morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-09-26
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 7.0

September 26th 2004 Sunday 7 milesToday is even more awesome than yesterday. Some days are reminders that it¢s all about the journey and not the destination. Today is one of those days. In the morning I woke up and went outside to sit and listen to Flare play the guitar. It was nice to have a comforter wrapped around me, and after I said ¢See you down the trail,¢ it was even nicer to go back to sleep.My short day consisted only of climbing one mountain, Dragon¢s Tooth. It was rough and sharp, with metal bars drilled into the rocks so that we could climb without technical equipment. This full-body contact climbing is the way mountains should be. At the top, I sat in the sun so long that I got a little burnt. I enjoyed this mountain so much I was tempted to climb back up it again.A hiker, Saved, was already at the Pickle Branch shelter when I arrived. Saved is a legend on the trail. He came on the trail in New York, but didn¢t think he would go far. He said that he would have commited suicide if it weren¢t for a trail angel who ¢saved¢ him. That is, religiously. He doesn¢t hike on Sundays. He also likes to listen to his radio all night long. L¢awin, a thru-hiker, also arrived, and hailed me immediately with ¢Free Spirit!¢ Mostly people know who I am before I¢ve even met them. L¢awin means ¢Hawk.¢
Date: 2004-09-27
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 16.0

Monday September 27th 2004 16 milesThe terrain from Pickle branch to Niday shelter was good; even the rain couldn¢t make this walk hard. That was before I got off of the AT and started to walk on the alternate ¢AT from Hell.¢ Actually, I wasn¢t really lost, but at some points I wished I were. How sadistic did these people have to be to route the trail through here? When it got bad enough, I found myself crawling. I don¢t mean that I was just going slowly; I was on my hands & knees, going slowly. For some reason, hopefully having to do with property boundaries and not sheer vindictiveness, the trail found it¢s way on a series of smooth rock escarpments, huge slabs sloping downwards, ready to pitch the walker into other rocks, brambles, or trees. Of course, these rocks also had naturally occurring white rock imbedded in them, which liked the masquerade as white blazes, and pitch you into rocks, brambles, or trees, because you thought you were following the trail. But you weren¢t, and then had to back-track, which wasn¢t nearly as dangerous because you were then going uphill, and a little bit funnier as I was always just sliding backwards, taking steps that never took me anywhere. Not only was just walking (or crawling) frustrating, it was made worse by the limited visibility. I could see only far enough to realize that the trail could meander many different directions from where I was, but not far enough to see where it actually went. Even as I sat right on top of a real white blaze, it wasn¢t enough information to tell me where the next one would be. If it hadn¢t been raining, or perhaps if I were hiking north instead of south, I might not have had so many problems here. The trail is marked better for Northbounders. Shortly after that tricky section, I caught up to Saved and we walked the remaining few miles to Sarver Hollow Shelter together, where we met Scooter, to my surprise. He doesn¢t walk in the rain. L¢awin has walked on ahead, and Home Fry just never showed up. This shelter is really awesome, despite being a steep half a mile down the ridge off of the trail. There¢s an old cabin down here, which is supposedly haunted by a ghost, and a few others, supposedly not haunted. There are three different kinds of apple trees here, all with as much fruit as we could want; the wormiest, ugliest-looking ones taste the best. Saved showed me how to find and eat black walnuts.
Date: 2004-09-28
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: moderate rain

