morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-11
From: seely-woodworth shelter

To: harpers creek shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

finally, today we climbed the priest. ive been hearing about this mountain for a couple weeks. all the southbounders have talked about it as being the worst. so we get there and its really not that bad, for us as northbounders. its only a thousand foot climb for us. but, it was three thousand feet straight down on the other side. so, for the south bounders it would be the worst. but weve had our share of pretty miserable terrain, especially in the past month. anyways...we wanted to hit up the free lunch at the dutch bed and breakfast in montebello so we took our time getting going this morning. it was 2.2 miles to where the shuttle would pick us up at 10:30. we got picked up just before the rain started. perfect timing. the house was beautiful and the food was just as nice! earl and lois are the nicest people. its hard to believe that they can do all that they do for people like us and still make it. so, we got on the trail around 12:30 and started up to the priest. took a small break for water at the priest shelter and headed to the top. the climb wasnt bad, but the downhill beat me to death. it was truly the never-ending downhill. at least the longest. 5 miles or so. anyways, it definitely forced me to sit down for a while to get off the feet. so i waited for the rest of the crew at the road (va56) but they never showed. a couple came down from the trail and said they were still back a ways. so, i went on to the shelter. and it was up. and up some more. then down a little! but its nice here. right on a big creek. it has a big pool in it so i got to sit and soak the feet and get washed up a bit. ate a nice dinner. chatted with the folks that were already here and waited for everyone to get here. finally about an hour and a half later they all come rollin in. so, we get settled. we have to tent again tonight. but its not so bad, cause its turning out to be a nice night. and in a tent, we get out of the bugs. the black flies are eating us alive! ! literally! so, tomorrow begins with a pretty treacherous climb from what i hear so, im goin to bed to rest up for it.
Date: 2003-05-12
From: harpers creek shelter

To: base of humpback mt
Miles today: 14.1

first bear sighting by oopu today. no threat, just saw it running away. still very cool!today, a much tougher day than expected. i expected a hard morning with the two thousand foot climb to start off, but the profile for the rest of the day looked pretty nice. not true. never believe the books or the maps! the climb this morning was hard and it did kick my butt, but it was rewarding. there was a really nice view of the priest and the range that it was in and there was a nice downhill to get to the shelter where we were eating lunch. and the shelter was nice, or it was in a nice area. lots of grassy sitting spots. and a decent stream to get water from. the only bad thing was that it was getting close to 2:00 and we still had 10 miles to do for the day. so we got started and it was pretty nice until we crossed the blue ridge pkwy. thats when the rocks really started to wear me down. my knees were killin me. for about 4 miles it was pain! we crossed the pkwy again soon after, which didnt make sense, but anyways...we got to where we thought we were gonna camp at laurel springs, but there were no places to camp. so, we kept goin up the mountain. we did start the climb to humpback mt and then we found some flat ground and just kinda made it work for a campsite. not the first time weve had to do this. and its threatening to rain so we wanted to stop to get set up before it started. so now we are here! im completely beat and completely happy to be in our tent and resting. ill be able to get some sleep if we can get rid of the ticks that keep crawlin up the tent!
Date: 2003-05-13
From: base of humpback mt

To: waynesboro va
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

this entry will be short, only because we did nothing but push to get to town today. we got up and didnt stop. got in to town around 3 and just hung out til sandi and jason, speck's friends, arrived and took us to dinner! very good! just chilled all night pretty much. looking forward to doing nothing tomorrow. zero day!
Date: 2003-05-14
From: waynesboro va

To: zero day
Miles today: 0.0

nice day! the highlights: we saw the matrix! we got jason, specks friend, to take us to staunton to see the movie. and it was awesome, as some reading this may know. its definitely gonna make for great conversation on the trail for the next couple weeks. got back around 1 in the a.m. gettin ready to head out tomorrow!
Date: 2003-05-15
From: zero day

