morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-02-28
From: Fullhardt Knob Shelter

To: Daleville
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: clear sky

I slept very well, getting up only once, & was ready to go with daylight. Going down the Mtn. wasn't difficult ¢ it just seemed tedious because I was so close to town the whole time [including some cow pastures]. I wanted to go to the Super 8 Motel because I had discovered that it is much nicer than the one across the street, for only few dollars more [The other one does serve eggs with the breakfast]. I only had a couple of bars to save time, so I was happy to accept the invitation to have some of the motel breakfast. They got me a room right away, practically next door to the laundry area; so I got going immediately on washing clothes & taking a shower. I had discovered that there were no Lutheran or Episcopal churches within a reasonable distance, while there was a Methodist church 14 mile up the hill; so I planned to go there. I use my rain pants for "town clothes". They weren't dry yet; so I let the inside dry while I walked to church. St. Mark's U.M.C. is a large church with a big choir & a very good pianist. I miss a traditional liturgy, but I quickly recognized that having 35-40 minutes for the sermon gives the preacher time to develop all kinds of sub-points as he goes along. I haven't had that luxury. No conversation or invitation to fellowship afterwards. I walked across the highway to the shopping center, which had several restaurants, a supermarket, & an outfitter closed on Sunday. The restaurant that appealed to me the most was a barbecue place that was really crowded; I figured I could come back for supper. So I bought a few things at the Kroger store & went back to the motel to get my stuff out of the dryer & claim the package I had had forwarded to the motel when I had figured out I wouldn't get to town when the post office was open.My fuel canister seemed like it had enough for 2 more days, when I'd be near Catawba; so I ascertained that the little store there had one. After spending some time on the computer, I was getting hungry. Pizza Hut salad bar sounded good, but the waitress insisted I had to be seated to place my order. She never came back, so after I had waited a while, I left & went back up the road to 3 Li'l Pigs Barbecue. It was still crowded. I discovered a Verizon shop nearby, where the man wasn't busy & took time to answer a lot of my questions about my new Droid phone. Now if I can remember all the answers!Finally, the restaurant had cleared out, & I could have some very good barbecued pork. Then I was able to go back to the motel & spend the rest of the day resting or on the computer. That was right across from the office. I the course of the evening, I learned that their AAA or AARP rate is lower than their "Hiker rate"; so I got the clerk to change mine to the lower price.
Date: 2016-02-29
From: Daleville

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 15.4

After breakfast, I had a few things to mail home; so I tried to hitch a ride to the post office. No luck. I ended up walking the mile & back. I should have started a little earlier, since they open at 8:00. After checking out of the motel, I started up the Mtn. I was surprised that the Trail went up to the East of a big power line rather than to the West, but when I got to the top I discovered that there are several sets of high-voltage lines that crisscross the area. That was only the beginning of my changed perceptions. My recollection was that the Trail followed a ridge that went West to Tinker Cliffs & then turned South, dipping down to Lambert's Meadow Shelter & back up again. Actually, it goes almost North for a few miles, with views of Daleville [including the post office I'd visited earlier] to the right & a long reservoir lake to the left. Then it goes down because that ridge ends & because we need to go West for a while before getting to the shelter. I cooked lunch at the shelter & went on up to Tinker Cliffs. There sure are a lot more views of the reservoir this time of year, with no leaves on the trees. Therefore also number of down trees, so I did abut an hour of trail work before Lambert Meadow. Up on the cliffs, I came upon a couple of guys in a tent. There is not supposed to be any camping up there. I told them so, & they claimed they didn't know. I couldn't point to any sign [tho there was one a half mile to the North] & didn't see any the rest of the day [assuming they came from the South]. If the Trail maintainers are serious about this, they should put up more signs, or send some of the volunteers who patrol McAfee's Knob over here once in a while. The rest of the day was little ups & downs over a series of rocky knobs. Sometimes the Trail isn't marked very well over the rocks, which leads to wear & tear all over the landscape. After working on blowdowns coming up from Daleville & crossing the main ridge, I found another one on one of these knobs. Since I was about to stop for supper, I did my cooking while cutting branches! 1 hour of trail work for the day.It was dark by the time I got to the shelter [as always, no one else there], tho there was lots of light from Roanoke to the East.
Date: 2016-03-02
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Ridge before Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 15.8

