morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-08
From: Vango/Abby Memorial Hostel

To: Watauga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

The hostel stay was nice, very basic but nice. Talking with the guy that runs it was cool. He has over 14,000 hiking miles across many trails and has done the AT 3 times. I am trying to get to Damascus by Saturday evening so I can stay with my brother in laws family for a couple days. As I am eating my breakfast I am watching a guy have a heck of a time with the toaster and he is burning the pop tart completely to a charred piece of waste. Smoke is rolling out of toaster and he is basically clueless what to do. I honestly wonder how he is surviving out here! Entertainment comes in many forms! Headed back to trail with Dustin and soon ran into Jim, Bama, Bearjuice and Smoking Bear. Leapfrogged with everyone today as we hiked. When I got to a road I realized I could go .2mile on that road and hit a hostel for a drink and maybe a ride to get my box in Hampton. I went to the hostel and it was pretty quiet there, but no cold drinks! I did get a ride and got my box. I was next to a grocery store then so...a popsicle and a cold drink! Got my food bag repacked and loaded up and got a ride from the owner of a hostel in Hampton back to the trail at Watauga Lake. Walked into the woods there and skirted the lake for an hour or so and hit the shelter which had no good tent sites. I ran into a lady, Little Trickle and we walked about 100yds back down the trail and camped on a small flat area. We had to squeeze the tents in there since flat space was not abundant. We had a quiet night which was good considering this area was apparently has a lot of bear activity. I am looking at the miles and I need to do 41.2 miles over the next 2 days to get to Damascus. I will have to stay focused and keep breaks to a minimum lol. Gotta get up early and get moving so sleep is calling.
Date: 2014-05-10
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: North end of Damascus
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: moderate rain

First one up at the shelter and hiking by 730! I am happy. It started sprinkling early and had rained in the night. This meant lots of wet grass to soak my boots. Then the downpours came...twice! I actually broke out my umbrella which was great for keeping my upper half dry. My boots were soaked though. After the first downpour I stopped and changed socks. Then they just got wet again when the second downpour came lol. I am talking about squishing wet. The kind of wet where you feel the water moving around between your toes! Oh well just keep walking, I am out of dry, clean socks anyway. Made it to Damascus around 345 and let David and Melinda know I was there. They will be picking me up around 7. I picked up a letter and ran into Rambler, Tomahawk, Shane, Dr. Vargas and one other guy I can't remember the name of. We had a burger and caught up on events and miles. I grabbed a pineapple shake and headed to Woodchuck Hostel to get a shower and do some laundry so I won't be stinky going to family's house. I can't give David and extra reason to pick at me lol. The hostel was very cool and the guy that owned was very nice. I saw Zone there and he was doing well. It felt very good to clean up and dry out, my feet were so pruned I thought they would never go back to normal. David came and picked me up and I am now relaxing at there house and eating another burger. We talked awhile and I stayed up way too late watching tv. A great ending to the day!
Date: 2014-05-11
From: North end of Damascus

To: Abingdon, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I had a great day today hanging with everyone. I went to church with them and that was very nice. My niece, Taylor, and Josh had their daughter dedicated this morning. Came home and had a great lunch. Melinda is a great cook and her meals have lots of vegetables which is awesome! There were a couple plaques on their wall that I will share because I thought they were very fitting for where my mind is right now in life. First..." Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you decide to see beyond the imperfections." How true, how true. Second..." LIFE. Find a passion and pursue it. Fall in love. Dream big. Drink wine, eat great food and spend quality time with good friends. Laugh everyday. Believe in magic. Tell stories. Reminisce about the good old days but look with optimism to the future. Travel often. Learn more. Be creative. Spend time with people you admire. Seize opportunities when they present themselves. Love with all your heart. Never give up. Do what you love. Be true to who you are. Make time to enjoy the simple things in life. Spend time with family. Forgive even when it is hard. Smile often. Be grateful. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Follow your dreams. Try new things. Work hard. Don't count the minutes, count the laughs. Embrace change. Trust in yourself. Be thankful. Be nice to everyone. Be happy. Live for today. And above all...make every moment count." These two plaques basically sum up a lot of the reason I am hiking. I miss my kids very much! I miss my town and my friends. I miss a lot being out here hiking, but this is a great adventure and there is no wrong way to do this. Everything works out. I have faith that when I return and complete my hike, no matter how far I travel, that everything will fall into place. It always does. I will stay positive and keep pushing. These two plaques gave me a renewed energy today and I hope they speak to someone like they spoke to me.
Date: 2014-05-12
From: Abingdon, VA