To: calf mt shelter
Miles today: 7.0

ummm...not too fun today. it was a typical a.t. day. as soon as we got back on the trail it started storming! raining and raining. the same thing over and over. this has been the most consistent rain weve had. it started around 12 noon and here it is 8 and it hasnt let up at all. we were planning on doing 14 miles to a campsite but we are all soaked. our boots and socks are soaked and we didnt want to have to set the tent up in this rain, so we are changing our schedule so we can stay in the shelter tonight. anyways...the rain hasnt totally dampened our spirits. we are still excited to be in the shenandoah national park! its supposed to be the most beautiful part on the trail. well, maybe it will be if the forecast changes. once again, its supposed to rain for the next week! not fun. anyways...maybe things will just work out for us and it wont be that bad. but now, we are playing rook, so i gots to go.
Date: 2003-05-16
From: calf mt shelter

To: blackrock hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: light rain

cloudy, foggy, and still soaking wet! not the most pleasant way to begin a new day. it would have been bad had me and cire not have talked about the matrix all morning. i think we came up with all the questions we could have about the movie. anyways...it made the time go by really fast. before we knew it it was 12 and we had done almost 10 miles. it was nice that we were flyin! we got to the shelter at like 2:30! however, there is a big twist on this story. me and cire were ahead of everybody and we ended up passing the shelter. we got about a mile before we realized it. theres been these concrete markers all along the way marking different trails and things, but the writing that tells you what and where a certain place is on a 1 inch strap that is on the marker. well, we did not know this yet, so we just passed right by the marker that had the shelter on it. so, me and cire stop and decide to wait for a while and see if the rest come on and meet us. well, after an hour we d! ecided to head back to the shelter cause no one was coming. the bad thing was that it was up the hill we just came down and on the other side down. we ended up running in to the rest right before we got back down to the shelter. but since we had gone all that way backtracking, we werent gonna climb back up that hill so we decided to stay at the shelter. a big mess! not very fun for the end of the day. but, we are here, and thats cool. i guess we are gonna hit the restaurant thats on the trail for lunch tomorrow which is nice! and i tink we are gonna play some cards tonight which will be nice and relaxing before bed. so far the shenandoahs havent been at all what people have said about it. lots of puds and the weather hasnt been the least bit nice. so, maybe ill have to come back here on a nice weekend or something. anyways...hopefully it will turn to a sunny side!
Date: 2003-05-16
From: blackrock hut

To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.0

cloudy, foggy, and still soaking wet! not the most pleasant way to begin a new day. it would have been bad had me and cire not have talked about the matrix all morning. i think we came up with all the questions we could have about the movie. anyways...it made the time go by really fast. before we knew it it was 12 and we had done almost 10 miles. it was nice that we were flyin! we got to the shelter at like 2:30! however, there is a big twist on this story. me and cire were ahead of everybody and we ended up passing the shelter. we got about a mile before we realized it. theres been these concrete markers all along the way marking different trails and things, but the writing that tells you what and where a certain place is on a 1 inch strap that is on the marker. well, we did not know this yet, so we just passed right by the marker that had the shelter on it. so, me and cire stop and decide to wait for a while and see if the rest come on and meet us. well, after an hour we decided to head back to the shelter cause no one was coming. the bad thing was that it was up the hill we just came down and on the other side down. we ended up running in to the rest right before we got back down to the shelter. but since we had gone all that way backtracking, we werent gonna climb back up that hill so we decided to stay at the shelter. a big mess! not very fun for the end of the day. but, we are here, and thats cool. i guess we are gonna hit the restaurant thats on the trail for lunch tomorrow which is nice! and i think we are gonna play some cards tonight which will be nice and relaxing before bed. so far the shenandoahs havent been at all what people have said about it. lots of puds and the weather hasnt been the least bit nice. so, maybe ill have to come back here on a nice weekend or something. anyways...hopefully it will turn to a sunny side!
Date: 2003-05-17
From: blackrock hut

