morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-15
From: Cosby Knob

To: Roaring Fork
Miles today: 25.8
Weather: light rain

Day 15I was suppose to be at the Groundhog Creek Shelter but I was feeling good and pushed on and ended the day at Roan Fork Shelter. I took some pics of the sunrise at the Cosby Knob Shelter. I thought I would be at the shelter by myself for the first time but at the last minute of the day a couple from MI came in. 8:18 Had to stop and readjust the pack. I am an early riser and I wanted to be as quite as possible for the couple that were still sleeping next to me. I hadn't put things in the proper place and it was not feeling right. Instead of bearing with the discomfort it's best to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. 9:54 Sun is popping out so I had to stop and take the long johns off. Also started thinking about having the family visit me at Damascus.10:36 Davenport Gap while I was looking at my book a horseback group passed by me. While looking at the book I noticed that the Standing Bear Hostel is coming up and it's only a tenth of a mile off the trail. 11:36 Hit the I40 Stopped by the Standing Bear and purchased a couple Mt Dews and talked to Dart Man from CT who has hiked the trail multiple times and is just out enjoying himself. While I was thinking about leaving it started to rain and no one could believe I was willing to take off in the rain. The old saying goes no rain no Maine. The rain is really coming down so I have a decision. I could stay at the Groundhog Creek Shelter and take pics of Maxpatch with a sunrise or go for the miles. I went for the miles as you well know if you read the destination for the day. While I was at Roan I found out that Atlanta got hit my a tornado today and it took out the windows at the CNN building in downtown ATL. Max patch was very calm as I was approaching the bald but as soon as I got up on Max I lost most of my visibility. I could see from one post to the next which is a good thing because I have heard stories of people that couldn't see the next post that marks the trail on the bald. The wind was blowing pretty bad. So bad that my pack cover blew off my pack but luckily I had one hip belt through the string that goes around the edge of the cover. I did take off my long johns during the day and I got lazy and just put them between the cover and the pack. I had to chase down my long johns before they blew too far. 8:05 Roan Fork Shelter where I met Melty and Banjo for the first time.
Date: 2008-03-16
From: Roaring Fork

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

As you can See my itinerary for the last couple days didn't last the first day. I had made it to Roan Fork instead of Groundhog Creek so that allowed me to reach Hot Springs.Weather 33 when I got up (Banjo had a thermometer) Everything is soaking wet from yesterdays rain storm. Grandma's 90th Birthday party is today and I need to call between 1-3. 11:15 made it to Walnut Mtn Shelter and while I was there it started to hail. So I decided to put on a few more layers to prevent hypothermia. What I thought was hail was something really bizzare. What I saw was ice that was paper thin and was clinging onto branches horizontally. When I looked up I noticed that EVERY tree was covered with the stuff. (Later I asked if others had that experience and no one had seen the ice form like that on the trees) I will have to post the pic of that for this day. Having some hip issues lately so I have been trying to find out of if the problem is with the pack, weight loss, or the foam pad. I am contemplating getting an air mattress. (Bought an air mattress in Waynesboro VA and that resolved the issue)Made it to Hot Springs and stayed at the SunnyBank Inn with Elmer and one other guy that was nursing a sore knee or ankle. Elmer wasn't sure and I never got a chance to talk to the guy. I went down to the laundry mat and talked to some locals that were very friendly. Then ordered up a pizza and 2 liter of Dew. Elmers had a shower that was heaven. One thing that I love is a HOT shower and Elmer sure did supply that for me.
Date: 2008-03-17
From: Hot Springs

To: Just short Little Laurel
Miles today: 19.6

Met Virginia Slim on the way out of Hot Springs. I was hoping to run into Virginia Slim on the trail and by chance he was crossing the road while I was hiking out of town. I'm not sure how many people I passed while they or I went into towns. Something that I thought I should update you on is my feet. Every morning my feet feel awful until I get my shoes on, I don't wear camp shoes, first thing I do is put the shoes on when I get up. Walking on bare feet just sends chills up my spine. (Still does today...one week after being off the trail).Noticed today that I lost my dog tag Johnna gave me that said "May every step strengthen you" I also seemed to have lost my liner socks during laundry yesterday. (I never used liners after that day)Found out the digital voice recorder will record up to 130 hrs but you can only have 99 sessions and I used up my 99 and won't be getting a new DVR for awhile.As usual the climb out of a town is brutal and Hot Springs was no different. It was nice to have a river walk early in the morning the river was very wide and had lots of water rushing by.
Date: 2008-03-18
From: Just short Little Laurel