September 28th 2004 6 milesThe third hurricane this month whipped up fiercely this morning, finding us even in our sheltered hollow off of the ridge. According to the radio, the worst flooding is in the county we are in right now. Scooter and Saved were talking of taking a day off, but I wanted to walk at least 6 miles so I didn¢t have to push myself too hard later. So Saved, in his friendly but perhaps macho way, went out with me at about 10 am. They were 6 adventure-filled miles. We crossed a road bridge where the water was not even 10 feet below us. In the middle of this roar of water were full-sized trees. We watched as one, twenty feet away, was pulled out of the ground and swept away like it was a toothpick. Then we had our own footbridge to cross, which had been dragged down stream, turned almost sideways, and as if that weren¢t enough, still left us about 6 feet of un-bridged stream to cross. I thought the whole thing was awesome. After that we crossed an entire flooded field and a bridge that was slightly underwater. Then we went up a hill and I got lost. Saved waited for me, and when I saw the third ¢creek¢ we had to cross, I was glad I wasn¢t alone. This one never even had a bridge. (Later, when I first looked at pictures other people had taken of this area, I was confused. Their pictures showed a small rivulet in a valley, with a small steep wall of cliff about four feet high nearby. A large boulder sat between the river and the cliff, useful for getting between the two. In my reality, there was no valley but the river, and there was no cliff. I realize now that¢s what made the creek flood the way it did.) Saved crossed first, and I passed him my pack. When I stepped into the water, the world seemed to shrink. My head was filled with the roaring of the creek; the water was up to my chest. When I was almost to the other side, my foot got caught and pulled underneath a rock. Saved reached out for me, but as I went under I could see all that it was doing was pulling him in, too. He managed to get a better grip and reached out as I fought the suction keeping my leg stuck. One of my trekking poles floated down the river, but I was okay.Only a few tenths of a mile later came the second fork of the same Laurel Creek, which was only about a tenth of a mile from the shelter. It felt very far away. I kept my pack on, held on to a tree, and then hugged a log that was bridging part of the stream. Unfortunately, I had left my camera at the 4 Pines Hostel, so I didn¢t get any pictures. It was a wonderful, crazy day. I hadn¢t known that I could produce so much adrenaline at once, and keep the rush going for hours. A Northbound section hiker, Geezer, told us that Home Fry must have passed us sometime this morning, for he was there a few hours ago with some hair-raising tales. (Later I would find out that Home Fry hiked 28 miles on this day.)
Date: 2004-09-30
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

September 29th 2004 PearisburgIn store for me today? Areas with shelters colorfully named ¢ Pine Swamp¢ and ¢Rice Field.¢ Uh uh. No way. Today I was going to town, not getting stuck in more floods. I took a left at the first road I came to, Big Stoney Creek Road. A ¢road closed¢ sign shortly followed this ominous name, and I found out quickly that it wasn¢t an over-zealous measure. There were places where what was left of the road was skinnier than a sidewalk, and you could see that the 20 foot cliff nearby was only made yesterday. On one side of the road was a creek, and on the other, a cliff rose in the air 20 feet; now, there was simply no way to get by in a car. The damage was unbelievable; it looked like an earthquake had hit. The road followed alongside a creek, and so had guardrails on one side. Now, the posts of the guardrails, which normally were secured 6 feet into the ground, hung so that the bottoms of these posts were still 6 feet above the ground, suspended in mid-air. On the other side of the river there were many houses, but no road, so everybody had for their driveway their own bridge across to the road. Now, they were trapped there unless they wanted to walk up to 12 miles in places. In two days, the creek had receded a bit, so I didn¢t feel threatened by it, rushing past with all sorts of debris. I also saw some other sights: a shack covered with hub caps & license plates, and a yard filled with bee hives. I¢m walking and walking, until I can take a right away from the creek, and I¢m on populated road again. So there I am walking, and along comes Saved in the back of a pick up truck with the tailgate down. I yellow-blazed a few hours off of my day, and met Home Fry at the Holy Family Hostel where he was taking a day off. One of the bridges in the Pine Swamp area had been impassable, and many hikers had to turn around and take the road, like I had, before re-entering the woods again. In town there was a mess of hiker anxiety. L¢awin had tried to cross the creek in the swamp, and soon found himself fully submerged, being carried away downstream. He¢s alive now only because he luckily snagged a tree branch, but maybe a minute later, it would have been too late. Now everybody was worried about Scooter, who said he would be in Pearisburg by today. We knew he had taken the most dangerous day off, so most of the hikers stopped freaking out and hiked out of town.
Date: 2004-10-01
From: Pearisburg