To: pinefield hut
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: light rain

very different day. we planned to hit the wayside restaurant 7 miles away. so we walked through the thickest fog i think ive ever seen. and the temperature dropped to like 40. wet and cold again! whats up with this. the restaurant was heaven! food was good, but very exspensive. we hung out there for a while. and we met this couple who were on there way to new york from d.c. the guy has just won the pulitzer prize for photographing and journaling in iraq during the war. hes accepting the award in new york. so, we were talking about the trip with them and they were seemingly intrigued that we were hiking the entire trail. so, he took our picture! how cool. we got our picture taken by a pulitzer prize winner! exciting stuff. anyways...we hiked on to the shelter here and weve ended up having to pack in so we could get more people in. i think we got 12 in tonight. theres really only room for 8 so its pretty tight. been playin some music, trying to keep everyones spirits up. its been raining for the past 7 hours. so its not been fun! its hard to be happy about being out here when its like this. but i think we are gonna make it. please stop raining!!!
Date: 2003-05-18
From: pinefield hut

To: bearfence hut
Miles today: 21.0

didnt really want to get up today. it has been raining constantly for 4 days and its finally gotten to me. the weather has beat me. im surprised its taken this long, but today stunk! we got rollin a little after 8 and didnt stop at all! except for lunch. it was so cold that i got my sleeping bag out and cooked in it so i could get warm. we met a father and daughter who are from where slickrock and speck are from. the same city i mean. very small world. anyways...they are gonna meet us for dinner when we are in ohio next week. it was kinda cool. so we pushed on 12 miles to lewis mt campground where the store is and what do ya know, it was closed. and not even that, we got there like 5 minutes before they were supposed to close (5:30) but they had already closed. so, we werent able to get a resupply tonight. we have to push on tomorrow to another store so we can resupply. i can say that the shenandoahs are just not workin out the way we wanted. its been pretty miserable. but now we are here at the shelter and im getting warm. i cant believe is below 40 degrees in the middle of may! my birthday is in 4 days and this may be the first time in my life that its been cold on my b-day. anyways...we are still hoping for a clear day! maybe tomorrow, or not. we dont really know the forecast anymore. it definitely hasnt been what we thought. so, im trying my best to keep my spirits up.
Date: 2003-05-19
From: bearfence hut

To: big meadows lodge
Miles today: 7.8

haha...tough day!!! not really. well it only took like three hours to getto the lodge. and we didnt plan on stayin there except to take showers anddo laundry. but...in the process of doing all of this we met a really coolguy named williams that worked at the lodge. he is from south africa but isworking here in the states due to $$$. the market is really bad over there.anyways...we ended up staying at the lodge, getting dinner there, and hanginout with him this evening. then we went to the party room and listened to aguy play guitar and sing. pretty dang good. then we met staci. and staci iscool! she came to the lodge looking to get away from life. theres no tv orphones and she wanted to be somewhere far away from home. and she wanted todo some hikin on the trail. we talked to her til like 2 in the a.m. verycool girl. just finishing up law school! big feat if you ask me. so...weinvite her to come hike with us tomorrow at least for a couple hours. shesays she wants to so we'll see how it goes. definitely an interesting night. glad we stayed!
Date: 2003-05-20
From: big meadows lodge