To: Hogback Shelter
Miles today: 21.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Could have made it to Erwin but I decided to stay since I didn't know how the terrain was for the 8 miles to get there. Couple slept in a MSR tent, Gary, and another guy. Then someone else rolled in during the night and another guy with a dog rolled in at some point because I passed him in the morning. He had moved on down the trail a little ways after getting water. Have a written copy of the journal but it's AWOL at the moment.
Date: 2008-03-20
To: Trailfoot
Miles today: 0.0

Hi, I'm sitting in Erwin TN waiting for my camera battery to charge. The trip has been AWESOME. I have met a lot of people along the way and a lot that I skipped over and didn't have the pleasure to meet. Yesterday was a rainy day and then got into the low 30's last night in the mountains. So I made it to a hostel this morning to do laundry and get a HOT shower. Now I'm off to the mountains once again. Once I hit Damascus I should have a new camera card and digital voice recorder to swap out so Johnna can keep going with the journals.Thanks again honey for doing a wonderful job not only on the journals but on the home front while I'm away. XOXOXOXO
Date: 2008-03-20
To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Hi all,Here in Erwin TN. Stopped in to get food, shower, laundry, and eat AYCE at a pizza joint for 5 bucks. I'm full now. Things are pretty good out here. Highs and lows every day. Not only on the mountains but the emotions as well. Some times you just want to be home with the family and other times you know you need to accomplish this goal at hand. I just want to say thank you to those that are praying for me. I sure feel the prayers and God helping me along the trail. The other day I did 5 miles in 1hr and 20 minutes .... only by the Grace of God did that happen. I'll let you do the math on how fast I was going.I should be in Damascus VA in by Tuesday. Depends on how the terrain is and how the body is doing. I've been averaging 20's for some time now.Love Trailfoot
Date: 2008-03-20
From: No Business

To: Unaka
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Had an issue getting going in the morning. I had been following the trail next to a barbed wire fence on and off throughout the day. When I left the shelter I thought I turned the correct direction but started second guessing myself because the fence was on the left instead of the right like it was all day yesterday. I continued to hike because I had a good feeling I was headed in the right direction. In a little while I finally ran into a highway (TN395)and knew I was headed in the right direction because I didn't pass the highway yesterday.Erwin today. Ran into Uncle Johnny's and did laundry, showered, and paid for a trip to town for grocery. When I first got there I charged the battery for the camera since that will take the longest. I met Melty and Banjo at the hostel. They went to town with me and we put a serious hurt on the all you can eat pizza. I believe we must of finished off 5-7 pizzas while we were there. I'm not sure how many Mt Dews I had. Melty and Banjo had yellow blazed to pass me. Yellow blazing is when you get in a car and drive up the trail rather than hiking. It was a cold day with some snow flurries. I walked with the balaclava on today and the long johns. It should be sunny for the next few days. Because of the delay in Erwin I was unable to get to a shelter so I hammocked up on Unaka Mtn where the Mtn was full of snow. I hiked until dark and then some. I headlamped for the first time on the trip. I mainly used hiker foot prints in the snow as my guide but I would come to patches where the snow melted and it was tough following the trail so I just decided that it was time to put the hammock up. I called Johnna when I got the hammock up and actually got reception and I talked to her as I put the food bag up and put the pack under the hammock. Then I crawled into the hammock and layed there for a minute or two when SNAP. One end of the hammock let go and I hit the ground. I got out of the hammock to find that the tree I chose had 3 trunks to it and I chose the closest trunk and didn't notice that it was rotten and only about 5 feet long. I untied the rope and retied it to one of the other 2 sections making sure it was alive and then went to bed.*** Spot I would return to see is Beauty Spot mile 350.4 near USFS 230 also TN 395, NC 197)
Date: 2008-03-21
From: Unaka

