morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-05-29
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Big Meadows Campground
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

An easy pack up and a great start to the day. It was a lovely trail for the first three hours and we made great time. But yet again, a very steep, even though it was short, hill had my calf muscle seizing up and it was yet another hill of limping and crying.Just before the first camp 8.2miles, we decided to walk on skyline drive as it was much easier terrain, although as we soon discovered, much less shade.We walked quite a few miles along the road when a car pulled up and offered us a lift. These people, Sandy and Danny McCormick were trail angels. They drove us to Big Meadows Campground and then back to the Wayside where we all had lunch. They refused to allow us to pay our share of the bill saying this is what they like to do - assist hikers. They drove us back to the campgound and told us they would call by and see us the next day. They were heading off to pick up some german thru hikers to drive them to a motel and take them out to dinner. What an amazing couple they are, they are planning a thru hike in a year or two, and meanwhile just try to bless hikers wherever possible.We again looked at all our options, and it was obvious that there couldnt be anymore hiking until I saw a doctor. We contacted a shuttle service to get us to Harpers Ferry on Tuesday. I need to get the leg checked out and also probably a blood test to rule out Lymes disease at the cause of my exhaustion as we now have several deer tick bites.
Date: 2011-05-30
From: Big Meadows Campground

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Danny and Sandy came at 9.30am and stayed chatting until 12 oclock. Then they went and checked out of their motel. They came back again at 1.30pm and we went to Big Meadows lodge for lunch. We all ate the biggest piece of Blackberry Icecream pie. Unbelievably decadent! Again our trail angels refused to allow us to pay the bill. They took us sightseeing in the car in the afternoon. There are some gorgeous views from the lookouts on skyline drive.we have seen lots of deer, chipmunks, birds etc whilst camped at Big Meadows.
Date: 2011-05-31
From: Forward

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: haze

We have arrived in Harpers Ferry via a shuffle from Big Meadows Campground. Tas struggled throughout the Shenandoahs with a tight and painful calf muscle and was usually in tears going up even the slightest hill.The doctor today diagnosed a torn calf muscle, most likely done at Partnership Shelter. He has said that the walking done on it since then has caused further damage and the only thing to do is to stop hiking for a minimum of 3-4 weeks, and even then, only a very gradual return. So we are done for this year. We will do some USA sightseeing and head home for Australia.The experiences we have had, and the amazing people we have met, we wouldnt have changed for the world.Dan will update the journal from Waynesborough to Big Meadows in a few days.Thankyou to everyone who has supported and encouraged us, you made it so much easier for us!
Date: 2011-06-07
From: Greenville sc via Washington

To: Tasmania
Miles today: 0.0

I would like to add a few final thoughts before we leave this journal.We have been back in Australia for a month, and back in Tasmania for 2 weeks, time to reflect a little on our amazing experience.Roo: Roo has loved his journey, he describes it as awesome, amazing, wouldn't have missed it for the world. He did however, become disenchanted once he started hitting the rocks. He is a 'pace' hiker, very destination bound, from point A to point B as quickly as possible. The rocks didn't allow him to do that, and he had to slow down and pick his way through them. He says it 'did his head in'. He was totally overawed by the American hospitality, something we had never experienced before and certainly were not expecting. He was ready to come home and his in his element working out where his vegie garden is going to go, mowing down 8.5 acres of Bracken fern to open up our woods. And playing with our two three month old boy Beagle puppies, Eli and Archie. He says he is done with long distance hikes now and is happy just to do a weekender occasionally.Tas: This had been my dream forever. I describe my time on the AT as awesome amazing, beautiful beyond my wildest dreams, the hardest thing I have ever done, and it has left a deep hunger to come back and do a thru hike!I was so incredibly disapointed when my calf muscle let me down, we didn't have either the time frame or the money to sit it out and wait for it to heal well enough to return to the trail. I am still experiencing considerable pain whenever I go uphill. I miss the trail comraderie beyond belief, it is almost like a grieving process. We live very isolated and from being with people every day to just seeing each other is quite a jolt. I too spend my days playing with our puppies, and training them, but I am also looking for a job. The only way I will ever have the money to come back to the AT is to work really hard and save even harder. Hopefully before I am 65! Five more years.We came with $10,000 and we used all of it plus put a couple of thousand on our credit cards, so it is not a cheap venture.Some things I would do differently, stay in the tent in towns instead of motels, change the food we were eating, I was always hungry but we weren't carrying enough food. I would just enjoy each day instead of worrying about how many miles it was. The miles would come soon enough. I would take more photo;s of people.One day I hope to return, the dream has not gone, just got stronger!
Date: 2011-04-04
To: Packing The Car
Miles today: 0.0