Up at 5:00 & out by 7:00 seems to be the story of my life these days, although today I had more reasons. I was done eating and partly packed by 5:30. By 6:00, I had the rest of the stuff packed; so I had to go try to find the water from Pickle Branch, which ended up being way down a blue-blazed trail. By the time I got water and filtered it, and then walked a half mile back to the main Trail it was 7:40. I can do better ¢ even under these circumstances! Nothing that reminded me of pickles at the stream, except maybe some green, moss-covered rocks.One of the features of the trails this time of year is piles and piles of fallen leaves. Last night I was wading thru piles that were mid-calf deep. When I fell, it was hard to get up because they're so slippery. It's mostly Swamp White Oak, Chestnut Oak, & Red Oak. I see other trees around, like Tulip Trees & Hickories [with lots of nuts], but not their leaves. Most of the leaves must have disintegrated some already and be covered by the Oaks. I did a little bit of trail work this morning, plus about 12 hour altogether yesterday. I was soon crossing the road & heading up the next Mtn. by 9 o'clock, altho it was 10:00 by the time I got to the actual top and then a considerable distance more before I got to the old road that goes by the Audie Murphy monument. That's nice level walking and it's a little bit behind the ridge, protected from the wind. I'd been pretty exposed to the wind up to that point because the Trail likes to be on the West [windward] side of the mountain. I sat on one of the benches there to have lunch.Basically, I spent the morning on Brushy Mtn. & the afternoon on Sinking Creek Mtn., which is a bit higher & a lot longer & rockier, with the Craig Creek Valley in between. The low area wasn't very muddy, & there are several nice bridges. I stopped to eat at Niday Shelter before heading up.Getting up to the ridge involved a little rock climbing. After not seeing many people on the trail today, I met a number of people coming down & a few going up. A couple of the former were backpackers Quill & Algaxion [I think those were there names], who have done substantial parts of the trail. Once up, the first half of the ridge [2 miles or so] involved crossing a lot of exposed, slanted rock faces. Nothing was wet, & my shoes gripped quite well; so that went pretty quickly, except that it just seemed so long. Last time thru here, I got across the rocks just ahead of a thunderstorm [Someone after me said he'd seen a lot of lightning strikes while he crossed]. I was looking for Sarver Hollow Shelter, tho I didn't remember it from last time. Finally, as it got dark & cold, I started looking for a place to set up my tent. Finally found one that was a bit sloped but not too rocky.
Date: 2016-03-03
From: Ridge before Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Ridge in Mtn. Lake Wilderness
Miles today: 15.8

I didn't get going very early, & in about 14 mile I found the sign to the shelter: 0.3 off the Trail. I wouldn't have gone there anyway, but at least then I knew I was 34 of the way across the Mtn.This is the easy part, not only downhill, but on land that had been farmed at some time. There were some interesting piles of rocks from the early settlers. As I neared the bottom, I stopped for a break & 14 hour of trail work. Then it was 4 miles across fields & meadows to Laurel Creek Shelter, where I stopped for 2nd lunch [Water was a little tricky to find there, tho NOBOs had it easier. As I entered the pasture areas, I could see cows ahead up the hill, gathered around a farmer's truck. I didn't actually walk thru that same pasture, but I got to see what happened when they were turned loose. A couple of cows went gamboling [like hopping, skipping, almost dancing] down the hill ¢ faster than I thought cows could go ¢ as if they were going to claim the best spot of grass to nibble on. The others followed in a more orderly & subdued manner.The next 6 miles involved going over a hill & thru John's Creek Valley. On the way down the hill I met a NOBO going up. There was recent logging in the valley & a lot of blowdowns across the Trail. I thought it would be nice if they could get the loggers to take out some of those blowdowns while they have the equipment there. However, after the shelter, the Trail entered a wilderness area, also with blowdowns, where they wouldn't be allowed to use chainsaws. I only cut about a half hour; the rest was too intimidating.Then I was heading up the hill again for 3 miles. As I neared the ridge it started snowing, & after another half mile I decide I might as well pitch camp. There were lots of level spots up there. First time I've set up my tent on snow.
Date: 2016-03-04
From: Ridge in Mtn. Lake Wilderness