To: Overmountain
Miles today: 24.4
Weather: broken clouds

Started the day behind the 8 ball since I didn't make it to the Cherry Gap shelter so I had just under 3 miles to make up. Rached Cherry Gap Shelter at 8:15am and had lunch at Clyde Smith Shelter at 12:39 and had some huge climbs today and least of them was Roan. If I remember correctly it took me three or 4 hours to get up and over Roan Mtn. It took everything I had to get that beast done. I thought on many occasions I had reached the summit. Then I would see that I had more to climb. Finally I started to reach the top to find ICE. Thats right the trail became an ice rink. At first it wasn't too bad finding foot holds but as I climbed to the top the ice got thicker and covered a lot of the rocks that you could normally use as holds. The trecking poles were life savors today for sure. Not only to stop me from slipping and falling but for digging the points into the ice for holds. Finally I reached the top to find that going down was going to be more fun than the trip up. The top part of the mtn was icy on the way down too. I fell a few times during the decent but nothing to severe. I am just happy that I have enough time to get down the mtn rather than staying ontop of the mtn at the Roan High Knob Shelter. (I thought it was a 3 sided shelter but later I would find out it was a 4 sided shelter)I proceeded down the mountain and passed a couple of day hikers a father and son team with their dog. Now I came across the Stan Murray Shelter and as I presumed there wasn't a sole in the shelter. The reason I thought it would be empty is because the Overmountain shelter was only 1.7 miles away and is an old barn that hikers are allowed to use. I decided to hike the 1.7 miles even though I was spent. I told myself it was just "over the mountain" right? Well it was over one mountain and then another. I finally reached the shelter just before dark. When I got there the shelter was pretty full. There were a bunch of college kids drinking and then 3 other hikers. Of the 3 hikers there was a couple that had a daughter who hiked the trail a few yrs ago and they like to come out and do trail magic. So he insisted on making me some pizza on his stove and who am I to stop him. I'm a hungry thruhiker!! He made me 2 pizzas and then I hit the hay. No there wasn't any hay in the barn just my sleeping bag. The barn was quite drafty but I stayed very warm.
Date: 2008-03-22
From: Overmountain

To: Stream just past Mountanineer Shelter
Miles today: 20.2

Got a great breakfast of eggs and ham. No the eggs weren't green.? Having a breakfast like that is very helpful on getting going but I also paid a price for that great breakfast. I didn't get started until 8am and made it to the first shelter for the day at 1:12. That shelter was the Apple House Shelter.While I was hiking I came across a lady ahead of me so I decided to stop and take a snack break. When I got back on the trail I noticed that the lady in front of me changed clothing and pack. There must be 2 of them. As I got closer and closer I started banging my poles to alert her of my presence. I don't think she was picking up the noise from the poles so I decided to say something and she screamed. The scream sounded like I just raped her. Her hiking party stopped abruptly and turned to see what had happened to her when they saw me. I apologized to them all, not that I did anything wrong. I walked with them a little while to find that one lady had hiked the AT a couple years ago and decided that she wanted to return for a week trip to get away from life in Canada. I ended up passing them and headed to the Mountaineer Shelter. Bob Peoples did a fine job with this shelter. It has 3 levels to it and the loft (third level) was a mistake. legend has it that a lady slept in the 3rd loft one night and told Bob that was a great idea. Bob didn't plan on a 3rd loft it was just a place he had thrown some extra boards. He went out there with a few more boards and created the 3rd loft where 2 people can stay. While I was at the shelter there were 2 young men that were staying in the 3rd loft and I came in to eat and then the Canadians took over the 2nd level and one lady was barking some fierce orders to her friends so I decided right then and there it was time to roll on out and I wished the young men luck with that party. I then proceeded down the trail to camp by a stream. Sure wish I had stayed at such a nice shelter it would have been a better night sleep but I didn't care of the company.
Date: 2008-03-23
From: Stream past Mountaineer Shelter