To: pass mt hut
Miles today: 18.8

i cant believe its already may 20! pretty dang awesome. interestingmorning. wake up around 7 and shower (only cause we can) and go get coffeefor me and speck (only cause we can) and when i get back with the coffee,speck decides she isnt hiking today. her hip had been hurting her the pastfew days so she wants a break. and this is huge! its not like her to nothike no matter what the circumstance! but im definiely glad that she islistening to herself, a lesson we have all learned over and over again.well...int the midst of specks situation, somehow we decided we wanted toslackpack today cause staci has a car and offered. and we were a littlehesitant due to the fact hat mostly all of the slackpacks that weve donehave turned into disasters! but yes, we did it. we loaded up stacis car withall our stuff and she would just come to a crossing this evening and meetus. and now that speck was stayin back she could help out! and they weregonna go to town and get some goodies to bring us! so we get off on the trail today, and we hiked about 4 miles and ate lunch and then staci turned back to the lodge. and from there we all pretty much booked it without stopping. well, me and cire did stop in skyland to grab a coke, but that was about it. it was a beautiful hike!finally we got to see the shenandoahs! and they are beautiful. then...theshin splints flaired up! and the last 6 miles were completely miserable!pain was the theme of this afternoon. but, i had no choice but to keepgoing. so we pushed and pushed and finally around 6:30 me and cire arrivedat the gap where we met speck and staci and they brought whoppers fromburger king! and mountain dews! and frappucinos! definitely a treat and verygood after a long, and painful day. and speck was still hurting so she isgonna take at least a half of a day off tomorrow and see how she feels afterthat. but we said goodbye to staci. she was wonderful to us! she better keepin touch! so, we push on just another mile to the shelter and what do ya know, is jammed full! and the campsites are even almost full. there were two left. and though we were disappointed not to get in the shelter, its kinda nice to be in the tent again. my second home! but i need to rest and see if my shin splintswill go away over night. usually they dont but im hopin for a miracle!
Date: 2003-05-21
From: pass mt hut

To: denton shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

the rain never quits! wake up this morning and im laying in a pool! its raining and everything was soaked. not a very pleasant thing to wake up to. so, im slightly upset and decide that i really want to get out of it. so, we get all packed up, despite the rain and everything being wet. get the phone out and hope for signal so we can possibly contact speck to get us a ride to a laundromat so we can dry out our gear. and it was a miracle! the phone worked and i got through to speck. so we decided to just go ahead and go to front royal. yes, we yellow blazed again. but we got dry! but we did get back on the trail and hiked to this shelter. the rain has of course caused mud! the trail is a slippery mess. not much fun at all. but the shelter is freakin awesome. so we are dry for the moment. and im convinced that im gonna get good rest!
Date: 2003-05-22
From: denton shelter

To: dicks dome shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

easy, easy day. since specks still hurtin a little we thought wed take the next couple days easy and do small miles. and its my birthday today so it was nice not to be pushin for more miles. we got to take our time gettin up this morning and take our time hiking. the weather still stinks but the fact that we only had 10 miles made up for it. we got to manassas gap shelter and ate lunch and...everyone had this little thing planned for my b-day. they have been carrying a little debbie cake and a box of candles since waynesboro only so they could surprise me today. the little cake was smooshed, but it was still very tasty and it was the thought that meant the most. and the candles added the extra edge on top. anyways...we headed here to the shelter and its a funny little shelter. when we saw the name dicks dome we thought that dicks dome was the mountain that the shelter was on, but...the shelter is the dome. its a small dome hut that is meant to only hold 3 maybe 4 people. but of course we fit 6! and weve hung out here most all day since we got here at 2:30, but its been nice. me and cire went and got some wood and built a fire so its nice. we always make the best of any situation. thats why i love this group!!! its been a nice afternoon, i just ate dinner which was a nice treat of mac and cheese! its just chillin out from here. tomorrow should be easy. only 9 miles. haha...
Date: 2003-05-23
From: dicks dome shelter

To: rob hollow shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

once again the rain doesnt cease. its so rediculous, the weather i mean. we havent had a nice day for so long. and at this point it will take more than one nice day to make up for al the bad ones. but...today we broke it up with a trip to a bbq restaurant! twas a nice treat, especially with the rain. and with our vacation just around the corner, i think i can hold out in the weather. the hike today was a breeze. we pushed out 9 miles in probably 3 and a half hours total, which was nice. we got here at the shelter at 3 and was able to get out of the rain to dry off with plenty of time to get everything done and still have time to make a fire and enjoy it! the fire was tricky due to the rain, but we did get it going. tomorrow we are going to visit one of oopus friends, mike, who lives close to the trail. only 10 miles i believe, so itll be another easy day. the past couple days have been quite enjoyable dspite the rain. keep it comin!
Date: 2003-05-24
From: rob hollow shelter