To: Doc's Knob
Miles today: 8.0

October 1st 2004 Doc¢s Knob 8 miles I bought a watch in town and lost it this very same day. The days are getting noticeably shorter, so I was hoping to use it to wake up a little earlier, but perhaps it just wasn¢t meant to be. I left late in the day after running errands, and spent the night with Saved and Home Fry. Saved built a fire after a few wet tries, getting a bit jumpy in the process. Saved and I have ended up in the same shelters for a while now, and while he¢s not a mean guy, I don¢t really want his company anymore. He bothers me in some little ways, like the way he goes on about girls and how they can¢t carry their own weight, build fires, etc. At the same time, it¢s really not possible to treat him like anybody else, because he¢s not really a jerk. Even though he¢s over a decade older than me, it¢s like he¢s still a child, the way he thinks there is some magic wand that can make everything better, that can save him. I don¢t like the way the shelters are spaced around here, but with all the precipitation we¢ve been getting, there is just so much mud that I¢ll have to be a ¢shelter rat¢ for a little bit longer. I plan on doing some blue blazing for the distance. I had some really bad nightmares tonight.
Date: 2004-10-02
From: Doc's Knob

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

October 2nd 2004 Jenny Knob 20 milesSo I took this blue blaze for a more interesting walk, but I lost it so I started walking on this fire road, but I became convinced both directions were wrong and I ended up going down this drainage ditch, but it wasn¢t the AT either. Eventually some guys in a truck came by and told me which way to go. They looked at me and my hiking gear like I was some kind of alien. On the way another truck, a family, stopped and asked if I needed a ride. It was really nice considering that they were already squeezed into their car, but I was only a little bit from my lunch spot, Trent¢s Grocery. Mmm, French fries. I have fantasies about French fries. As I was walking down the road back to the trail, a local deputy stopped me. He was looking for Saved, to question him about stolen goods. No wonder why Saved was so anxious to get out of town, though his original plan had been to take a day off. Weird. Now that I think back on it, I remember a man, presumably in charge of the hostel, talking to Saved. ¢They¢re looking for this guy. You fit his description¢¦¢ he said. Saved claimed ignorance, and the man told Saved to let him know if he saw/heard anything. I don¢t remember the details, because I was half asleep at the time. The last few miles of today, I was so tired I felt like I could just fall down. Home Fry joined me later for the night.
Date: 2004-10-03
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: broken clouds

October 3rd 2004 Jenkins Shelter 20 milesI completed my first back-to-back 20¢s. I was only going to go half the distance, but when I caught up to Home Fry, we got a good pace going and did 10 miles by noon. I went into town to re supply, and got a hitch for the way back from a coal train driver. He spent his three weeks of vacation every year hunting in Virginia. He told me that he didn¢t care if he didn¢t shoot anything, just to be in the woods was enough, outside instead of 15 miles underground. Thinking about it, he mused that what we were doing out here was really the same thing. He drove me up the dirt road ¢till where the AT really started, and before we get there, we see this backpacker come straggling out of the woods, seemingly from nowhere. His name was Lone Wolf, and he had done the AT four years ago, southbound. The man drove us down to the crossing Lone Wolf was looking for, but it was the wrong one for me ¢ at least it was too far ahead instead of behind! When I got out of the truck, I realized that I had left my trekking pole and hiking stick (replacing the pole that had swept down river) in front of the grocery store. At Lone Wolf¢s suggestion, I took the high water route, and was glad that I did, for the shelter register entries were full of wet complaints of a dozen or so crossings of the same Wolf Creek. At the shelter already was a section hiker, Squirrel King. He was carrying a saw, among other things, but he wasn¢t really as insane as that implies. Actually, he was pretty cool, and Home Fry (wet from the creek crossings) and I really enjoyed the fire he made. At dusk, a deer browsed close by in the clearing.
Date: 2004-10-04
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Lick Creek
Miles today: 17.0