To: On Peters Mtn.
Miles today: 13.0

Pretty cold night, but warm enough in my tent. My hands get very cold while taking down & packing the tent.Today everything was done on about 2 inches of snow, tho it was not snowing any more when I got up.I soon passed the camping area & parking lot & turned South along the West side of the ridge. I was concerned about this area, because I remembered it as very rocky ¢ maybe some rock climbing ¢ but it turned out to be easier than expected. Just cold & difficult to follow the poorly marked Trail in the snow.No footprints to follow.I stopped to eat at Bailey Gap Shelter, where the water was a little hard to find, then down across the Stony Creek Valley, basically one long rhododendron thicket. I had thought of stopping at "Captain's" place to try to charge up my phone, but I guess I missed it. At least, I didn't see the zip-line to get across the creek, & it didn't look fordable. I did about a half hour of trail work trying to clear up what I could, but the blowdowns were too big & too numerous for me. I sent an E-mail to the trail club about one in particular: multiple branches [largest about 20"] with no way to get around either end. I climbed thru, & someone had gone under, but either way will get very messy once the root ball thaws & turns to mud.Partway up the hill I stopped to eat at Pine Swamp Branch Shelter. As I approached the stone shelter, with a fireplace in the middle of the back wall & bunks on each side, I thought, "This looks like Trimpi Shelter, South of Marion." Sure enough, there is some connection, because the stone plaque above the fireplace says it's in memory of a young man named Trimpi. The snow had largely melted down in the valley, but I started seeing it on the ground again as I gained elevation. Nearing the ridgecrest of Peters Mtn [3rd with that name on this hike, so far], I started to snow again. Even tho I hadn't gone very far today, it began to feel like I should stop. Setting up in snow in the dark isn't much fun. So I stopped just before drafter passing the Allegheny Trail turnoff (Dickenson Gap, I suppose). since it was getting cold fast, I kept everything freezable close by inside the tent. It turned out the snowing didn't continue very long.
Date: 2016-03-05
From: On Peters Mtn.

To: Motel in Pearisburg
Miles today: 15.6

Coldest morning yet -- about 22 degrees. I had kept my shoes & water filter close while I slept, so they were all right, & the ice in the water bottles wasn't enough to prevent drinking.The trail was just a lot of relatively small ups & downs along the ridge, but they seemed to go on forever. My first goal was to get to Symmes Gap, which I took to be about 4 miles. Actually, it was only about one mile, so I totally missed it but kept looking for it all morning. 12 hour of trail work. Up on this ridge, I did find some footprints from someone who had come over the man. yesterday [not much covered with new snow] & a lot of prints from a big cat. I could see various places where it had tried to catch little animals or dig then out of their holes. Sunny day, but it didn't seem to warm up quickly -- about 32 degrees after an hour, then very gradually up to the low 40s.Early on, I met Einstein, speedy NOBO thru-hiker, coming up from Rice Field Shelter. A bit later, I met the first of the 4 "Whitewalkers", brothers from Mass. with 2 white mini-huskies. He said something about having had to send the dogs back to his brother at the shelter Half hour later, I encountered the dogs coming North. After a little while, there they were coming South, sent back to the shelter again, I presumed.   Arriving at the shelter, I met the 2nd brother, who had just got the dogs back & was starting to get their packs on. He'd been yelling for them for hours. Not a very efficient way to travel, in my view.First half of the trip today took 6.5 hours; second half, about 3.I had to be told where to find the new Trail [recent re-route] behind the shelter; they don't have any signs up yet [for SOBOs]. They claim it's only slightly longer than the old Trail, but it seems at least a couple of miles longer than I remember. Once I got over the irritation about that, I enjoyed the nice easy switchbacks thru woods, with very few views of the chemical plant. However, it does go 14 mile or so along the hazardous [smelly] landfill & across a creek with lots of warnings not to drink. It's actually pretty nice woods almost up to the bridge over the river. Then the Trail goes thru some scrubby woods, some residential backyards, & some more ugly woods, heading up to Cross Road, which is really the best way to get to where the town services are. I understand that there is a re-route of this section, completed but not yet opened. Anyway, I jumped over to N. Main Street & walked up the long hill toward Hardee's & the motels. It's a 4-lane highway with little shoulder, & it was starting to rain, so this part wasn't much fun. I checked in to the Plaza Motel, which offered a very low rate & did my laundry free!Mystery question: Why can I get into a tent with temperatures in the 20s & not feel all that cold but when I get into a 60 degree motel room I'm shivering like crazy?Puzzle question: At what other place does the AT cross a river with railroad tracks on BOTH sides? The only other one I can think of is the Hudson River crossing near Peekskill, NY.
Date: 2016-03-07
From: Doc's Knob Shelter