To: bears den hostel
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

kick butt day! the so called rollercoaster was exceptionally tough considering its been a few weeks since weve had any really steep climbs. it was up and down all day and it was hard, and im sore! its been a while since i last got sore. anyways...me and cire just booked it to the hostel. we were makin good time and instead of stoppin for lunch we decided to just push on. it was so nice to get to the hostel and just sit and relax! after a shower of course. we hung around there til mike, oopus friend, picked us up. rode back to mikes house and man!!!food! and not just that, but good mexican food! amazing. the best fajitas ive ever had! hit the spot definitely. and we had a late night watchin movies, so its been a long, but very nice day!
Date: 2003-05-25
From: bears den hostel

To: zero day
Miles today: 0.0

ahh...so nice to sleep in a little and then wake up to a nice home-cooked breakfast! took our time getting ready and finally headed out to find a coffee shop. starbucks was the choice! some of us spent a couple hours there just talkin until we went to lunch at the olive garden! weve been talkin about goin there since we left! finally the time had come. and it was everything and more than we thought. so nice! then some of us got to go to washington d.c. and walk around for a few hours there. and since id never been before it was stinkin cool! saw all the memorials and the white house and all that. very cool. then went and saw the matrix again! definitely better this time around! but again, a very late night. didnt get in til almost 2. so, hiking tomorrow...not so fun...
Date: 2003-05-26
From: zero day

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

ahhh...once more, took our time getting up today. got breakfast again and got packed up. headed out around 10ish. got on the trail around 11:30. kinda late, but no problem. the plan was to do around 15 miles today so it was a little late, but i knew we could make it pretty easy. pretty much nonstop to the shelter and sat there for 2 hours waiting for the rest to arrive. ran into pileup, who we met back in the first week in georgia. nice to see him. very nice guy. decided to push on a few more miles. me and cire went to a store off the trail to pick up a few treats for the rest of the group. caught up with them at the campsite, which is filled with poison-ivy. fun, fun, fun! but we made it work. its been a while since we tented and the last time was a rough experience. so, we will see how it goes tonight. and we are getting picked up in the morning so if we did get wet again it wouldnt matter too much. but we dont want to get wet.
Date: 2003-05-27
To: harper's ferry
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: broken clouds

got up early, like 6. how did that happen? i dont know. good thing though, cause we got to town early, like 8:30. and speck and slickrocks mom was waiting for us! so nice to see her. got loaded in the van and went back to the hilltop house hotel where ms lynn was staying and got showers and all that. didnt want to be riding in a car for 5 hours and be all stinky and nasty. the 5 hour ride seemed much longer to me for some reason. i guess it was the fact that we havent ridden in a car for mor than a few minutes for a long time. we dropped ketchup off at the airport so she could catch her flight home and kept movin. we got to their house around 6ish and we waited there for my dad and sister to show up. they are coming from indy to visit for a couple days. when they arrived we went to dinner at the winking lizzard. very good wings! and we of course ate like pigs and it was good! then i came back to my dad and sisters hotel room and just hung out here the rest of the night. so good to be with my dad and sister.
Date: 2003-05-28
From: harper's ferry

To: zero day
Miles today: 0.0

as everyone decided to go to cedar point, i, along with my dad and sister, decided not to go. we stayed back just to sit around and hang out. this choice, which at first seemed a little disappointing, ended up being the best for us. turns out that most of the good rides at cedar point were closed. ha! well, as i felt bad for those who went, it made me feel better about our decision. anyways...the day was great, just relaxing, ate a lot of food as usual. it is really great to be with my dad and sister!
Date: 2003-05-29
From: zero day

To: 0
Miles today: 0.0

hey, i woke up first this morning. so, i took a shower, and even went down to get coffee for everyone. well, just my dad really. my sister didnt want any. and again, we just sat around. we did go to cracker barrel for b-fast. then we decided that we wanted to see a movie. yes, the matrix, again! so we went to get cire at speck and slickrocks house and went to the theatre. and again, the movie was great. but, theres still more to get out of it so we have to see it again. at some point at least. we basically just sat around for the rest of the day. ordered pizza for dinner and just chilled. sad, it seems that the days are flying by.