Just got back from visiting Landstar. It was almost one year ago that I retired from there. It's really nice seeing my co-workers again.We're packing up the car tonight. Leaving tommorrow for Troutdale VA where we hope to spend the night at the Baptist church. It will be very cold and windy tonight, Brrrrr. It's hard to imagine that when I'm sweating from being outside in almost 90 degrees. We don't know yet if we're staying in the bunk house or in a tent. I'm sure either way, it's going to be a cold one. Luckily we will have our car with extra blankets.We will start our hike leaving from Atkins VA on Wednesday morning. The weather outlook is great for several days with just some pesky isolated thunder storms. Let's hope for the best.We picked up a small raincoat for Buddy today. He seems to like it. Hopefully we won't need to put it on very often.
Date: 2011-04-05
From: Jax Florida

To: Troutdale Baptist Church Hostile
Miles today: 0.0

Great trip to Troutdale, Va. It was mostly dry trip. I was expecting some bad thunderstorms. We got to the church hostile and found Darryl waiting at the front door. Lucky for us since our phone didn't work in Troutdale. He showed us to the bunkhouse. We met Paster Riggons who was picking up Darryl that night. Both guys were super nice. The bunk house was great. Even had heat which was good since it got down in the thirties with 40 mile wind gusts. So glas we didn't have to tent. The weather should be great over the next few days. We leave from Atkins, VA tommorrow. We should be back here in 4 days.
Date: 2011-04-06
From: Relax Inn, Atkins VA

To: Chatfield Memorial Shelter
Miles today: 4.5

Drove to Atkins to drop off our car. The lady at the desk was very nice and explained all the stuff they can do for hikers. It was a chilly start and I think KT was a little concerned after the very cold previous night, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. We stopped by an old school house on the trail where KT was punished by writing 100 times on the black board, "KT was bad, walk the A.T.". We had to forge several streams which were a bit tricky. After the first one, Buddy our dog, was a trooper and just plowed through the cold water on every stream. He was perfect today, mostly staying on the trail.
Date: 2011-04-07
From: Chatfield Memorial Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

It was so cold in the shelter last night. My feet were freezing the last hour or so. Couldn't wait until morning. Soon as we started hiking, we quickly stripped off our coats and gloves. It turned out to be another terrific day. It was a tough hike with some very steep ups and downs. We were very tired after a 7 mile day. There were many people at the shelter. A 5 person group that stayed with us at the last shelter, a new south bounder, and 4 north bound thru hikers. We're a little worried about our 10.5 mile day we have planned tommorrow. We're not sure what Buddy can handle.
Date: 2011-04-08
From: Parnership Shelter

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Our big day started off great, easy walking trail on level ground for over a mile. That soon turned into a jagged rock trail that bends your ankles every which way. It rained on and off all day until we got to the Trimpi shelter. Buddy was super tired and slept from 3pm until 7am. His las 2 miles were very slow chich was fine with us.We stayed the night with Jim, Dave, and the Corsacin. Jim decided to use a hammock instead of the shelter. Big mistake! It rained and poured so hard at midnight that we had to yell to hear each other. I thought the sky was falling in. Except for Jims hiking clothes, everything he had was soaked, but somehow he slept through it. We stayed nice and dry.
Date: 2011-04-09
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Troutdale Baptist Church Hostile
Miles today: 3.9

