled a deer tick off of my arm today. My second one. I wouldn't have noticed either had they not been moving. Looked just like specks of dirt. The Lodge here was built in the 1930's. Splitting a room with Bearpack and Bearbait and having dinner with Dust in the Wind, Inchi, and Sherlock. The Lodge has a nice view over the Shenandoah Valley. During dinner the storm knocked out power and we ate by candlelight. After dinner we went downstairs to the pub to watch a bluegrass/country band, still no power so good thing they were used to playing accoustic. Also had some blackberry cobbler with blackberry ice cream. Not a bad day.
Date: 2008-06-05
From: Big Meadows Lodge, VA

To: Pass Mt. Hut, VA
Miles today: 18.8

There were still power issues in the Lodge when we got up for breakfast this morning. Had a big breakfast and a late start due to slow service. Pretty much hiked the first 8 miles on autopilot as my feet just did not want to get moving. I occasionally glanced down to my left into the Shenandoah Valley. (Just saw a bear outside my tent as I am writing this, up the hill from me and past Bearpack's tent. As Bearpack just said 'This is going to affect the quality of my sleep tonight.'). Saw a bunch of tame looking deer and a snake today (not a rattler). Got to Skyland Lodge for lunch and then did 10 more miles to this campsite. It was hot out again today and I was soaked in sweat. The past couple of days have been so humid that it has been hard to dry out completely. The result has been chafing in a very uncomfortable area. That is all I am going to say on that subject. Also after all this time I have developed blisters on my heels. I attribute it to wearing through my socks and wearing through the padding on the inside of my boot heels. Although I am enjoying Shenandoah, or the Shennies as some people call them, I am ready to be out of Virginia. I sort of wish Shenandoah had come earlier in the state. Oh yeah, I also wish for lower humidity, less bugs, and no bears running past my tent at bedtime. That would be great.
Date: 2008-06-06
From: Pass Mt. Hut, VA

To: Tom Floyd Wayside Shelter, VA
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Happy Birthday Mom!I did not sleep well last night. Every noise I heard had me awake thinking it was another bear. I was up early this morning and by 7AM it was hot and buggy. Snapped a quick picture of the 'kissing trees' in front of the shelter and was on my way to a sopping wet 7 miles to Elkwallow Wayside, the last wayside before leaving the park. Had a second breakfast at Elkwallow and resupplied, and then had lunch there as well. Also had my last blackberry milkshake there too.I had no motivation to move on from the wayside because it was so hot out. I ended up chatting to a girl named Bound who is thru-hiking, but doing so from Daleville to Katahdin and then going to Springer to Daleville. I was telling her my philosophy of not quitting the trail on a bad day and waiting for a good day and if I still wanted to quit on a good day then I would do so (at this point I was not seriously considering quitting, just explaining my thoughts on the subject). Well she said to me 'Or how about just not quitting at all.' I stopped for a moment and thought her simplicity was genius. Right on. How about just not quitting at all. My new mantra for when I am having a rough day out here.Anyways, after that I got moving and cruised the rest of the day to this shelter. I talked to my mom for her birthday when I had cell phone reception at a crossing of Skyline Drive as well as to a few other friends. When I got to this shelter I was officially out of Shenandoah. Although it says this shelter is a wayside, it has nothing in common with a wayside other than the name wayside. I decided to stay in the shelter because I did not get here until after 7PM.
Date: 2008-06-07
From: Tom Floyd Wayside Shelter, VA

To: Dick's Dome Shelter, VA
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: broken clouds

It was a big mistake sleeping in the shelter last night. It was very hot in there and it felt like there were fleas biting me, so I slept in my sleeping bag liner. It was brutally hot but I felt like I could take the heat over being eaten alive. Anyways I sweated all night and any part of me outside of the liner was fair game for the bugs. I got up and moving before 6AM just to escape. I will now tent whenever possible just to stay away from the bugs. I hiked 3 miles downhill to Rt. 522 where boyscouts offered to take me into Front Royal for breakfast. I grabbed breakfast there and then quickly hitched a ride back to the trail. It was very hot and humid all day. Highs in the lowlands were calling for triple degree weather. It had to be in the 90's up here. Stop and took a break at a shelter and drank a liter of water. Ended up at this shelter which has an interesting geometric design.Some sad news today. Bearbait got off the trail to go into Front Royal. He is thinking about getting off the trail for good as he says it is just not as fun for him as it used to be. He is going to think about it in Front Royal and meet us in Harper's Ferry in a few days with his decision. The bugs and the humidity certainly haven't been helping. I'm hoping he changes his mind and stays on the trail even if he just does parts of it. Flamethrower is also about 2 days behind now still with his dad in Shenandoah. Speaking of dads, mine is coming to visit me in Harper's Ferry, along with my sister. My mom has to work so she can't make it. Haven't seen any of them in over 2 months. It will be a nice change of pace too because my Ipod shuffle will also be waiting for me in Harper's Ferry. I'll something other than my own voice and whistling to listen to on the trail.
Date: 2008-06-08
From: Dick's Dome Shelter, VA