October 4th 2004 Lick Creek 17 miles I can't believe my trip is about half way over!Planning on stopping at Chestnut Knob Shelter tonight, I got a late start and ended up hiking with Squirrel King after lunch. The guy does it up right ¢ he had stopped to cook, while I ate a cold lunch. Unfortunately, I ended up taking Squirrel King with me on one of my ¢What Blaze¢ Adventures, and we took a round-about jeep trail in the AT¢s place. Looking at the map, we realized that the water source for the shelter was actually on this road, so we decided to stick with it, and we were rewarded with a piped spring and eventually with a clear reunion with the AT. Unfortunately, we didn¢t realize we had to back track to get to the shelter, until we reached the majestic overlook of Chestnut Knob itself. For miles in front of us was a downward-sloping hill, golden with sun-bleached grass. The sun was that perfect late-afternoon pink. I couldn¢t resist, so I kept hiking. Squirrel King couldn¢t resist, so he camped. This was one of those moments that just filled me up so happy that I could sleep outside, cowgirl-style & alone without a lonely, doubtful thought creeping in. The bridge at Lick creek had a stealth site set up, and I fell asleep to the sound of water rushing over pebbles.
Date: 2004-10-05
From: Lick Creek

To: Davis Path Shelter
Miles today: 14.0

October 5th 2004 Davis Path ShelterAt about 10 am, I found Home Fry again, as well as the first hiker I had met, Cobol. He apologized for his Dad¢s behavior, and told me he was glad to hear that I was still ¢kickin¢ it¢ on the trail. I met him picking mushrooms in a field, but we advised him against it, so he didn¢t try them. When I got to Davis Path, it was still early, but I had sent a package to Atkins, so had to wait to go into town. This shelter has no water, but the register is cool ¢ a 3rd grader¢s project about why we are out here hiking. There is a lawn chair in front of the shelter, which I think is slightly obscene.I spent the night here with just my delusional dreams of water for company.
Date: 2004-10-06
From: Davis Path Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

October 6th 2004 Partnership Shelter 15 miles This morning was hectic. When I got up, I realized that sleeping without water was a really bad idea. I was very dizzy and the mile or two to water seemed very long. In town, I called my mom, and I really wanted to talk to my little sister, so I called her at school. The maneuvering I had to do to get to talk to her was ridiculous ¢ bureaucratic nonsense and a waste of phone card. I was so out of it that I couldn¢t perform the proper logistics to make it into Atkins and retrieve my package, so my staying at Davis Path Shelter was useless in every way. At Partnership I was accosted by hiker Fort Wayne, who thought my name was ¢Alyssa.¢ No. He was loud and obnoxious and nice anyway. We ordered pizza. I should have gotten a large. Pizza? Yes, really. Partnership Shelter is awesome. It¢s huge, and has running water, and a warm shower (though I didn¢t use it), and a pay phone (thereby the pizza.) Such is its fame that Cobol, Fort Wayne, and Home Fry stopped early for it. Burrito (a female flip flopper) and Four Winds did a 30+ day here, and Porch 40+. I even saw Scooter again. It was cold tonight!
Date: 2004-10-07
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Troutdale: Baptist Church Hostel 
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