We started hiking to a beautiful day. For some reason, walking 4 miles on light packs, our food nearly gone, still seemed difficult. It was mostly uphill which is probably why.When we got to the road, we had 2.6 miles to reach the hostel. We decided to hitch a ride. Just when we ready to give up, an army guy, Jarod, said sure jump in. Terrific! We really didn't want to walk 2.6 miles on this dangerous road. We quickly found Darryl and got our resupply box.We were able to take hot showers for the first time in 4 days. It was wonderful! I finished just in time to get back to the bunk house when the storms started. It rained very hard, but we were nice and dry.
Date: 2011-04-10
From: Troutdale Baptist Church Hostile

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: few clouds

Jerry, the local restaurant owner gave us an early morning ride to the trailhead. It was a nice day, so we decided to walk farther than we originally planned.We met Peanut Butter and Jelly, they have done most of the A.T. and were going south like us. Toward the end of the hike, we crossed an amazing steam. We just sat there and washed our poor feet in the extremely cold water. It felt great! This is the first day we actually took a mid day nap before moving on. Very refreshing.We tented instead of staying in the shelter. There was some flat soft grass nearby where we could actually walk around without shoes. It was very hot today, about 84 degrees.
Date: 2011-04-11
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It was another beautiful day. We took a mid day break and laid down for a while. We met Availability who had a great attitude and fun to talk with. He is the first person to make friends with our dog. Apparently the key is to feed him beef jerky.While talking with Availability, I heard a klunk , looked down to see a baby mouse that fell from the ceiling, not ddead but stunned. Weird!Within the next quater mile, we saw three white tailed deer. One was no more than 10 feet away. We did not see it until it moved.We were very tired by the time we reached the shelter. It was crowed. It started pouring down rain as soon as we finished cooking dinner. It rained for several hours and left little lakes all around the shelter.Some people said 2 wild horsed poked their heads into the shelter around midnight. Me and KT were sound alsleep and never noticed.
Date: 2011-04-12
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: White Top Mountain
Miles today: 6.7

We started out by walking river beds with many rocks which makes for very difficult hiking.We were hoping to make it further but the weather was looking bad. It was getting cold and the wind was picking up. We decided to pitch a tent since it was starting to rain. It took a while to find a level site. This is always the case on mountains. We just got our tent set up when the rain started coming down hard. It was only around 3:00pm.We threw our packs in and jumped in. We got setup in the very cramped space and took out everything we needed for the night. We then stuffed our remaining stuff in the packs, put them in plastic trash bags which I moved them to a nearby tree outside the tent.Soon as I got back in, I noticed a very pokey root right where I was to lay down. It was going to poke a hole through our tarp and tent. We decided to use part of Buddy's blankets to cover the root. In the pouring rain, I reached way under the tent and put the folded blankets over the root. Problem solved.Next crises. After laying down, we noticed we were sliding to one corner of the tent. So much for our level ground. We waited for a lull in the pouring rain, jumped out and quickly rotated our tent about 30 degrees. Now at least we were only sliding down to the bottom of the tent.Next crises. After a few hours of pouring rain, we noticed pools of water around the bottom of the tent. Not only was it leaking from underneath, but there was a constant drip about KT's sleeping bag. Ugh! Did I mention that the rain was not sleet and the outside of our tent was getting iced over. Luckily we had 2 additional plastic bags which we put over the bottom part of our sleeping bags. We were at least semi dry although everything except the upper portion of our sleeping bags was getting wet by now. Buddy slept with me all night and even worked his way to the bottom of my bag. We put on all our dry clothes and waited for morning. By 3am, I had everything, including rain coat and rain pants on.It finally stopped sleeting some time early in the morning. I reluctantly got out of my sleeping bag and stepped out to relieve myself. Everything was covered in ice and it seemed very cold. We finally got out when the sunlight came out around 8:00am. It was foggy and cold.
Date: 2011-04-13
From: White Top Mountain