To: Roanoke, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I got a ride to Roanoke today from my friend Kourtney. It was pretty awesome of him to take his time and come pick me up. We had a good ride to Roanoke and caught up with each other. I am going to visit with my kids, family and friends. A break will be nice and I hope time goes slowly while I am here!
Date: 2014-05-18
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Roanoke, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Tomorrow I will be heading back to the trail and I have had a good visit and spent time with the kids and feel ready to get back to hiking. I knew I may have temptations to stay home and the temptations were there, but I need to finish what I started so to the trail I go. I checked all my gear and I am packed and ready.
Date: 2014-05-19
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: clear sky

I was up at 515 this morning and my ride, Kourtney, was there shortly after 6. I had a great past several days. Thanks to David and Melinda for having me visit in Abingdon. Thanks to Harry for letting me borrow some wheels while I was home in Roanoke. My week in Roanoke was great! Lots of good times with my kids and I got to visit friends and family. Thanks to Randy for letting me crash at his house. I am thankful for my family and friends. You can not do a thru-hike alone, it takes the kindness and willingness to help of your friends and family. So to anyone that has thought about me, prayed for me, helped me...THANK YOU!!! I got back on the trail and didn't see anyone for the first few hours. I was ahead of the Damascus trail days bubble, which was good! I ran into Jukebox, Littlefoot and Boss around midday. Jukebox has a dog, Winston, trailname Doofus, that is pretty cool. It is a very well behaved 10 month old chocolate lab. Rambler and I are supposed to meet up at Trimpi Shelter today and then hike together for awhile. I hit the shelter and saw Dragonfly and Freckles. Dragonfly will be the oldest lady to complete the trail if she is successful this year. they are very nice ladies and I always enjoy seeing them. I got in my tent and Rambler hasn't arrived yet so I figure maybe he is camping aways back from the shelter, he did get a later start back on the trail since he was coming back from Atlanta, GA from some time off for a friend's wedding. I talked with some section hikers tonight and they were pretty funny. They are 4 guys in the 40s who do some type of hiking trip every year. I am getting tired and ready to sleep so goodnight.
Date: 2014-05-20
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: VA 615/Lindamood Schoolhouse
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up from a chilly night and knew I had made a mistake on switching sleeping bags while I was home! I will have to remedy this situation because I don't like sleeping too cold out here. It is not like home where you control the heat and coolness of the room by adjusting the switch! I opened my tent and heard Rambler talking with Dragonfly. He had arrived at the shelter around 10pm last night and I was already asleep. He saw a bear around 8pm last night so he was still excited from that. We got hiking and soon saw a 5foot long black snake. It was just chilling in the sun. We hit Partnership Shelter and took a break there. It was nice because there was sodas and bathrooms at the visitor center next to the shelter. This was near the town of Marion and was an out of the normal type of facility. We moved on passed Chatfield Shelter and came up to a very old school building called Lindamood Schoolhouse. It was from mid 1800s and inside was trail magic from a local church group. The building was part of a public museum of old buildings. The schoolhouse was open to hikers so we had some snacks and cold drinks and decided to stay there so we slept on the floor of a 150+ year old schoolhouse. Plus we had cold sodas to wake up to in the morning! It was a great day on the trail today.
Date: 2014-05-21
From: VA 615/Lindamood Schoolhouse