October 7th 2005 Troutdale ¢ Baptist Church Hostel Today¢s 15 mile day was much easier, perhaps because I knew that I would get a shower and a restaurant meal at the end. The little town of Troutdale boasts a population of a little over 200, so getting a hitch in to town took about 20 minutes. Packs were propped in front of the town¢s only store, and I joined Porch, Fort Wayne, and Cobol in stuffing myself for under 10$. The food was definitely your elementary school cafeteria quality, but nobody cared. This store was pretty amazing. When you walked in, you entered the main dining area, which looked like your regular low-end place, with tables and hard booths and fake wood paneling, but on the right side of the store, a site which would stun any normal suburban lady. On a few full-length folding tables, one was dazzled with an assortment of¢¦ junk. A rummage sale was going on: Ugly ceramic plate with picture of Jesus and scripture, crocheted booties, old plaid clothing, already-burnt candles, old Christmas decorations, hats for local businesses (quite worn), etc. To make this place even better, there was a double-wide doorway to the right, where a tiny little supermarket was going on. This store had prices on their items like a war was going on and we were donating all of our sugar, fats, proteins, etc, overseas. Ramen was 4 times the usual price. To make it even better, often there was only one or two of each product, so it wasn¢t your usual pick up a product and buy it deal. No, first we had to wipe the dust off of the package to see what it was, determine if it would still taste okay even though it was after the expiration date, and haggle and balance with the other hikers, to make sure that we all got enough food, and that the meat-eaters weren¢t taking all the vegetarian food. We saved the few Ramens for Home Fry (Home Fry eventually showed up much later with a choppy haircut and stories of sleeping in bushes. Strange kid.), as he eats only Ramen and peanut butter. About the only thing in abundance at the store were fake Oreos and peanut butter crackers, both Vegan. It sounds quite horrible but it was fun just because it was so¢¦ unusual. The Baptist Church Hostel: now that¢s a place. Not only were there showers, put there was laundry, and two bathrooms! Women and men had to sleep in different places here, so I got to sleep in the Sunday school room, which used to be the main church. They had set up a couch on the raised platform, so I effectively slept at the altar.
Date: 2004-10-08
From: Troutdale: Baptist Church Hostel 

To: Troutdale: Baptist Church Hostel 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

The next morning we went down to eat, and I bid farewell to my hiker friends. I¢m still so messed up from being dehydrated a couple of nights ago. Today I talked to this family who was doing volunteer landscaping work at the church. The kids and I told each other riddles, and it was a lot of fun. I went inside and talked to the Minister guy, and he tried to convert me, but it was an interesting conversation. At about 1 or 2 Smokey the Bear, whom I had met in the Shenandoah¢s, shows up, still hyped from a fast walk. It took me a few blinks to remember who he was. We talked and laughed at each other until night, gave each other the hiker challenge of a 100 piece Biblical themed puzzle, and then he went away to his hard linoleum floor in the bunkhouse. He told me that he and Four Winds had called in about Saved when they added up all the info. Smokey seemed really angry that somebody would be calling himself a hiker, but be out here really for something else, giving the trail and other hikers a bad reputation. He said a bunch of people were worried about the hikers ahead & behind that the news hadn¢t reached yet.
Date: 2004-10-09
From: Troutdale: Baptist Church Hostel 

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

October 9th 2004 Wise Shelter 16 milesI ate way too much breakfast at that diner/rummage sale, and felt it this morning hiking. Shortly into our morning I met Night Rain. One of his eyes was really swelled up. We also ran into a group of elderly ladies backpacking, which Smokey seemed to get a kick out of. So I¢m hiking along; the boys stop for lunch, and I¢m hiking along, stop for lunch myself, and around the bend comes Smokey, without Night Rain. Night Rain had gone to the hospital. I feel so far away from civilization sometimes, but really, we¢re really not far at all, which was good in this case. I ran into Squirrel King again and he was feeling much fitter and more adapted to the trail. All of the hikers have been writing in the registers that they are really excited about this state park that¢s coming up. I didn¢t think much of it, because to me state parks are mediocre places you throw Frisbees in during your other, non-hiking life. Grayson Highlands, however, is not your average state park. This place is amazing, especially with the leaves at the peak of color the way they are now. If I wanted to take someone on their first backpacking trip, and for them to love it forever, this is one of the places I would take them. In one of the meadows today I saw some not-so-¢wild¢ ponies, as well as lots of people (Columbus Day weekend). More than 50 boy scouts camped less than half a mile from the shelter. I was happy to be a long distance hiker. I was really tired tonight but happy to meet two hikers, Epiphany and Charlie the Tuna. They seem an unlikely hiking pair, a generation apart with different lives, but they¢ve been hiking together for a long time. During the night Smokey heard mouse noises and wanted to kill the mouse. I wanted to kill Smokey.