To: Just short of Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 30.3
Weather: broken clouds

Today is Steve's biggest day yet. He hiked 30.3 miles today. He pitched his hammock just short of the shelter and has about 32 miles to go to get to Damascus, VA. He plans on getting almost to Damascus tomorrow night and hike into town on Tues. morning. He is going to take a break, pick up his package, get supplies and check on his shoes (not holding up to so well).Sorry I am not keeping up on the Journals like I should. I don't know who has it worse. Steve hiking all these miles every day or me trying to hold down the fort here at home. I will try to keep a better handle on the journals and still need to update the previous journals so you can all know what Steve's been doing all this time.Talk to you soon, Johnna (trailfoot's wife)Trailfoot here just updating what happened that day. Pretty uneventful day but one thing to note was I passed the Watauga Lake where I saw a van that looked like it might be doing some trail magic. I walked passed the van to find the trail to have to walk back to find the trail right behind the van. I talked to the people in the van and they asked if I had seen a guy by the name of Algood and I said no I hadn't. Turned out that Algood stayed at the Kincora Hostel that night. I mentioned that I hadn't seen anyone for some time and that they will be waiting a while for him to show up. I had to hike around the Watauga Lake and there were a few people playing on the beach on the other side of the lake near where the van was parked. The guide book mentions the Watauga dam and if I remember correctly that was a pretty crazy time for me. It was getting late in the evening and I had to change my cloths. As I was pulling up my shorts a couple came down and around the mountain rd. Perfect timing! Little did I know that I had a pretty good road walk up and around the mountain and then into the woods. I had about 6 miles to go to reach the Vanderventer Shelter. I pushed as far as I could and ended up hammocking just short of the shelter.
Date: 2008-03-24
From: Just short of Vandeventer Shelter

To: Damascus VA
Miles today: 32.7
Weather: light rain

Biggest day yet mileage wise at 32.7 WOW!!!! Today I passed 4 shelters. Might be the most I passed in one day if not I tied the record. I passed Iron Mtn, Double Springs Abingdon Gap, and one that isn't in the companion.Highlight of the day is I met Spence and Hurricane at the shelter that isn't in the companion. The reason its not listed is because the thing was built in the 40's maybe? The opening was so small that I had to bend way over to get into it. Anyway when I rolled up on the shelter Spence and Hurricane were finishing up eating and said they needed to head for water just up the trail. I eat fast and tried to catch up. When I started hiking I noticed another shelter, Abingdon Gap Shelter, and got confused for a moment. I saw some people in the shelter for the evening as they weren't ready to hike the 10 miles to town as it was 4:03 in the evening. I pushed on to catch the boys. I was hiking fast for some time and didn't catch up to them. I wondered if they pulled a trick on me and stayed at the shelter. I continued to push on when it started to snow a little and then a lot. The snow was sticking to the ground and I wasn't seeing their foot prints int he snow so I assumed they did stay at the shelter. I pushed on faster to get to town since it was turning cold and nasty out. I reached Damascus at 7:30-8:00pm and went to Sicily's the Italian restaurant where I met Felton and Liquid. Later Hurricane and Spence rolled in and they know Liquid and Felton a.k.a. TransFat. They all stayed at The Place and I stayed at Dave's Place which is Run by Mt Rogers Outfitters. I didn't check in but I found a room and a warm shower. There was a man by the name of tent shaker there and was moving on in the morning.
Date: 2008-03-25
From: Damascus VA