To: VA 42
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up nice and dry this morning after a night in the school. Got moving pretty early and hit the Barn Restaurant for breakfast. Service was not very good but the food was decent. There was a section hiker, Mark, who was eating there also and we had talked with him a bit over the last couple days. He offered to take us to Marion if we needed anything because his hike was done and he was heading home. Rambler wanted a pillow and I wanted to look at a different sleeping bag so we decided to go to Walmart. We split the bill for Mark's breakfast to repay the favor of the Walmart run and off we went. Rambler found a pillow and I found a bag at Walmart that was under 2lbs and a 40 degree bag which is perfect and it compresses nicely. I am actually amazed that they had a bag like this. It boils down to gear doing what you need it to do, it doesn't really matter where it comes from. Mark dropped us off where we were before and we packed up our bags with our food drops that we picked up and we got to hiking. It was a little later start than we originally planned but we had things from Walmart that will make the hiking better so we were happy.
Date: 2014-05-22
From: VA 42

To: VA 623
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: broken clouds

As soon as we hit the tents last night the rain started and I don't think it stopped until about 5 minutes before I got out of my tent. That works for me! I didn't even hear the thunder last night and I never woke for any of the lightning so I felt pretty good about my sleep lol. The hills were pretty tiring early in the day and made for a long afternoon. I hope my buddy Ed and his friends are doing well since they are doing a section hike of the Smokies. They should have good weather. I crossed a river today on a downed tree. It went well since I din't fall in! It was a very nice area and there was awesome camping there, but that was just a break spot. Today started knee pains for my trip. I couldn't recall doing anything to my knee but it started aching right in/under the kneecap. Oh well, the ankle is all good so I guess it is time for the knee to ache. We ended up taking a ride into Fort Bastian which is owned by a British guy and it was interesting to say the least. It is off the grid place and really all you got was a place to tent and breakfast for $7. In a few years when everything is complete it will probably be a cool place, but for now it is definitely a diamond in the rough. I do plan to sleep good again, but this time my tent will be on a bed of pine needles!!!
Date: 2014-05-23
From: VA 623

To: VA 615
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: few clouds

Oh the pine needles!!! What a soft bed they make. I slept very well and ate a decent breakfast at Fort Bastian. We got our ride back to the trail and was hiking by 10, pretty good. We hit a shelter about 4 miles in and ran into Miss America, no not the real one but a hiker going by that name. Day was not very exciting and the terrain fairly bland. I hiked ahead of the others and made it to a creek where I ate a snack, soaked my feet and did some journaling. I waited for everyone, but eventually decided to go down the road and camp at Fort Bastian again. It would get me a ride to trail tomorrow for free so I was sold. I think I will do a creek washing when I get there, maybe some clothes as well. It is pretty hot and sunny so things will dry easy. I got to camp and there were a couple of hikers sitting near the hammocks and one was giving the other guy a AT tattoo! I never thought I would see someone giving a tattoo on the trail. WOW! Not the smartest thing I guess but things like that weed out the idiots in the world. I'm okay with tattoos, but in the woods? It still looked pretty cool tho.
Date: 2014-05-25
From: VA 615