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: clear sky

We finally got out of the tent to pack after 17 hours. There was an inch of sleet, fog, and it was very cold. Everything except the clothes we were waring was wet and heavy. We packed everything while in the tent since it was so cold.When we started folding up the tent, the trees decided to attack us. The ice began to fall in large chunks from the trees. I'm not talking a few chunks, but hundreds and it was picking up speed. Buddy was going nuts trying to dodge the chunks and we made a run to an open access road. After an hour or so, the trees ran out of ice and it began to warm up and become sunny. Yeah!We went very low milage today because of the heavy packs and lack of good sleep. We were able to dry everything out at the shelter. Life was good again.
Date: 2011-04-14
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Hiker's Inn in Damascus
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

KT's birthday! KT wanted to get into town, so we decided to give 15 miles a try. We were well rested from the previous low milage day.We hit the first shelter after 6 miles. We decided to take a short nap and let Buddy sleep. I think Buddy needed it because he was not his normal self getting there. After leaving the shelter, Buddy was much stronger. The first 2 miles were great, flat and downhill with switchbacks. Switchbacks take the steepness out of the mountain by having you move back and forth over a lesser grade. There were many short uphills which became very tiring as the miles wore on.We got to the Hikers Inn in Damascus, no vacancy. We went over to Dave's Place, no dogs. Ugh! The only remaing option was to tent at The Place, a Baptist Hostel. We met the owners of the Hikers Inn as we walked back. They let us tent in their nice softe back yard for $10. Hot showers and real flushing toilet in the hostel. The weather was nice and I got my best night's sleep yet. The sweet life.
Date: 2011-04-15
From: Hiker's Inn in Damascus

To: Hiker's Inn in Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero day in Damascus. We needed a day off after yesterday's 15 mile day. I got a few blisters. Apparently, I can only walk about 10 miles without getting blisters. We're staying in the hostal tonight with Max, a Canadian that we met at the last shelter and Lizard, a female hiker with a knee problem. She's been in Damascus for 3 days waiting for her knee to get better.We had plenty to do, wash clothes, pick up our food box at the post office, update our journals, and eat town food. This was our first opportunity to update our journals.We got a pizza last night after working out our accomodations. Today, I discovered slaw dawgs at the Dairy King. Hot dog with chili, onions, and cole slaw for $1.35. Can't beat that! I got 2 while we washed our clothes, then decided I needed another one.We packed away our new food, way too much. Our plan was to hike 10 miles with fully loaded packs carrying 6 days of food right after the rain stops in the morning.
Date: 2011-04-16
From: Hiker's Inn in Damascus

To: Abington Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: moderate rain

We got out of town late because of the morning rain. It stopped completly about 15 minutes after we left town. We had our heaviest packs with 6 days of food. The first few miles were up hill and tough. After that, it was small steep uphills and many gradual downhills. Not to bad, but we were ready to find the shelter.We passed a north bound hiker couple that told us boy scouts had taken over the shelter and that it was only about .2 or .3 miles away. Well, an hour later, we finally reached the shelter. Never trust hiker distances. Everything starts to look the same and you lose track of time so estimates are almost always useless.When we got to the shelter, it was filled with packs. Several of them were actually emptied into the shelter. One of the scout leaders assured us that they would soon move the packs, that everyone was tenting. Thanks goodness, because we had heard more rain was coming. With a little help from the leaders, the packs were moved to one side so that we could setup. It was crowded, but we got a space and enough room to cook dinner. Three other hikers showed up. It's going to be very cold tonight. We have all our clothes on tonight. It was a rough night. Not only were my feet cold all night, but the hiker next to me was snoring like a freight train. That's the main problem with shelters. The upside is your tent doesn't get wet and you can pack up easier.
Date: 2011-04-17
From: Abington Shelter

To: Double Springs Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: clear sky