To: Bears Den Hostel, VA
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Slept in my tent last night. I did not even have my rainfly on all the way and did not get in my sleeping bag until after midnight. When I finally got chilly enough to use it I just got under it like a blanket rather than inside it. Only woke up a few times and generally slept pretty well. The few times I did wake up I watched some heat lighting in the sky. I got up for good at 5:30AM and was on the trail by 6:45AM. It was hot but not as humid. I hiked 9 miles to Rod Hollow Shelter by 10:15AM and took an hour break there. After I left that shelter I entered a part of the trail called the 'Roller Coaster' - a 13 mile section of trail composed of 13 rocky pointless up and downs (PUDS) with no views. It was also 90 degrees by this point too. At the start there was a sign by the trail maintainer which basically said enjoy the roller coaster and see you on the other side if you survive. Sadistic maintainer. After about the 8th PUD there is a hostel called the Bear's Den run by the ATC. Except it is like a super hostel. It used to be an old vacation mansion. For $25 I got a bunk in air conditioning, a shower, laundry, pizza, soda, and ice cream. I needed it. I drank 5 liters of water today and it still was not enough. I was feeling lightheaded by the time I reached the hostel at 5PM. I also weighed myself here and the scale says I have lost 20lbs since I started hiking. That can't be right.Tomorrow is Harper's Ferry and the 1,000 mile mark.
Date: 2008-06-09
From: Bears Den Hostel, VA

To: Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 21.9

4. 10. 1000. 264. And Halfway, psychologically speaking.4 states down. 10 to go. 1,000 miles hiked. And I am the 264th thru-hiker to come through the ATC headquarters here in Harper's Ferry this year (I was the 303rd thru-hiker to sign in an leave from Amicalola Falls).I finally left Virginia today, and entered West Virginia. Woke up at 5am and a ridgerunner who was staying at the hostel offered to take our pack contents ahead to the ATC office in Harper's Ferry. Slackpack in 90 degree weather? Um, yes please. Was on the trail by 6AM, earliest start yet. It felt relatively cool for the first few hours. Crossed a road a few miles out that was super busy with Monday morning D.C. commuter traffic. Silly drivers, don't they know there is a 2,000 mile wilderness footpath they could be walking on instead??Finished the rest of my ride on the Roller Coaster, Virginia's way of letting the door hit you in the ass on the way out of the state, and entered West Virginia. By noon Bearpack, myself and a girl thru-hiker, Forrest Gimp, who I first met way back at Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel, reached a road crossing 6 miles short of Harper's Ferry. To the left was a small bar, so we decided to celebrate having just crossed 1,000 miles by having two beers. Not the best idea in 90 degree weather when you still have 6 miles to hike. But we made it to Harper's Ferry, the psychological halfway point of the trail (the real halfway point is in Southern PA). I went into the ATC headquarters and found out I was the 264th thru-hiker to come through here since Jan. 1st. But not every thru-hiker necessarily checks in here and there are still a lot behind me. By 4PM my father and sister arrived and took me to a hotel to clean up and then to a nearby casino for a buffet dinner and slot machines. Feels pretty good to be here.
Date: 2008-06-10
From: Harper's Ferry, WV

To: US 40/Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 18.1

Woke up and drove to the post office to pick up my maildrop as well as shuttle Bearpack, Forrest Gimp and another thru-hiker named Troutbum to the PO and to the nearby store to resupply. Yes, drove. My first time driving in over two and a half months. It felt as if I was moving way too fast. At one point I noticed the speed limit was 60mph and I looked down at the speedometer and saw I was only going 40mph. Bearbait is also here in Harper's Ferry and he has decided to hike on with us and just take things one day at a time. We ended up slackpacking today because of the 90 degree weather. We got dropped off at US 40, the old National Road, in Maryland (my 6th state) and hiked back to Harper's Ferry along the crest of South Mountain. This is the first part of the AT on my thru-hike that I have previously hiked before. I was surprised at how familiar it felt to me. A strong but brief storm came through when we were at Crampton's Gap, about halfway back to Harper's Ferry. Fortunately there is a small civil war museum there that we were inside while the worst of the storm came through. We got an interesting personal talk from the site maintainer about the battle there that was part of the 1862 Antietam campaign. We went out into the rain, the first time I've welcomed rain on this hike and it felt 20 degrees cooler. Made it back to Harper's Ferry at a pretty fast pace. Also today I used my Ipod shuffle while hiking for the first time. Why did I wait 1,000 miles before hiking with music?
Date: 2008-06-11
From: US 40/Harper's Ferry, WV