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Resting knee here and ended up being the caretaker while everyone went to a picnic, I wasn't hungry and just wanted to chill so I directed hikers where to go and what to do as the arrived. It was cool actually, I felt like I was working lol. Quite a few jokes were made. This place was built in 1880s and is very cool. I did pick up a watermelon and will share that later this evening.I have a weekend trip planned with my kids soon. My two oldest kids both are going to state lacrosse championships for their high school. It should be a good time and hopefully their teams will do great!
Date: 2014-05-26
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Up at 545 and hiking by 630! wow! Breaking trail (being first out) is never fun because you end up with a face covered in spider webs! Somebody has to do it though. We were makiong good time and hit a road before Pearisburg and a guy going by Max Factor was doing trail magic at the road. I had a burger, chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, and chips. Plus an ice cold Powerade! What a great Memorial Day treat. Then Rambler and I left our packs there with him and walked down the road and went to Dairy Queen. We had an ice cream and charged our phones. Rambler went across the street and resupplied at Food Lion. I didn't need any food so I just sat at DQ. Momentum was broke now with a belly full of burger and ice cream. It was hard not to stay in Pearisburg lol. We dragged on through the afternoon and evening, hitting the shelter after dark. There were people there we knew so they were great and made room for us pretty quickly. For the first time out here when I am camping, I slept without a shirt since it was a fairly warm night. it felt really nice and sleep came quick, I was beat! I am about an hour from home (by car that is) so I can feel the tug lol. Thats all for now, I have been up way too long!
Date: 2014-05-27
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Stony Creek Road
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: broken clouds