We woke up to an inch of snow. There are usually no privys in Tennesee and let me assure you, doing your business in the morning when it's cold enough for snow is not fun. Enough said.It was a very hard hike today. I had a stomach ache all night, the hiker next to me snored very load all night, and it was freezing. I did not get much sleep.We decided to go for luxury once we reached the shelter. First a warm water sponge bath, then some hot coffee, and a large roaring fire. It was a good night.Mammoth and Earl Grey joined us at the shelter. Mammoth build up the fire until it could be seen from space. Mammoth is from Germany and has a PHD in physics and I think he was going for nuclear fusion if he could get the fire hot enough.
Date: 2011-04-18
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

It wasn't very cold last night so we got a good nights sleep. Also no loud snoring. Yeah!The hiking was very easy today for the first 3-4 miles. After that there were many short but steep uphill climbs. We decided to set up our tent tonight. It wasn't supposed to rain, but it sprinkled twice. Lets hope for the best. Another roaring fire tonight.
Date: 2011-04-19
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: broken clouds

It was an easy 4 miles at the beginning. We came to an open field of grass way up on the mountain. The view was magnificent. There was actually a bench to sit there and relax. I noticed a cell phone tower. We were finally able to make some phone calls. By the way, AT&T is useless out here. It's the Trak Phone carrier. Verizon gets way better coverage. The coverage chart they show in WalMart is a lie!Soon afterward we came upon a trail magic box left by the Baptist church. Onlly one coke was left, no honeybuns or other food. We were told it was loaded up. It was all gone and very disappointing to KT.The last 3 miles were more difficult and we ran out of water. I tried one questionable source which tasted like algae or what I believe algae taste like.When I got to the shelter, I found the only water source was 1/2 mile straight down the mountain. Ugh! I almost turned back twice. This was by far the worst water source ever. I was exhausted by the time I got back to the shelter. KT had hopes of moving on, but after the water trouble, I decided to stay for the night.Peregrin, a really nice young couple Sprucemoose and Wunderlust, and Iron Mike stayed the night. Iron Mike had some sort of problem as he burped about 100 times after drinking cool aid. I could almost understand beer or pop, but cool aid?Peregrin informed us that he liked to wake up at 5:30am. He said he was quite. Well, not so much. He finally got his stuff packed and left around 7am. It seemed he zipped and unzipped his pack hundreds of times. I tried to sleep through it until daylight, but that didn't work well. Shelters!
Date: 2011-04-20
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Watuga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: broken clouds

It was an easy hike today. Spring has sprung at the lake. Up until now, most of the trees have no leaves. Even the forest floor has been mostly bare except for a few briars.Three young guys showed up at the shelter. They were routy but fun. They also liked to light up every hour. We had about 30 hikers walk by today. There are about a dozen hikers staying here in tents all around the shelter. That's the most hikers we've seen so far. We hear there are 2 more clumps of hikers. It was a good night but I was ready to leave so many people.
Date: 2011-04-21
From: Watuga Lake Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 10.4

We left early today so we could get to Kincora somewhat early in the day. The first 2 miles were pretty easy walking around the lake. Then we hit Pond mountain. Going up had lots of switchbacks but was tiring from the long climb. Going down was downright treacherous. Jagged rocks hidden under leaves twisted your ankles every which way. At the bottom, there was a terrific stream and finally before hitting Kincora, we had 250 stone steps to climb. Buddy had no problem jumping up one after another. I kept telling him to stop but he just loved jumping up them. Once we got to the top he ate about 3 helping of food.We got to Kincora around 3:00pm and Bob Peoples gave us the couples room. The only room with a queen size bed. We also had some privacy which was nice even though we could hear everything and even see through the cracks in the wood slat walls. We were able to wash clothes and take showers before getting a free ride into town. All for a $4.00 donation. We actually gave a lot more since I know Bob is not running at a profit. He does it for love of the hiker community.We were lucky enough to have long conversations with him in the evenings. He's a terrific selfless guy. He and his friends maintain the trail from Damascus Virginia to Erwin Tennessee.