To: Damascus VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Second 0 Day on the trail. (Found out Brer Rabbit didn't take his first 0 until RPH shelter in NY) First thing in the morning I went over to the Mt Rogers Outfitters and got fit for a pair of shoes. First pair since the Keens which I would never buy again. Jeff and I talked about everything under the sun as I took 1.5 hours to get a pair of shoes. I was the only customer in the store. After trying on the pair of Montrails and walking around the store in them for 30-45 minutes I decided I wanted to purchase them. By then Spence and Liquid arrived to do a little shopping of their own. Spence had a backpack issue that needed to be resolved. Spence had a Gregory pack that was suppose to be shipped to the outfitters but Jeff never received the package. Spence spent the day talking to Gregory to find that they had a note to ship the pack in 2 weeks rather than have the pack there in 2 weeks. They shipped the pack out that day and it would arrive in 2 days. Spence had to decide what he wanted to do.Time started to fly by and I looked at the watch to notice it was lunch time. I asked Jeff where a good burger place was and he mentioned it was 2 miles down the road. I got distracted with Spence and liquid when Jeff came up and handed me the keys to his van and said he wanted a burger and fries when we went for lunch. The boys had some shopping to do so I took the van and did laundry. While there I read that a local guy allows hikers and bikers to use his phone that he has on his front porch. The boys came and got me at the laundry mat and we went to get lunch. We had a great time getting to know one another over lunch. Then I found out that Jeff gave the boys $5 for lunch and I wouldn't stand for that. I gave Jeff his $5 back with his burger and fries.Later that night Liquid used the free phone at The only wanders place and the only wanderer told him he was invited for chicken dinner. We all went over for dinner and he had enough to feed us all and then some. I also used the phone to call Johnna since the cell coverage in Damascus has a lot to be desired.(Liquid bought a pair of Lafuma shoes that lasted a long time for running shoes.)
Date: 2008-03-26
From: Damascus VA

To: Lost Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Weather upper 40's-50 partly cloudyWhile I was in Damascus I stopped by a Hostel thinking the boys were staying there but they weren't. While I was there I ran into the owner and she mentioned that there is a father son team that stayed with her from Grand Rapids. She mentioned that I should be able to see them in the next couple days. Started the day just before 8 and had to hike across the bridge that was under construction and then head down the road to the creeper trail. You can take an easy walk on the creeper trail and bypass a few rough miles on the AT if you want to blue blaze. That is not on my agenda as I came to walk the AT. As I was hiking down the trail I ran into two guys and asked if his name was Steve and he was shocked that I knew his name. I introduced myself and how I knew him. We ended up walking together for a few hours and chatting about life. They were done hiking for the day at 2:43 when we got to the Lost Mtn Shelter. They did their best to get me to stop and hang out with them but I really didn't want to stop 5 miles short of my goal of hitting 20 mile days. My next shelter was to be Thomas Knob at 12.2 miles further. I decided to have lunch at the shelter and while I was eating more and more people started showing up and Steve kept hitting me up to stay the night. I started really contemplating on staying when I realized that Liquid and TransFat would be staying here tonight. So I hung out and sure enough Liquid and Felton (TransFat) showed up and I ended up staying the night. Met Lazer Chuck for the first time at this shelter. He is a steady hiker and will often hike from sun-up to sun-down and will camp out instead of sleeping in shelters.
Date: 2008-03-27
From: Lost Mtn Shelter

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 23.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Best day on trail!!!!!! Hit the Grayson Highlands.TransFat, Jordan, and myself headed out and caught up with Laser Chuck in the morning and had lunch with him at VA 600, Elk Garden, where we all made some phone calls. Then we hiked on for 10 miles when we hit the Grayson Highlands. The first bald that I hit on the trail that was really good weather. It was probably 50 with 15-20 MPH winds that cooled things off a little, but there isn't any rain or snow so it was absolutely gorgeous. Definitely a place to revisit some day. The four of us ended up breaking into two teams. Jordan and myself hiked together and TransFat and Chuck hiked together. Hiking over the balds was just breath taking I don't have the words to describe how AWESOME this day was. It was nice to hike with someone else to enjoy the experience with as well as soaking in the fresh air, views, peace and quiet, and the sun. Did I mention that I was on a bald and it was a sunny day. Thank you Lord for such a great afternoon!Since we can't spend all our time on the Highlands we had to hike to get to the destination of Old Orchard Shelter. The Old Orchard Shelter was a little small but just roomy enough for the 3 of us. Chuck didn't make it to the shelter with us that night (and I wouldn't see him again on the trip although his name came up periodically) Ahhhhh what a day : )