I was a late waker this morning. Yesterday's march wore me out. Slowly got ready and Rambler and i were last out of the shelter. Today's miles were slow and hard. It likely had a lot to do with how terrible this section of trail was maintained, or should I say NOT MAINTAINED! There were numerous blowdowns and overgrown sections that you just couldn't make good time. Rain was threatening all day and thunder was keeping our ears perked. Only a few drops actually fell so we were fortunate. We got to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter and ate lunch and I did a wipedown in the creek...very refreshing. We (Rambler, Marathon, Genie and I) just hung out at the shelter for awhile and I saw we were .3miles from a road. I started to wonder if it met up with 460 which I know is a way home! Maybe, just maybe we could get to Roanoke tonight! I went to the road and Rambler was few minutes behind me. No reception UGH. I did see mailboxes so we walked up the road and asked some people sitting in their yard if we could borrow a phone and they obliged and told us the road did go to 460. After a few phone calss we were in business with a ride. We got dropped off at 460 and within a little over an hour were in Roanoke. I will take Rambler back to the trail soon and I will just hang with kids and friends until we go to Richmond. Very nice, time to rest a bit. I never feel bad about taking opportunities like this because rest is good and seeing family is good. There really is no wrong way to do this hike. You do what makes YOU happy. All you people who don't agree, that is okay just remember that each hiker 'hikes their own hike'. Just have fun and enjoy the time out here!
Date: 2014-05-29
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Roanoke, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Got up early today to get Rambler back to trail and I will just do some errands after that. While I was in I got a job lead so that is good. I have been networking a bit for job opportunities so this lead was really cool. Tomorrow I will take my kids to Richmond, VA for their state championship lacrosse tournaments this weekend. My daughter's and oldest son's teams both qualified. I hope they do well!
Date: 2014-05-31
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Roanoke, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today was lacrosse tournaments. The guys team didn't fare so well, they lost their two games and were out. The girls lost first game and won the next two games and took fifth place. That was great for the girls! They both had a fun day and all our players stayed injury free so it was a great day. Weather was perfect as well. Just lounged at the pool with my youngest son afterwards. The big kids hung with their friends. Did get to hit an REI after the tournament. It was the largest REI I had been to. Everyone was ready to sleep tonight after such a long day.
Date: 2014-06-01
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Roanoke, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Lazy morning at the hotel. We will head back to Roanoke today and I will likely resume hiking in the next couple days. If I get a chance to meet about this job, I will and just adjust leaving Roanoke to fit that meeting. I talked to Rambler and he was near Daleville so we should be able to meet up easily on Monday/Tuesday. Past few days have been great and that is good because when I get back to the trail I am hoping to hit 1200 miles or more by end of June! So I have some hustling to do! Trail entries shall start back soon! Thanks to everyone for reading and again, thanks to this signing the guest book. I appreciate it!
Date: 2014-06-04
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I am hanging with Rambler today and will hike out tomorrow. He rolled his ankle yesterday so he is icing it today and resting. I will leave tomorrow regardles, I have to make some miles!!! I just skipped a couple dates because of being home, I had a great visit to Roanoke and had a great weekend with my kids in Richmond so it is time to get to the business of hiking this trail. I hope the month of June is a productive time in making some miles, it will set the tone for the next couple of months. Now the temps are starting to climb so strategies of staying cool will have to be employed. I see some creek/river breaks on the horizon. I would like to weigh my pack but don't really have a way to do it right now. I have cut a lot of stuff, but my food bag remains heavy. I need to carry less food and resupply more often. I just hate searching little stores for the food. I would just soon carry the food lol. I hope to be in Waynesboro pretty soon and push north rather quickly towards Harpers Ferry. Being at home has been super nice, I get very comfortable so I know I need to do some hiking. Plus I am excited to get to the Shenandoahs and to Harpers Ferry. I have driven into Harpers Ferry, but this will be a whole different experience. I am hydrating today since I am back to trail tomorrow. It is hard to stay properly hydrated while hiking. I drink alot but it is usually still not enough. It will be even more important with the hot weather now so time to camel up and just always drink alot. I have also started with tortillas and peanut butter for lunch, with granola mix sprinkled on and I may even add some honey in there. Yum! My gear is getting pretty minimal now, I packed it this morning and had to doublecheck to make sure I hadn't forgotten something. It took up less space in my bag since I had dropped the jackets and the thermals. I only have my rainjacket now. The good thing is my packweight should be much nicer for my back and legs now. I may even trim a few more things today. There are things I haven't used yet, but if I need them there would be no way to substitute them on the trail so I have to keep carrying them. Like FIRST AID kit lol. Think I will wrap this up and hopefully the next entry is about some actual hiking!!!
Date: 2020-02-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It has been near 6 years since my 2014 hike. I went close to 800 miles and had a blast.I got sucked into the "being close to home" feeling since I live near the trail around the 700+ mile mark. It wasn't a hard decision to come off the trail since I was running low on funds and time. I felt satisfied with what i had accomplished on my hike. The dream stayed alive for another time. I still get the itch every so often, and especially in the spring time days to hike again. I know it will happen eventually and I am really starting to think I am going to set a date for it. 2024 seems good because it will be 10 years from my last hike. next time my pack weight will be drastically less.I won't be crazy ultralight but I will have some gear that will keep my base weight hopefully under 10lbs. I have seen a few of the fellow hikers from 2014 at various events/trips and I so enjoy that and the friendships that make me smile every time I think of that friend. Doubtful anyone will see this entry but I wanted to put it here to conclude some thoughts in my head. Hiking the AT had an effect on me that still lasts to this day. I think about often, sometimes many days straight. I hope to make as many friends the next time around as I did in 2014, but I tell you what-the next round of folks have a high bar to reach.2014 peeps are pretty awesome.Happy trails!
Date: 2014-02-20
From: start up

To: Maine
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The day Tyler drove me to the top of Springer Mountain it was raining and there was dense fog. We were on a muddy US forest road. When we reached the parking area at the top there were two cars parked with windows broken and so we did not know if it would be safe to leave the truck there and have Tyler walk the .9 mile to the trail head. So we said goodbye and I walked to the summit and the AT start. My goal was to hike 8 miles to Hawk Mtn shelter. This I managed to do by 1230. Totally spent. I was glad to stop and recover.
Date: 2014-02-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: moderate rain

Incredible thunderstorms overnight. I managed to sleep through most of them. Four more Thru Hikers arrived at the shelter to stay the night. Two from Chicago, one from Florida, one from Kentuckey. We discovered we were all currently going to do about 8 miles each day. I left the shelter and two hours after I left the load stabilized strap broke on my REI pack this a critical strap for comfort and balance of the load. I managed to rig a fix until I could get it looked at at Neel Gap two days out.