To: Sugar Run Gap -- Woodshole Hostel
Miles today: 2.2
Weather: clear sky

I got up about 4 times during the night, worst I've had this trip. I didn't have to get going very early because I wasn't going very far. I started off in bright sunshine for a change & had one good viewpoint along the way [bright, sunny day!].Susan didn't get upset about my delayed return. Mostly, it just compresses my time to get some things done. I'm hoping I can work on the computer at the hostel.I got there about 10:00 & met Michael right away. Neville is gone for a few more days. They've made a lot of changes in 3 years, including indoor showers & toilets for the bunkhouse. Many things aren't quite complete, so Michael was scurrying around all day to try to finish them before the imminent hiker season. It's hard to imagine how her grandparents ran a hostel here with just the original log cabin!After a few hours, a father-son hiking pair arrived, so we're sharing a room. They are from Georgia [the son is about to graduate from law school in Richmond] & have hiked this far from Springer over many years.
Date: 2016-03-08
To: Trail Work
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

After conferring with my shuttle, I concluded it would be too complicated to walk to Dismal Falls & get a ride to Blacksburg in time; so all I could do is hang out at Woods Hole today. Not a bad place to do that -- just ended up with fewer miles for this trip. I did go up on the Mtn. for several miles, doing trail maintenance. It took me two and a quarter hours to go up & an hour and a quarter to come back, with just a fanny pack but doing some cutting each way. Michael had lent me a very dull old saw, which ended up being just something extra to carry. Also some loppers, which were helpful for a number of things; but mostly I used my little saw for cutting things that I probably wouldn't have had the patience to do if I were just hiking along. Soon after I arrived back at the hostel two NOBO thru-hikers arrived: Jaywalker and G-Bear (from Ireland); so we ended up spending the evening together. Tomorrow, I'll get a ride from Charlie, whom I met at church, into Blacksburg to catch the $4.00 bus to the Roanoke airport.
Date: 2016-04-02
From: Wisconsin & Ohio

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Last week, we went to Ohio to stay with grandchildren while their parents took a vacation. Then I returned home briefly to participate in a political event [I'm running to County Board this year].Today I flew to Columbus, Ohio, & Susan [henceforth, Tagalong] picked me up at the airport, on our way to Harpers Ferry. We wanted to get there in time to leave our car at the Park Service HQ for a week, while we got a shuttle up to Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania, just North of the mid-point of the AT. We had to stop along the way to change into our hiking clothes & decide what to leave in the car & what to take with us. Everything going with us would have to be carried in our packs [at least till we ate it]. We met         the shuttle driver, just about 7:00 pm, & rode with him up to the Holly Inn, where we spent the night.Tagalong says she's going to do 6 weeks with me this Spring. I'm looking forward to that, even tho it will slow me down some.
Date: 2016-04-03
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: few clouds