To: The Free State Hostel, MD
Miles today: 13.5

Slept well in the B&B bunkhouse in the historic section of Harper's Ferry. From the balcony on the front of the building I could see the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. It was significantly cooler out this morning and less humid. Bearpack, Bearbait, Forrest Gimp, Troutbum and myself were dropped off at the trail by 9:30AM. Troutbum fell behind because his feet were giving him problems, but the rest of us hiked a few short miles to the Washington Monument. The original Washington Monument built in the early 1800's on the South Mountain ridgeline. I saw this on my hike last summer. From here we crossed I-70 on an overpass footbridge. Just before the footbridge the trail literally went right through someone's yard (by easement) where the residents had left trail magic in the form of cookies and chips sitting out by a trail register stand they erected next to the trail. We snacked and signed their register and moved on. Must be a little strange to have hikers walking through your property every day a few months out of the year. After that we climbed up to a ridgeline and followed that to this hostel. The first half of the ridgeline was pretty easy hiking, but the second part was rocky. Guess Maryland is giving us practice for when we get to PA. Even though the weather was a lot nicer today, Bearpack, Bearbait and I couldn't say no to a night in air conditioning. Plus after the last two weeks of fairly large mileage days our feet can use the rest, especially with things getting rockier.
Date: 2008-06-12
From: The Free State Hostel, MD

To: Tumbling Run Shelters, PA
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

Back to the home state. The motherland. 6 states down, 8 to go. It felt prety good getting back to PA today and knowing that I got here by walking from Georgia. I woke up in the hostel, which is one of the nicest I've been in so far, and was on the trail by 8:30AM. It was a little warmer today, but still not nearly as bad as it was. The terrain was fairly easy and non-exciting until I got to High Rock. High Rock has a good view to the north and west of the Maryland and Pennsylvania farmland. I took a break here for lunch and then descended to the park at the little town of Pen Mar, just south of the Mason Dixon Line. There is a nice pavilion there and I relaxed there until after 2PM. Went a little farther north up the trail and officially left the South and entered the North by crossing the Mason Dixon Line. 2.5 miles later, Bearpack, Bearbait, Troutbum and I walked a mile down PA 16 to a diner at the town of Blue Ridge Summit for an early dinner. After dinner we hiked another 6 miles to this shelter. Actually there are two shelters here - one says 'snorers' and the other says 'non-snorers.' Either way it is a nice night out so I have decided to tent and avoid any potential bugs. Also when I got here there were two shelter maintainers finishing up some work and they had apples and sodas for us. Trail magic on my first day back in PA. Not too shabby.** Note ** - This was the first day I met Shelter Monkey and Snake Whisperer. They had just started their flip flop thru-hike from Harpers Ferry, WV. I saw them off and on throughout PA until I took time off at Port Clinton. I saw them again in Unionville, NY and then hiked with them off and on until the Whites, whereafter I hiked with them until Katahdin.
Date: 2008-06-13
From: Tumbling Run Shelters, PA

To: Quarry Gap Shelters, PA
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Friday the 13th. The only bad luck today was one of Bearpack's trekking poles breaking. Hiked 10 miles to Route 30 by 11:30AM. North of Route 30 is Caledonia State Park, where there is a swimming pool and grill. I paid the $4 admission and spent the day sitting around the pool, having lunch and dinner there before leaving around 6PM. Hiked uphill two and a half miles to this shelter where I am going to again tent without my rainfly. This shelter and the one before are two of the nicest shelter/camping areas that I've seen in awhile, but it is a nice night out and I'd rather not risk the bugs. It was pretty warm out today so it was nice to relax by a pool all day.
Date: 2008-06-14
From: Quarry Gap Shelters, PA

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Well it ended up raining last night, starting a little after midnight. I had my rainfly half on so I jumped out and got it all the way on my tent without anything getting wet. Stayed dry all night but my rainfly was soaked, which always makes for a tricky packing up the next morning while trying to keep everything else dry.Anyways, was on the trail a little after 7AM. The big thing today was reaching the halfway point to Katahdin. Halfway there, physically speaking. From now on I'll have less miles to go to Katahdin than miles I've come from Springer. I got to Pine Grove Furnace State Park where there is a small campstore. Here is where hikers do the Half Gallon Challenge. Eating a half gallon of ice cream to celebrate hiking half of the trail. I wasn't sure if I was going to try it until I got here, but I was pretty hungry and Bearbait was planning on trying so I thought I would give it a go. I got Philadelphia Vanilla and it took me an hour and forty-five minutes to finish. I almost didn't finish. At one point I thought I was going to be sick. Probably one of the more disgusting things I've done out here. Oh yeah, I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and fries for dinner a few hours later. Ah, gluttony. Bearbait finished in about 56 minutes. Staying here tonight at the Ironmasters Hostel right on the trail in the park. It is a pre-civil war building that was part of the Underground Railroad and has a secret room where runaway slaves hid at. Tomorrow I'm planning for a long day into Boiling Springs where I hope to meet a friend for the night.