Starting out together.Mt. Holly Inn is a nice enough place to stay, & she does give free shuttles to Pine Grove Furnace, but the continental breakfast is skimpy. After eating & re-packing, we got our ride to the Trail [having concluded that it wouldn't be practical to go to the church down the street & get a much later start on our hike.Tagalong has done this section of Southern Pennsylvania a couple of times, so we didn't expect it to be difficult. It was a nice sunny day, & we met a few day-hikers but no backpackers this early in the season. It didn't seem cold to me, but she never quite seemed to warm up.The Trail starts gradually up to the ridge, so there was no difficult hiking today. It wasn't long before we got to the fancy mid-point sign, then a few more miles to the actual, current mid-point [changes every year with various relocations].In mid-afternoon, we got to Birch Run Shelter after walking almost 10 miles. Not bad for the first day out.I should have known better. I don't usually like having hikers set up tents in shelters, but with no one else around, I did so this time so that Tagalong would be warmer at night. She had gotten a new sleeping bag, supposed to be good down to 30 degrees. I'm sure it wasn't that cold, but she was never really comfortable, even inside the tent. Then things got more complicated as 4 more hikers arrived very late in the afternoon. Tagalong was already in her sleeping bag, & the 2 NOBOs heading for New York plus 2 SOBOs were all very nice about it. They were able to work around the tent to get into their bunk space.
Date: 2016-04-04
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: U.S. 30, Caledonia State Park
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Onward!Tagalong started out cold & kept bundled up all day. I wore my shorts for hiking in November & again in February, & that worked well for me here; however, we both put on our ponchos in early afternoon when it started to rain.We stopped at Quarry Gap Shelters for a late lunch. This is a place where the shelter maintainer has kept up a long tradition of decorative features, including hanging flower pots & a well-manicured site. We met a woman backpacker there who wasn't enjoying the cold either & had decided to stop there for the night.We went on thru Caledonia State Park in light rain, which stopped about the time we got to U.S. 30.We'd gone 10 miles again, & it was 3 miles to the next shelter, so we decided to stop at the Trail of Hope hostel. They came & picked us up, & we got showers & settled in. Then some more hikers arrived, & they decided to move us to the "honeymoon suite", where we didn't have to share a bathroom & even had a kitchen & living room. "Junker" & his wife have a church & hostel right next to each other & consider this a ministry to hikers. They served us dinner as well [tho that isn't always the case], & took us to a couple of nearby stores.There were 8-10 other hikers, most of whom were slack-packing, North-bound. a couple of young women came in who had done 25 miles today, but most of the rest were taking it easier. A pleasant group to spend some time with ¢ & then we could go off to our own "suite" to sleep.
Date: 2016-04-05
From: U.S. 30, Caledonia State Park

To: PA. Rt. 16
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: broken clouds

Another cold day. "Junker" from the hostel took us to the Trail head, & we started up the long hill. It was sunny almost all day, with an annoying wind most of the morning. The temperature started out below 30 degrees & rose very slowly to about 45 by mid-afternoon. I hiked in my shorts from lunch break on. The downside of that was that I think I lost my glasses while working on getting my pants off. At least, I didn't have them in my usual pocket by the time I got to Tumbling Run Shelter (far too late to go back).We didn't visit Rocky Mtn Shelters because it was 1/4 mile off the Trail, downhill & back up. Tagalong was having enough trouble with the rocks.We met all of the people from the hostel who were going North from Pen Mar, plus Jaywalker, whom I had met last month at Woods Hole Hostel. Late afternoon, we met Junker at the county park near Antietam Shelter. He parked at a road access about a mile farther & walked with us for a bit. Then Susan went with him to the post office in Rouzerville to forward a mail drop. They wouldn't let her do that without paying more postage, saying that the rules had changed on forwarding Priority Mail [NOTE: over the next 2 months, no post office gave me any trouble about forwarding, so I don't know what rule this guy was referring to ¢ I wonder what he would have done if I had simply CALLED in about forwarding, as I did several times later]. I continued on to Pa 16, stopping along the way at Deer Lick Shelter to greet one of the hikers from the hostel who was NOT slack-packing [I was not either, by the way]. Then Junker picked me up, & we stayed in the "Honeymoon Suite" another night. We also got a free supper again, including some leftovers.The reason for the title on this page: I was running for County Board back home. I lost.